Author Topic: $15 for a car wash  (Read 9913 times)

tukk323

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$15 for a car wash
« on: September 27, 2015, 07:08:00 PM »
Seriously, an automated car wash costs that much now days?!
I can make a $10 bottle of car wash from the department store last for an entire year, washing once every 1-2 weeks, how can they charge this much?

firewalker

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2015, 09:30:31 PM »
YUP! If you don't want to get out of the car and exert any physical motion, 15 will get the job done.

babysnowbyrd

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2015, 10:16:09 PM »
May or may not deserve a face punch, but I have a car wash membership. But I drive for Lyft/Uber so I wash my car before every shift

lemanfan

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2015, 11:14:35 PM »
In my neck of the woods, it's getting increasingly illegal to wash your car yourself. 

Or rather not the washing, but washing it in a place where it's legal - for pollution reasons.  If the run off water ends up in the county storm drains or similar (which means most driveways count as this) it is simply not allowed and you are supposed to pay for a space at a commercial car wash place.

GetItRight

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2015, 01:20:54 AM »
Nuts. I also notice most people seem to pay premium prices for machine wash because their cars are filthy. Rear and wheels are always filthy, along with various dirty spots the machine doesn't get. I can't Imagine paying a premium prices for shoddy work.

FLA

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2015, 02:10:58 AM »
sometimes you physically cannot do it all yourself, so I am happy that we have 1 that actually does inside and outside for $15.  Not the greatest job on the interior but dog hair gone, surfaces clean

mm1970

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2015, 11:11:06 AM »
We pay about $10 to $15 for car washes, but generally that's 2x a year.  Our cars are filthy.

But we live in CA in a terrible drought, it's heavily discouraged to wash them yourself - both for pollution (everything drains to the ocean) AND for the drought.

Car washes recycle their water.

infogoon

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2015, 11:17:20 AM »
In the eleven years I've lived in my house, in a dense city neighborhood, I've only ever seen one other person washing their car with a hose and bucket. And that was a guy who spent his weekends offroading in a Jeep, so it was absolutely caked with filth by Sunday afternoon. Everyone else goes to the car wash.

I should buy a car wash.

MgoSam

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2015, 11:47:13 AM »
I should buy a car wash.

In "The Millionaire Next Door," he profiles a couple that didn't have many skills but wanted to own a business that they could become a millionaire with operating. They chose a car wash and made good money and became a millionaire after selling it by operating it themselves and living frugally.

Forcus

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2015, 02:24:32 PM »
I'd love to own a car wash and storage units. I know there used to be money in storage but around here there's now probably too many.

Sometimes I spend $10 on a car wash (hand wash) but that's because my older vehicles have rougher paint and need the brush, even with a wax job on, to get all the way clean. But I did find a much cheaper wash that is good and averages out to $3 if not too dirty. Free vac's too, but I usually do that at home because God knows what they've been in.

Le Poisson

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #10 on: September 28, 2015, 02:27:52 PM »
Car washes recycle their water.

Which is how you can be semi-mustachian while paying for something that may be available cheaper. If you buy the cheapest wash, the recycled water is still carrying many of the detergents from previous cycles. So you can still get residual wax and soap and stuff even though you didn't pay for the full deal.

tukk323

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2015, 03:40:26 PM »
In my neck of the woods, it's getting increasingly illegal to wash your car yourself. 

Or rather not the washing, but washing it in a place where it's legal - for pollution reasons.  If the run off water ends up in the county storm drains or similar (which means most driveways count as this) it is simply not allowed and you are supposed to pay for a space at a commercial car wash place.

That sounds like very onerous environmental laws. Even here in NZ, where we consider ourselves a 'green' country we don't worry about minor detergent going into a sewer or storm drain

gimp

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #12 on: September 28, 2015, 05:44:17 PM »
Living in the bay area... let's see.

I can't wash my car with a hose at home, because 1) I don't have a home, and there aren't any hoses or spigots available at my apartments, 2) even if there were, I can't be doing car stuff like that in the parking lot of my apartment, and 3) even if I could, it's somewhat illegal to wash the car yourself. (You need a nozzle on the hose, and you need to ensure that no runoff gets anywhere it's not supposed to get.)

I guess 4) is that I know that it's a waste of water, especially drinking water, with the drought as bad as it is.

I could use some sort of soap and water bottle setup, but my car gets too filthy for that to be a reasonable solution.

I can in fact go to a do it yourself car wash place. You pay quarters, they give you time with water and soap and a shop vac. The problem, of course, is twofold: 1) just as before, I would not get to wash under my car; and 2) with the amount of time it would take to do a proper wash, the quarters consumed equal a car wash.

