So today, after 2 weeks of camping trips and outdoor adventure I decide to take My Grand Cherokee to the car wash, now this is something I rarely do because I respect the finish on my vehicle and know the abuse the paint can suffer at the hands of the carwash so when possible I hand wash, however here in my area the water is extremely hard and with temps at 110 the water spotting is immediate and difficult to remove.so I opted for the car wash.
There is no shortage of car washes in my area and most seem to be competitively priced, so here is my rant !! of the 6 in my area 2 are full service with detail shops and oil change available at these washes they actually have people vacuuming, drying, dressing the tires etc... but holy crap a basic car wash that does not include the foam wax, undercarriage wash or tire dressing is $16.00 for a basic wash !! are you kidding me !! for a car wash ! the works was $24.00 and the ultimate was $29.00 which included the French ***** house air freshener. now I understand there is human labor involved at least at the drying stage but $16.00 give me a break !!
I'll put groceries on the table thank you. I went to to one of the totally auto joints paid $6.00 vacuumed, and cleaned interior and door jambs my self, they did have a really cool machine that cleaned the floor mats !! as age takes it's toll I've gotten a little lazier in this heat but not $16.00 lazy for a basic car wash.

 

Cue up Rose Royce...

Solly, you cheep ol' bastidge. How da folks workin at the car wash gonna eat? Guarantee they're barely making minimum wage...

I'm same way as I've gotten older and I don't tolerate heat well at all anymore. I'm lucky that if I just don't feel like doing it, I have a car wash I trust who does a hand wash with vacuum and tire dressing for $15.

 

I don't get the French ***** house treatment (at least for my car) but I do use the two bit hand wash and finish with the soft water rinse then hand dry with my own towel. about $3.00+ depending on condition Been doing it for years, no problems. Kinda have to because I live one and a half miles in on a gravel (read that dirt road, mud in the winter) I see no reason to stop. I do practice my distancing with the wand. My Olds is going on 18 years of mostly it's first repaint and still looks real good. I stay away from the rotary mechanical stuff, you never know if a local 4x4 just got back from the mud bogs before me besides I have convertibles and would get a bath should I try that endeavor even with the top up.

As far as price goes the full Monty around here is about $30 bucks also..... Tedd

 

I'll use the wand wash and the vacuum and the floor mat wall clips. Spend about 7 bucks.

 

Raider thanks for the laugh !! thanks for the Rose Royce reference now I cant get the dan song out of my head !!!
Tedd, story behind the French ***** house reference, years ago we had a Dodge Mini Van we loaned it ti a friend who needed a vehicle to move a small chest of drawers
the van was adequate, as payment for loan of the van the appreciative person took it through a full service car wash and they sprayed some god awful scent through the whole van the smell physically made my wife sick, she made me change vehicles with her for about a month ! the stuff was wrank!!! so bad it permeated your clothes and other people would turn their nose up just walking by you. Yuk !!

 

Up here in Michigan hand washing can be done only half the year and maybe2 months going to the self serve. I used to do my own work for years. Time constraints and getting older has taken it's toll. About two years ago when we have 2 newer Silverados 4x4's and I am only 5ft 7" tall it makes it a bitch to wash we opted for the local drive thru soft cloth. They power wash certain areas windows, grill and wheel wells. Under carriage wash, hot wax blow dry with tire dressing. We have a package for $30 for each truck a month and you can go through everyday if wanted. Yes I have to polish out scratches with buffer about once a year, but for the most part, the trucks look shiny and well kept.

Pat

 

I never take the 71 through the auto wash. I wash and detail it myself. The 96 and daily drivers I'll take through the auto wash occasionally. I pay $10 for a mid grade auto wash ($6 for the cheapie). There are full service auto washes in OKC. Maybe I need to stop by and check out their prices.

 

$ 24.00 is typical around here for a "Full" (cough, bull$^&#, cough) carwash. I only run the Truck and The Queen's car through them. The old gals either gets the home spa treatment or, my buddy details them for me. I keep the Cutlass in his detail shop so, it is pretty pampered. Both cars stay covered, inside. When traveling I cover them at night...even at the lake house.

A couple of weeks ago I took the company truck thru a local quick drive-thru carwash and followed a '70 / '71 corvette thru the tunnel. I was stunned that the owner would even do such a thing. Once the high pressure water hit the car it was butt holes and elbows inside the 'vette as the driver and passenger tried to hold back the water blowing thru the window seals and T-tops. Pretty damned funny to watch. When I came out they were already pulled over on the side, out of the car...looking pretty wet. The incredibly attractive passenger didn't seem to be very impressed.

 

Confirms what I've said for years. Most Corvette people are posers. I bet that was pretty danged hilarious though🤣.

 

Yeah, I miss the days when some gas stations offered a free car wash with a fill-up. I haven't seen one of those in 20 years or more. The best you get now is $3 or $4 off. Most of the commercial car washes around here are priced about like what's being described above. AAA has opened up a chain of car washes in this area called Fins that offers discounts for AAA members. I generally take my cars to a hand wash place that's operated by a halfway house for recovering addicts. They do interior and exterior by hand for $15 ($20 for vans and SUVs). Spray wax is an extra $5 and they also offer hand waxing. They do a great job with good attention to detail and the proceeds support a worthy cause. I always feel good about getting my cars cleaned there.

 

In my youth at the car wash evryone got out of the car, employee gets in wipes inside down as car roles thru then hand dried and vacuumed before getting car back. One always removed change from ash tray as there is a good chance it might disappear.

 

The wife said $24 is what she pays at the full service car wash.

I wash all 3 vehicles that I drive but she takes hers to the car wash. Drives me nuts.

 

$6-$8 for the basic around here, and $10-$12 for the deluxe wash @ most of the drive through car washes. There are a couple of hand wash and detail shops around here, but I have never priced them out.

 

My dad has a f-150 that he uses as a farm truck, it's pretty new but being a farm truck it looks like $hit and it drives me crazy so I bought him a exterior detail fo it for his birthday about $185 bucks.Well he procrastinated for a couple months through this virus thing and the detail shop went bankrupt. I'm still looking at that dirty scratched truck, I'll probably inherited that crusty bugger some day and I'll feel bad changing a thing..... Tedd

 

1975 Cutlass Supreme. Every girls I dated, they hated to closed the door because it was too heavy for them.

 

I think you posted in the car wash thread by mistake.