Gas Stations and Car Washes

Alpha8472
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Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Alpha8472 »

I discovered something called a Laserwash at a Chevron station recently. I also found it at a Valero station where I found out that I could get a $1 discount if I bought even a few cents of gas. I was very impressed by the touchless high pressure wash. It is very good at cleaning a car and it does not scratch the paint. I know the LED light show is a gimmick, but I actually thought it was kind of fun. Not all Laserwashes have the light show, but it was a fun car wash.

Do gas station car washes attract more customers? Is it worth it? I see so many people going to hand car wash places and spending $80, $90, or even over $100 on those car wash packages. I was impressed by the $14 Laserwash.

I cannot even go near any other kind of car wash anymore. I now see how dirty and abrasive those brush car washes are.

It seems like in California, most people like the hand car wash places or settle for the occasional gas station wash. In other states, it seems like there are professional car wash only business where they have 3 or 4 lanes of machine car washes.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on December 22nd, 2020, 3:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
storewanderer
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by storewanderer »

There are a couple Quik Stops with that laser car wash thing up here. I think they run around $6 to start.

Costco has car wash at some CA locations. I wonder what their equipment is. I've never physically seen a Costco car wash.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Brian Lutz »

Costco has a car wash at their #001 Seattle store (which is a modern Costco that replaced the original SoDo location about ten years ago; they have a small piece of the original building and a display of some memorabilia at the front of the store.) If I recall correctly, the car wash equipment there was pretty standard, but I think it was only about $7 for a full service wash at the time.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Super S »

Alpha8472 wrote: December 19th, 2020, 9:28 pm I discovered something called a Laserwash at a Chevron station recently. I also found it at a Valero station where I found out that I could get a $1 discount if I bought even a few cents of gas. I was very impressed by the touchless high pressure wash. It is very good at cleaning a car and it does not scratch the paint. I know the LED light show is a gimmick, but I actually though it was kind of fun. Not all Laserwashes have the light show, but it was a fun car wash.

Do gas station car washes attract more customers? Is it worth it? I see so many people going to hand car wash places and spending $80, $90, or even over $100 on those car wash packages. I was impressed by the $14 Laserwash.

I cannot even go near any other kind of car wash anymore. I now see how dirty and abrasive those brush car washes are.

It seems like in California, most people like the hand car wash places or settle for the occasional gas station wash. In other states, it seems like there are professional car wash only business where they have 3 or 4 lanes of machine car washes.
There is a Chevron near me where I wanted to try the touchless wash. When I pulled up though there was just a keypad...no attendant, no credit card or cash machine. Either you pay inside or pay for a wash at the pump...very odd that you don't see this until you try to enter. No signs or anything. There is another touchless car wash near me that I recently used, but the equipment is in disrepair, jets were plugged and there were stripes of dirt afterward on the side of my car.

I only use car washes occasionally to get rid of road grime/chemicals etc. I usually just use self serve and never use the brush. It seems like a lot of car washes are poorly maintained in my area though and I prefer doing it at home. There is a hand wash place near me but I think it's around $15 and usually has a line backed up in to the street.

I don't see many gas stations building them though...I know of several car washes near me that have closed though in recent years.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Brian Lutz »

Car washes definitely seem to do better in some places than they do in others, which probably has a lot to do with the seasons. In a place like the Pacific Northwest the rainy season is roughly 7-8 months out of the year, and snow is relatively uncommon in the lowlands even in Winter. Car washes do exist here, but aside from the occasional Brown Bear, a few scattered coin-op washes (pay-and-sprays), gas station washes and a handful of full-service places they just aren't all that common. When I was in Utah this year during the Summer it seemed like car washes of all types (gas stations, pay-and-sprays, full-service places) were all over the place in the Salt Lake Valley, especially along the major corridors like State Street and 700E, to the point that you start to wonder just why there are so many of them. Then again, keeping up appearances seems to be a bit of a theme in Utah. You also notice that a lot of people's lawns are very well maintained even throughout the hottest part of Summer, and even though water supplies tend to be somewhat scarce in that area.