Or I can pay like $8 to drive through a car wash, which recycles its water, and costs about as much as the quarters to do it myself would be. I don't care about my paint getting a bit touched up.

$15 gets wash + vac + various shines. Tire dressing, rain-x, and so on. I can do the various shines myself, because I know how and what.

Meh. It's not an outrageous price... in this area and considering the circumstances.

music lover

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #13 on: September 28, 2015, 06:48:27 PM »
I buy my dad a $20 gift certificate for a car wash and interior cleaning every Christmas...it gets to -35 here and he appreciates letting someone else do the work in crappy weather.

I wash my car in the driveway, but once the garden hose is put away for winter, I go to a hand wand place a couple times a months and give it a quick $3 or $4 cleaning.

D-Mac

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #14 on: September 28, 2015, 07:25:27 PM »
In my neck of the woods, it's getting increasingly illegal to wash your car yourself. 

Or rather not the washing, but washing it in a place where it's legal - for pollution reasons.  If the run off water ends up in the county storm drains or similar (which means most driveways count as this) it is simply not allowed and you are supposed to pay for a space at a commercial car wash place.

That sounds like very onerous environmental laws. Even here in NZ, where we consider ourselves a 'green' country we don't worry about minor detergent going into a sewer or storm drain

Point of Order Mr Speaker! (It looks like the silliness is heading down this way as well)
 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/71493039/that-wont-wash-porirua-city-council-bans-car-washing-on-driveways

kimmarg

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #15 on: September 29, 2015, 05:58:08 AM »
<hides in shame> I only wash my car in the drive through washes. Usually a few times a winter. I could care less about how it looks, just want the salt off the undercarriage to prevent worse rusting. Lost my last two vehicles to bad rust. Northeast winter is rough on cars. Since I only want to wash in winter the outside water is off, spigot is buried under 2 feet of snow, hoses put away,... I suppose I could shovel it all out and turn the water on and redrain the pipes but I'm lazy, I like the high powered under wash. Hate the darn waxes!

mendoman

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #16 on: September 29, 2015, 06:11:05 AM »
I wash my car once a week.  The two ladies that live by me always comment about how hard it is to wash their cars and just pay someone else.  They also have house cleaners and eat out way more then me.  Guess what, they have money problems.  I just told them "I am retiring in less than two years" and saving all I can now".  They have no idea that we save over 50% of our income.

Le Poisson

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #17 on: September 29, 2015, 06:16:14 AM »
<hides in shame> I only wash my car in the drive through washes. Usually a few times a winter. I could care less about how it looks, just want the salt off the undercarriage to prevent worse rusting. Lost my last two vehicles to bad rust. Northeast winter is rough on cars. Since I only want to wash in winter the outside water is off, spigot is buried under 2 feet of snow, hoses put away,... I suppose I could shovel it all out and turn the water on and redrain the pipes but I'm lazy, I like the high powered under wash. Hate the darn waxes!

I assume you get an underbody rust treatment then? I find doing it with a reputable shop about every third winter has an amazing effect. Ask to see their work after they're done and look to see if the oil spray got into all the crooks and nannies. Look at teh "shadow" from fuel lines etc. If there is no hint of a missed spot then you know they came back from the opposite angle to get the hidden spots.

tukk323

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #18 on: September 29, 2015, 03:37:26 PM »
In my neck of the woods, it's getting increasingly illegal to wash your car yourself. 

Or rather not the washing, but washing it in a place where it's legal - for pollution reasons.  If the run off water ends up in the county storm drains or similar (which means most driveways count as this) it is simply not allowed and you are supposed to pay for a space at a commercial car wash place.

That sounds like very onerous environmental laws. Even here in NZ, where we consider ourselves a 'green' country we don't worry about minor detergent going into a sewer or storm drain

Point of Order Mr Speaker! (It looks like the silliness is heading down this way as well)
 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/71493039/that-wont-wash-porirua-city-council-bans-car-washing-on-driveways

Their method for policing it seems pretty weak. Counting on the fact that other people in the community are 'super green'. Not to mention people could just wash it in their garage to stay hidden

Allie

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #19 on: September 29, 2015, 04:06:24 PM »
We wash our cars outdoors when the weather is nice...but over half the year the pipes would freeze and my car would turn into an icicle!  So, I pay $14 a pop every few weeks during the winter to slough off the sand and salt.

Kaikou

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #20 on: September 29, 2015, 05:11:23 PM »
Not to derail this thread, but how much would you pay for someone to come wash your car for you? Old school style and come you?

Kitsune

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #21 on: September 29, 2015, 06:59:28 PM »
When I lived in the city, I'd pay 20$ to get the car washed/vacuumed/floor shampooed every spring. I lived in an apartment (no hose, no vacuum, no parking lot access...) and I wanted to get the winter salt out of the upholstery. Now that I have a house (and hose, and vacuum) I do it myself. But... There's a time and place when throwing 20$ at the issue maintains the value of the car...

