Where have all the automatic car washes gone?

This is sort of on topic, because washing the car ought to be a do-it-yourself job, but I dislike doing it especially in very cold weather like now. So, especially in winter, I used to take the car to a nearby automatic car wash, the sort with big fluffy rollers which rotated while detergent solution was squirted out, and this did a perfectly good job in a couple of minutes for maybe £2-50 or £3.

But they all seem to have vanished around us, and all you can find are "attended" washes where some unfortunate youngster squirts a hose at your car for a few seconds and then charges you a fiver. If they do a good job it takes a lot longer, and if they don't do a good job I resent paying more than for having something done that could be done better and more quickly by machine, indeed a machine that I know used to be installed all over the place.

Is there some health and safety issue that has passed me by, or do some fully automatic car washes still exist, if you search hard enough?

Reply to
Clive Page
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we have one in the village and one at Sainbury's filling station 6 miles away. But one nearer than that has closed; forecourt rebuilt and the space is now a Little Waitrose. Presumably more money in it.

Reply to
charles

The brushes had a reputation for picking up grit and scoring paintwork, so they have gone out of favor. They are pretty hopeless if you have a properl y muddy car after a trip through the countryside or when bugs have baked th emselves on your bonnet.

Reply to
philipuk

They got rid of 'em because they frequently ripped mirrors, aerials and spoilers off.

If I have to use a pay carwash, I'll use one of the token-in-slot jet washes. Other than that, it's a bucket in the drive...

Actually, who am I kidding? The Peugeot's starting to turn green in the places that aren't an inch deep in mud.

Reply to
Adrian

What's this "car washing"? Mine *might* get a wash in the spring to get the salt off, that'll be mid to late May before it's reasonably certain that there won't be any more salt spread. the only other time it's likely to get washed is by a garage after a service or repairs.

What's the point? 50 yds down the road it'll be all mucky again. If the winscreen gets too bug splattered in the summer and washers/rain don't shift it (rare) that and the headlights will get cleaned but nothing else.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Two out of the three filling stations near here have them. One also has a DIY washing place with pressure washer etc.

But it is 5 quid for a basic wash/dry - more for special wax etc.

But I don't use them. They scratch the paint.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The handwashes around here are staffed by East Europeans who do a fantastic job. Lotions, potiona, alloy wheel stuff, move forward 3 feet to get the difficult bit - dried with chamois (dried with a mangle) and finally soft paper - all for £6. Why would I bother?

Reply to
Jim_S

You don't live in Dover do you? :)

Reply to
Albert Zweistein

Perfect job could be a matter of discussion, especially in Winter . Ice on the brushes on a cold day doesn't do bodywork any favours .

They are out there but many closed as environmental regulations got tougher/and or enforced. The shampoo dirt mixture is classed as an industrial waste chemical and is not allowed to run away freely where it can permeate the ground or enter surface water drains. Can go into the foul drains if the water company agrees for which they will charge . If they won't take it then it must be stored and collected by tanker to a treatment works so more cost. To keep such costs down the remaining sites usually have equipment that filters and recycles the water to an extent but purchasing that involves a capital outlay. The 5 East European slaves in a row operations are supposed to conform to the same regs but can easily shut up and run if things get sticky and they often offer more expensive operations such as a polish or vacumming to bring some revenue in and although pressure washers arn't inexpensive they are cheaper than a car wash such as wilcomatic . Added to which most of those were on the edge of a service station, many of those have closed anyway and those that are still open prefer to use the space the car wash took for parking as the service station now doubles up as a small supermarket.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

I wash my car every few weeks, mainly because once it gets a coating of dirt all over the paintwork, I only have to brush against it as I am getting in (I have to park my car close to a hedge to leave space for my wife's car alongside on the drive) and I get filthy clothes.

I have always washed my car myself, not because I don't trust automatic car washes but because I don't want to pay (either for a machine or a hand wash) for a job I can do myself for free. And I especially don't want to pay someone who doesn't speak English and who doesn't understand "take care not to scratch the paint work". I'm also a bit reticent to open my car doors or boot to let them clean the sills, in case someone nicks something.

Maybe it's the Yorkshire upbringing; "never pay someone else to do something you can do yourself for free". I can wash my own car, so I do. I can't change a tap or a ballcock so I play a plumber to do it.

Reply to
NY

Same here - top job

Reply to
RJH

+1 - but in the Portsmout area it is £5 Malcolm
Reply to
Malcolm Race

Yeah mine has only had a proper wash once in its 10ish years I've had it now.

Yeah, I usually do wash the front side windows when I am filling the windscreen washer tank, because I do that with a gun on the hose.

The window seals aren't designed that well so that they can get pretty hard to see thru when they have been opened and closed a few times in the better weather when they have got pretty dirty because the car doesn't have a garage and lives under the trees so gets pretty filthy after the rain.

Reply to
hunar

You anywhere near Canterbury? Morrison's has an auto one, we use it as out in the sticks cars get muddy in the winter.

Near Morrison's is Homebase where there's a full service one (i.e. some geezers do it all for you by hand - wash, vacuum, polish. I've not used that.

Both are on the Wincheap Retail estate.

Reply to
Tim Streater

I imagine people here are right to tell you East European manual car washes have taken over from the automatic machines

However I wonder where all those big car wash machines, presumably in good working order, have physically gone to.

Surely they haven't all been scrapped although I'm not sure what else can be done with them.

Reply to
pamela

The answer is in what you've written. Bought by East Europeans to wash the cars at home since all the people who can hand wash are over here :-)

Reply to
Clive George

Brilliant! Maybe it's would even be seen as a status symbol in East Europe to have your car machine washed.

Reply to
pamela

The is one nearby where I live but the car is given a pre wash by two eastern Europeans before it goes into the automatic rotary brush, wax and forced air dry system.

The pre-wash is a spray of some chemicals to the alloy wheels, an all over power wash with soapy water and a large soft broom to get rid of the worst of the bird s**te and mud.

They have the slogan - it doesn't cost the earth to wash your car. It costs form £3 to £10 depending on which program is used in the auto wash. The bit about not costing the earth is explained in the small print - they are eco friendly by recycling the water/chemicals and/or not flushing harmful waste into the sewer system.

Reply to
alan_m

There's an auto (attended, they do some prep first) at Chestfield/ Swalecliffe on the Old Thanet Way too.

Reply to
Bob Eager

The windows and other glass get cleaned when necessary. I might wash the car once a year if it's so filthy clothing gets mucky getting in and out.

We have a German hand car wash about a mile away. Why German? Well, it seems to be used almost exclusively by Mercs, BMWs, and Audis. Occasionally I see a Porsche. I must admit that I have seen, although very rarely, the odd Range Rover and Jag.

Reply to
Jeff Layman

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