In places with more clearly defined seasons there seems to be more demand for it, either in Summer where you want a clean car to go out in nice weather, or in Winter when there's salt on the roads and you need to wash it off to prevent corrosion. Around here there just doesn't seem to be much need for a car wash when it's raining a lot of the time anyway.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by klkla »

Brian Lutz wrote: December 21st, 2020, 2:30 pm Car washes definitely seem to do better in some places than they do in others, which probably has a lot to do with the seasons. In a place like the Pacific Northwest the rainy season is roughly 7-8 months out of the year, and snow is relatively uncommon in the lowlands even in Winter. Car washes do exist here, but aside from the occasional Brown Bear, a few scattered coin-op washes (pay-and-sprays), gas station washes and a handful of full-service places they just aren't all that common. When I was in Utah this year during the Summer it seemed like car washes of all types (gas stations, pay-and-sprays, full-service places) were all over the place in the Salt Lake Valley, especially along the major corridors like State Street and 700E, to the point that you start to wonder just why there are so many of them. Then again, keeping up appearances seems to be a bit of a theme in Utah. You also notice that a lot of people's lawns are very well maintained even throughout the hottest part of Summer, and even though water supplies tend to be somewhat scarce in that area.

In places with more clearly defined seasons there seems to be more demand for it, either in Summer where you want a clean car to go out in nice weather, or in Winter when there's salt on the roads and you need to wash it off to prevent corrosion. Around here there just doesn't seem to be much need for a car wash when it's raining a lot of the time anyway.
I lived in Seattle for a few years when I was a kid. I guess you can say the PNW is nature's car wash most of the year.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Alpha8472 »

In Northern California, we have been having very little rain for what seems like years. For months, it did not rain at all. We also had horrible wildfires and my car was covered in black soot and ash for weeks at a time for the past several years. The price of car washes alone is enough to make you go broke. The ash was so corrosive that the paint is peeling off my once very pristine 23 year old car. Washing your car at home was banned. I once saw the sprinklers malfunctioning at a gas station. Water was spraying all over. I so wanted to park there and let the water clean my car. However, the water got turned off just as I got to the sprinklers.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Super S »

klkla wrote: December 21st, 2020, 5:44 pm
Brian Lutz wrote: December 21st, 2020, 2:30 pm Car washes definitely seem to do better in some places than they do in others, which probably has a lot to do with the seasons. In a place like the Pacific Northwest the rainy season is roughly 7-8 months out of the year, and snow is relatively uncommon in the lowlands even in Winter. Car washes do exist here, but aside from the occasional Brown Bear, a few scattered coin-op washes (pay-and-sprays), gas station washes and a handful of full-service places they just aren't all that common. When I was in Utah this year during the Summer it seemed like car washes of all types (gas stations, pay-and-sprays, full-service places) were all over the place in the Salt Lake Valley, especially along the major corridors like State Street and 700E, to the point that you start to wonder just why there are so many of them. Then again, keeping up appearances seems to be a bit of a theme in Utah. You also notice that a lot of people's lawns are very well maintained even throughout the hottest part of Summer, and even though water supplies tend to be somewhat scarce in that area.

In places with more clearly defined seasons there seems to be more demand for it, either in Summer where you want a clean car to go out in nice weather, or in Winter when there's salt on the roads and you need to wash it off to prevent corrosion. Around here there just doesn't seem to be much need for a car wash when it's raining a lot of the time anyway.
I lived in Seattle for a few years when I was a kid. I guess you can say the PNW is nature's car wash most of the year.
Washington is a place though where the use of road salt is increasing during the times we actually get cold/snowy weather, mainly in the mountain areas, but it has found it's way into some of the chemicals used in lowland areas. Very few car washes offer an under car spray, one automated touchless wash here offers it but it never seems to work right.
If you don't wash your car during the rainy season though, it doesn't take long for moss to start growing even when driven every day.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Alpha8472 »

The Laserwash does a very good undercarriage wash. You can drive really slowly when you enter the wash to take advantage of the spray.
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Re: Gas Stations and Car Washes

Post by Alpha8472 »

Has anyone noticed people getting fewer car washes? The car wash places seem to be losing business these days.
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