Automated Car Washes

[CharBaby]

We all know them, many folks frequent them and these establishments are busy from morning til night. These popular car wash establishments not only sell you a variety of standard & upgraded car wash services, they also sell:

*gasoline/diesel/kerosene
*food & beverages hot & cold
*car care products in store
*detail services & oil change(& other fluids) services etc.
*free hand/hot towel wipe down(tip is kind'a expected)
You can also pay the attendant who is wiping down the car for outside services such as "quick detail spray" and "tire shine".
[nice business to be in!]

My question to anyone that can answer this is:

When taking my car through the automated car wash(brush or brushless), how do I know that I am getting the extra service/products that I am paying extra for?

For example, I can buy the standard car wash for ~$7+tax. Then I can move to the next service(extra money) which gives me a 24hr guarantee to come back within that time for any reason. Or keep moving upward(extra money) and getting things such as Chassis Under spray, Paint Sealant etc., + a 5 day guarantee(1 more wash), 2 week guarantee(2 more washes) of exactly the same wash service that I paid for the first time. And the list goes on & on.

As I am driving my daily driver through the wash, there a a series of colored lights flashing(or not) for the different services of products being applied. BUT, I can't tell if it's for the vehicle ahead of me or my car. I can't really tell if they just took my money or if I am actually getting what I am paying for. It's kind'a hard to tell!

I only frequent these car wash during our winter time but, it's still nice to know.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I've always wondered if those automated car washes even keep the soaps and waxes topped off.

 

[Garak]

Well, you basically have to trust them. If the machine is set up correctly by the installer, maintained correctly, and the chemicals are getting topped up and they're using the correct ones (as per aquariuscsm's concern), you're getting what you paid for. If one of those links is broken, well, you might have a problem.

 

[CharBaby]

I mean, sometimes my car looks cleaner & shinier when I've paid less money($7) than when I purchased the "WORKS" with a 5 day($15.99) or 2 week($19.99+) guarantee.

 

[spasm3]

When do they change the water? They recycle water and filter it, but what about dissolved salt in the recycled water during the winter? Is that being sprayed all under your car?

 

[AirgunSavant]

Most should have lights that indicate what you are getting and when.
I only use the spray booths myself.

 

[daman]

Ours has good, better, best type wash, you pay..then when you pull into the wash bay the corresponding light lights up showing the attendants what wash to give you.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: daman
Ours has good, better, best type wash, you pay..then when you pull into the wash bay the corresponding light lights up showing the attendants what wash to give you.


daman,
Is the one that you go to, a "drive through" or a "drive in" and park while the system washes your car? The several that I go to are a drive through with a line of other vehicles behind you all being pulled by a roller system on the tire.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Originally Posted By: daman
Ours has good, better, best type wash, you pay..then when you pull into the wash bay the corresponding light lights up showing the attendants what wash to give you.


daman,
Is the one that you go to, a "drive through" or a "drive in" and park while the system washes your car? The several that I go to are a drive through with a line of other vehicles behind you all being pulled by a roller system on the tire.

Right it's a drive though, the car moves slowly ahead in neutral(roller system), at the end of the cycle you put it back in gear and pull out.

 

[fsdork]

I do use that type of wash in the winter as well. My thought on the "upgrades" such as wax or sealant are that I would rather not receive them. I have yet to find an automated wash which actually gets all of the dirt off of the vehicle. Why would I want to seal in whatever is left behind?

 

[E150GT]

no way I'd use that. You get the water and dirt from 100's of other cars on yours adding potential to scratch your paint. Not only that, unless your car is pretty clean, they arent that good. I do mine at home with the 2 bucket method. If I am feeling lazy I will go to a manual car wash and use the sprayer but never the brush. Who knows whats embedded in those bristles.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Touchless only, and NO BRUSHES ON THE PAINT.

But the automatic bays DO clean under the car, I can't get under there in a manual bay.

 

[Wolf359]

Yeah, the only way you can tell is that the lights go on. Also on the some of the soap/waxes, the color of the soap/wax is different. Anyway, don't have a driveway so don't have any options. I drive the Mercedes through it. I prefer the automated ones over the spray wand, seems to get it cleaner than the spray wand plus they claim to do an underwash and rust inhibitor. I did that for years on a previous car and noticed that other cars of the same generation or newer were rusting out at the wheel wells but mine lasted much longer without any rust. I'm thinking the rust inhibitor worked or at least the under wash did.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
When do they change the water? They recycle water and filter it, but what about dissolved salt in the recycled water during the winter? Is that being sprayed all under your car?

Not all jurisdictions require water recycling. They don't here.

 

[Donald]

At the one I go through the lights light up and various colored soaps are sprayed on your vehicle.

I buy a book of tickets rather than pay per use.

The final rinse is fresh water, others may be recycled water. Salt disolve in water so not easy to remove it with a filter, you would need expensive desalination.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: E150GT
no way I'd use that. You get the water and dirt from 100's of other cars on yours adding potential to scratch your paint. Not only that, unless your car is pretty clean, they arent that good. I do mine at home with the 2 bucket method. If I am feeling lazy I will go to a manual car wash and use the sprayer but never the brush. Who knows whats embedded in those bristles.



They are really the only option if you want to wash the salt off your vehicle in the winter time when it's cold for days on end in my part of the country.

I would say that 9 out of 10 car washes here are the automated ones-where you sit in your car and it's pulled through with a roller on your tire.

I have heard concerns like yours before-and quite frankly my personal vehicles don't mirror your concerns.

 

[PolarisX]

I use the booth. Costs me around three to four bucks. I can get underneath if I either angle it off the ground or use the water on the ground to blow up under. The touchless one near me just has some kind of rocker panel cleaner, but no undercarriage. The automated roll through has been the same since I've been a kid and is swirl city.

 

[sxg6]

Originally Posted By: E150GT
no way I'd use that. You get the water and dirt from 100's of other cars on yours adding potential to scratch your paint. Not only that, unless your car is pretty clean, they arent that good. I do mine at home with the 2 bucket method. If I am feeling lazy I will go to a manual car wash and use the sprayer but never the brush. Who knows whats embedded in those bristles.


They're more appealing when you live somewhere where it's less than 30F - 40F outside from November to April. I don't do the drive through washes with brushes, but I do use touch free washes in the winter time. Sure you could do some sort of waterless wash, but I don't trust those, and again, when it's super cold outside who wants to do that..

You could do the kind where you pressure wash the car yourself, but.. Again, not appealing when it's super cold outside and the water splashes back onto you, and there's no dryer in those washes either, so there's the risk of the water freezing on your car and such.