Carwashes that know how to drive a Prius

I use a mobile car wash service that comes to our office every Friday morning.

Sanchez Mobile Car Wash
(my office is in the Huntington Beach area of Orange County~I don't know all the areas that he covers)
714-287-3410
He does a fantastic job!

The main fellow says he has a Prius too, a red one. says he only has to fill it up once a month. So I trust him with mine. He operates the car washing service out of his minivan.

 

Kwik Kar Car Wash
Watauga, TX

They do a great job, and the wash is free if you get an oil change with the associated Kwik Kar Lube and Tune. I got my 15k 'checkup' done with them and couldn't be happier. Way more convenient than the dealer.

 

Dutch Auto Detail Service
3401 N Norwalk Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90808-3220 (562) 594-4491

Really close to Los Alamitos. $14 for a wash (all hand). Takes about 45 minutes when they are busy, but they do a nice job.

P.S. They also did my tint.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rancid13 @ Jun 16 2006, 01:31 PM) [snapback]272325[/snapback]</div>

Jennifer, Just curious as to how much you pay for that service each week? That sure would be nice to have. Guess that's the greta life of living in the BIG city (The guy wouldn't stay in business here cause people are WAY to cheap)

 

I still use the old reliable "IBM" (It's Better Manually) method. Hand washing assures that all the details are done right..... right there in my driveway. Had some bad experiences with automatic washes.

 

Yeah, automatic washes can be bad news, especially if you have a dark colored car. I never run my Lexus through one for instance (its dark burgandy) and only wash it by hand myself. I've also been unale to find anyone who can hand wash the car without scratching it up other than me unfortunately.

I do run the Prius through an automatic wash because I don't have time to wash it myself, and the tideland doesn't show marring at all.

I've found most places around DC know how to drive them now because there are SO many of them and so many luxury cars now operate in a similar way (Most new ones have SKS, and the BMW 7 and Benz S for instance have the joystick operated gear selector now). These are the places I've used:

1. Touch Less Carwash II Gaithersburg, MD on Shady Grove Rd

2. Flagship Carwash, 2 locations Rockville on Hungerford Dr and Rockville on Rockville Pike.

They both do a good job, the Touch Less has older equipment but they use more soap which makes me more comfortable that it won't scratch, but the Flagship on Rockville Pike has 2 tunnels, one full serve where they drive it, vacuum and do the interior, and towel it off and another self serve where you drive it and do the interior/dry it off yourself. Carla uses that when she takes it and just dries it off using one of the Waffle Weave MF towels I use to dry my car. Most of if not all the scratching that happens at a carwash is done by the towels they use to dry it.

 

problem is, even if you find a carwash with some employees experienced with the Prius, how do you know that they'll be there when you show up, etc.
I worry that the person driving it onto the line will be ok, but the person on the other end who has to drive it off will be an idiot.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(onerpm @ Jun 19 2006, 07:48 AM) [snapback]273391[/snapback]</div>

In SoCal, where car washes can be found more frequently that Starbucks, most seem to be quite adept at handling the Prius. The one potential problem that can occur (as I admit as having caused) is if you use the smart key and keep the actual key in your pocket as you wave good bye to your Prius being taken into the wash.

I did that one day at a very busy lunch hour wash, ran across the street to Target to pick up supplies, and came out to find the car wash backed up into the street with a small crowd of obviously frustrated patrons. The Prius was done, but stuck at the end of the wash line, unable to be restarted by the car wash guys, since I had key. Of course, you can fake it by pretending that the car wash guys just were confused with how to drive it off and slip the key into the key socket without notice. I've never done that again!

 

I get my car hand-washed weekly by the car-wash service in the parking lot of the Stop'n'Shop off Route 206 in Raritan, NJ. I 'drive' the car through a couple of wash stations, a couple of rinse stations, a towel-drying station, and pay them my $5.00 (senior citizen discount, otherwise it's $6.)

I had my car detailed by a company that comes to my workplace about a month after getting the car and getting side mouldings. $150.00 the first time, and subsequent times will be $140. I'll do that at least every 6 months. I don't have a garage, so I'll need to keep a good wax job on it to keep it from sun-fading the paint.

I did go through an automatic car wash the first week I had it. They didn't have prices posted, and I had my lights on, which I found out afterwards is their signal for 'full service' including all that spray waxing and wheel-polishing. So I paid $13, and wound up with that gunk on my windows that turns them into semi-permanent water spots after some rain. I washed the windows several times by hand, as well as using the windshield washer fluid, but the windows didn't really get 'clean' of the gunk until the detailing (altho the 3 'hand washes' I had in the meantime did a lot more than my window-cleaning did!)

 

I actually like washing my own car. It's a good activity to do with your kids too.

 

Note to folks who wash their cars themselves: That is a horrible thing to do in terms of the environment. That soapy water with its harsh chemicals goes down to your local sewer where it (depending on where you live) goes into your nearest body of water untreated.

Car washes (at least the ones I'm familiar with) recycle their water.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Sep 30 2006, 05:19 PM) [snapback]326210[/snapback]</div>

I have a nozzle on my house. I wet it down, shut the water off, wash it, turn it on and rinse, then turn it off. It uses less water than watering a lawn.

What "harsh chemicals"? Car shampoo is biodegradeable and listed as environmentally safe. It's Ph neutral and mixed in about two gallons of water.

I'd be more concerned about the carpet shampoo truck that routinely dumps it's filth down the sewer. (No, they have to be caught in the act by the city and I didn't get their license number. It was 1 am and very dark in the alley.)

I'm all for protecting the environment. That's ONE of the reasons I bought a Prius. I also recycle and take my yard clippings to the landfill to be made into compost and mulch. But this car was a $20,000 investment for me and I'm not going to have the finish ruined by an automatic car wash with illegals getting minimum wage just because they recycle the water. My black car doesn't need scratches and swirls that I then have to pay a detailer $200 to take out every 6 months.

 

I just spent the afternoon giving my black beauty the Zaino treatment. Now I feel guilty.

 

Hmm.. I bought PRIA a month ago and haven't washed it yet. It rained all this month and it is getting cleaned the natural way

 

Poor Rachel hasnt had a decent bath since FAY came thru. The afternoon rains and then the once in a while dry day followed by a light rain make washing a short lived result.

It's also almost time for more zaino too. poor car.

 

I just left a FOB with the manager, and a 5 min course how to use it.

Motor was all warmed up. So when he started it, ICE stayed on only 5 seconds, and he drove around in a circle and backed up, all in EV mode.

He was impressed, so was a lady waiting on her car, and I showed it off.
She thought the Prius was like a Honda CRX in size. Was surprised at how MUCH bigger the Prius is over her 95 Corolla.

 

If you are using "harsh chemicals" to wash your car you are doing it wrong.

 

Mcguiars gold class wash t tbsp and gold class wax
Simoniz Ice for the matte black bits
Aquapel on the windscreen every six months (although there isn't much wind moving across it to push the water off).
Car-show finish when done.
And the car wash guy knows how to drive the car.