That said, once a yea is definitely different from once every 2 weeks. I have no idea why people wash their cars that often...


gimp

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #22 on: September 29, 2015, 09:36:33 PM »
Not to derail this thread, but how much would you pay for someone to come wash your car for you? Old school style and come you?

Boy, living in an apartment as I do, that would be super inconvenient. And my work is two blocks from two drive-through car washes attached to gas stations, so no need to come to work either.

Hypothetically, if I had an actual place to wash the car, and was too lazy to do it myself but wanted someone to come to me, I would assume at least $50, which would probably be beyond what I was willing to pay. If local kids / teenagers were willing to do it, though, I'd probably price that at $25 and do it once in a while... money's hard to come by as a kid, and it's easy but time-consuming work. Hell, if they clayed and waxed it, I'd pay them as much as a detailing place charges, because it'd be a lot more convenient than waiting two hours at a detailer. I'd do that once a year for sure.

meg_shannon

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #23 on: September 30, 2015, 02:56:36 AM »
Once my sister and I were old enough to have cars our Dad gave us a prepaid punch card for the local drive thru car wash every winter. (This was when we were still living at home). He knew that we probably wouldn't spend our own money, but it was important to get the salt off the cars regularly. But by that time we both had jobs and bought our own clothes, paid for our gas, our portion of the car insurance, and were saving for college - basically, we were responsible enough and he wasn't spending nearly as much as he thought he going to be on his teenage kids.

Anje

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #24 on: September 30, 2015, 05:04:25 AM »
I must admit that since my work turned polution-related I drive my car by the car wash. Even though it's still legal to do it at home. Multiply "completely negligible polution" with the number of cars being washed and you've got something bad going on. Pluss: I'm just not comfy with adding those chemicals to my garden (wich is where it ends up). I plan to eat vegies from that garden.

But I pay $ 1 to use their water, soap and drainage and bring my own wax and so on (I want to know what's in them) and wash by hand. Environment happy - wallet happy.

Oh: a full machine wash around here? $ 31. For soap, water and chemicals...

lemanfan

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #25 on: September 30, 2015, 08:43:02 AM »
But I pay $ 1 to use their water, soap and drainage and bring my own wax and so on (I want to know what's in them) and wash by hand. Environment happy - wallet happy.

Here, all the car washes - including the manual ones where you pay for water and drainage - are forced by law to use water recycling technology.  Much stuff is cleaned from the water before reuse, but the salt remains in the wintertime. I do not like to wash my car with salt water.

On the oter hand, these days I don't drive in the winter.  :)

Anje

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #26 on: September 30, 2015, 11:41:49 AM »
But I pay $ 1 to use their water, soap and drainage and bring my own wax and so on (I want to know what's in them) and wash by hand. Environment happy - wallet happy.

Here, all the car washes - including the manual ones where you pay for water and drainage - are forced by law to use water recycling technology.  Much stuff is cleaned from the water before reuse, but the salt remains in the wintertime. I do not like to wash my car with salt water.

On the oter hand, these days I don't drive in the winter.  :)
Oh, no, that's posibly  just as bad for he metal as leaving the dirt on the car.

I'm lucky  enough  to live in an area  where water is plenty, so it's normalt clean, even drinkable, tap water.

Sailor Sam

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #27 on: September 30, 2015, 12:06:18 PM »
Oh Argh! One of the Seattle thing that consistently annoys me is the difficulty in washing my damn car.

I live in a condo with underground parking and no spigot
So I asked to wash my car in a friend's driveway

But the runoff is verboten
So I went to the self wash!

But I can't find a self wash that will let me bucket wash, let along claybar or polish
So I went to the auto wash!

But I could feel those little scrubbers putting swirls into the clear coat. And the rinse section was so short, the driers were blowing soap off the car. They were mighty pissed when I made them take the car through 3 times to get the soap off.
So I researched detailing services!

They cost ~$350, for shoddy work, that I enjoy doing myself.
So I have given up! I maintain my car's paint east of the cascades. With my damn buckets, and my RO polisher, and my fiery rage. 
 

UnleashHell

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #28 on: September 30, 2015, 12:19:47 PM »
wash a car? WTF - maybe if you need it for business like uber.


Mind you mines about to hit 150k I just don't care about how it looks.

HairyUpperLip

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #29 on: October 01, 2015, 06:45:53 AM »
In the eleven years I've lived in my house, in a dense city neighborhood, I've only ever seen one other person washing their car with a hose and bucket. And that was a guy who spent his weekends offroading in a Jeep, so it was absolutely caked with filth by Sunday afternoon. Everyone else goes to the car wash.

