fbfisher

Yes Wash Car - No Car Wash

As for your .75 car wash story - that place was way ahead of its time - Here in LA LA land, almost every car wash is a "hand wash" - only they have the track to pull your car, but a bunch of guys (sans beer) in rubber suits wash your car as it moves through. $6.95 during "happy hour".

But I do my own - every week - I love caressing those curves with sudsy water.

Skytop

Fb:
What a suprise! Coming from the East coast where every car wash was automated, I remember my astonishment in 1970 at seeing the 'organic' wash crew inside the building. Hell, I was also amazed at my first site of GRITS!!!!!!!

Now you say this is the norm in LaLa land! Guess everything old is new again in the car wash biz!

cmoss

We occasionally get the topless chick fundraising carwashes... Always good for--um--a couple of laughs.

Ray Calvo

From Yank: [quote]I used to live in Ohio and what I would do is go to a coin op one with my own bucket, rag and soap. Leave the car running with the heater on high. ... Then wash the car as fast as I could leaving the wheels till the last and then putting my buck in and giving it a good rinse. I would do this no matter how cold and never once had frozen locks. <hr></blockquote>

You must have been lucky if you never wiped off the door sills or brought the car into a heated garage later. I did similar to the above with my old Audi Coupe Quattro (pearl white) one clear winter day when it was above freezing. Then went to a party at a friend's house. Than night due to the clear skies the temperature plummeted! Well, not only the locks froze, but the doors also froze into the openings! Finally got one lock unlocked, but couldn't get any doors open. After much banging, got into the car thru the hatchback!

If you're washing a car in the winter, afterwards pull it into a heated garage and wipe down all the door openings and treat the door locks to some freeze protection stuff. Otherwise you could have an "anti theft" system that would put the "Immobilizer" to shame!

MJBird993

I know my neighbors think I'm nuts, but I wash my cars, rain or shine, snow or sun, by hand. In the winter I wear latex dishwashing gloves and use warm water. I suspect someone here will say "warm water strips off the wax" but I don't think so and besides, I can't wax it unless it's clean. In the summer, it's just me and my chamois g-string. (OK, just kidding!)

And I live in North Carolina, not South Carolina, so it gets chilly here too. Highs in the 40's this weekend. <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" />

Michael <img src="graemlins/wave.gif" border="0" alt="[byebye]" />

JPS

I switched to a microfiber g-string myself. Less chafing, but doesn't absorb water out of the cracks as well

Caveman

Hi Andrew,

I once saw a car wash machine repairman checking that a car wash was working by putting his car through it. His car was maybe a year old, looked matt and all his wheel trims had their silver paint worn off!

Don't do it!

Cheers,

David
<img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" />

Speedraser

Don't do it!

BTW, I have read more than once that the touchless washes use really nasty chemicals to do their job.