Lived in my new home for almost 4 months now. I have not seen a single other person hand wash their car yet - just me. :(

I should buy a car wash.

There is a coin self wash place near my parent's house that has been sitting vacant and abandoned for the past several years now. The place used to stay packed when it open. My father and I got a hold of the holding company (California based - property in Georgia) and tried to inquire about purchasing the property. They never bothered to respond or return our calls.

Pretty weird because it's honestly sitting in a high traffic location and it's just withering away.

Wish I could buy it. I feel like it's a gold mine just sitting there.

Rural

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #30 on: October 01, 2015, 06:14:27 PM »
 I've never understood why anyone in a non-road salting area washes cars. It's not like they aren't going to drive on a filthy road again and get rained on.

Sailor Sam

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #31 on: October 01, 2015, 08:27:58 PM »
I've never understood why anyone in a non-road salting area washes cars. It's not like they aren't going to drive on a filthy road again and get rained on.

For me it's paint maintenance, and to keep it deliciously shiny. But I view my car as more than simple transportation, and enjoy the process of washing and polishing. If you've got a daily driver a yearly salt rinse might be enough to keep happiness flowing.

lemanfan

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #32 on: October 01, 2015, 11:04:37 PM »
For me it's paint maintenance, and to keep it deliciously shiny. But I view my car as more than simple transportation, and enjoy the process of washing and polishing. If you've got a daily driver a yearly salt rinse might be enough to keep happiness flowing.

Totally agree.  For me, having a clean and tidy car is equal to having a clean and tidy apartment.  I just like it that way.

On the other hand, my car is a pure hobby car.  I don't drive in everyday life and I even put my car in winter storage to avoid the salt too...

Anje

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #33 on: October 02, 2015, 01:33:14 AM »
I've never understood why anyone in a non-road salting area washes cars. It's not like they aren't going to drive on a filthy road again and get rained on.
I consider washing maintenance. If sertain car parts get too rusty (here, anyhow) they get taken off the road because of safety regulations. And then I have to buy a new car. And it's not just salt. It's acid rain, flying bits of stone denting the coat or metal bits and asphalt embedding themselves in the coat. I wash my car every month to keep it for years to come (it's 15 years now and needs more often washing than ever due to wear and tear).

This reminds me: I now have to find a rust-remover. I have no idea how people kept cars before Youtube..

HairyUpperLip

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #34 on: October 02, 2015, 07:58:54 AM »
The idea of washing anything besides my hands is disgusting.

So, I'm with all you anti-clean car people.

MrMoneyMaxwell

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #35 on: October 02, 2015, 07:59:26 AM »
When I lived in the midwest I'd give it a wash after winter at one of those self stations (~$3) to wash off the salt.

Here in CO, I'm told they don't use salt. I will probably just do the same every now and then out of habit.

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #36 on: October 02, 2015, 05:26:03 PM »
We pay about $10 to $15 for car washes, but generally that's 2x a year.  Our cars are filthy.

But we live in CA in a terrible drought, it's heavily discouraged to wash them yourself - both for pollution (everything drains to the ocean) AND for the drought.

Car washes recycle their water.

I also live in CA, central valley region...yeah the drought is severe in this region mind ya... I do not always wash my vehicle, but when I do....i use the window scrubber blades at the gas station...

Papa Mustache

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Re: $15 for a car wash
« Reply #37 on: October 05, 2015, 12:56:32 PM »
We wash our cars outdoors when the weather is nice...but over half the year the pipes would freeze and my car would turn into an icicle!  So, I pay $14 a pop every few weeks during the winter to slough off the sand and salt.

I go to the quarter wash after every snow event here which is only four or five times per year. We aren't in the salt belt but our state and city does salt the roads. I got to the quarter wash and spend about $5 in quarters to hose ever part of the car off. Under the hood, in the wheel wells, under the floors, etc. The car looks new underneath. Meanwhile other cars of equal age are rotting out. Don't know if they came from up north or if they were local cars since new. 

I see it as being frugal b/c I am taking the time to protect my automotive investment.

During fairer weather I happily bucket/hand wash the cars in my driveway. Once the weather turns cool I love doing it still. A bucket of warm water. Then I vacuum the interior out and wipe down all the surfaces. I can hardly stand to travel in a car that hasn't been cleaned up a little. Its like wearing dirty clothes after taking a shower. I also feel that its a reflection on my family sort of like keeping the yard in good condition. I know if I lived up north this car washing would be a pointless task during months of snow and slush and filthy roads.
« Last Edit: October 05, 2015, 01:03:17 PM by Joe Average »