Sometimes people in the south forget where they're living

[tallyho8]

I go to self serve all the time as my primary wash. Generally no more than $5 in quarters and I get the weathertech floor matts good as well. Actually closest to me, only 5 miles into my town instead of having to drive 25-30 minutes to big fancier ones.

Back in the 80s when I hunted a lot and had 4 wheel drive I used the quarter machines a lot to get the mud off the truck. At that time they had gone up from 1 quarter for 3 minutes to 3 quarters for 3 minutes and it cost me about $4 to wash my truck. Now they are about 4 quarters for 2 minutes and cost me about $8 to wash my truck and it doesn't do nearly as well or as fast as the automatic car washes here. My favorite one is $8 but only $6 on Tuesdays and it was $7 a few months ago and $6 last year. Prices are going up quick.

 

[LouNY]

Well I pay $38 per month for unlimited washes, if I were to get a single wash it would be $20 each so more then 2X a month and I come out ahead. In the winter time I try and get over to one at least once preferably twice a week so I come out ahead. Summer time I usually break even but not every month.

 

[AnotherBueller]

Lot of chance to get dirty again unless the roads are dry.

I didn't realize that car washes still had people working there, any I've seen in the last 10-15 years have been totally automated...pay with a CC and drive thru. There's usually a phone # to call if there are problems.

Curiously, what do you use to lube the door weatherstripping so they don't freeze? Nothing I've ever tried worked.

Southern cars have always sold for a premium here for that very reason. There are car lots that specialize in them...they'll send a carrier to an auction down south and come back with a load.
Of course, they may or may not be in any better mechanical condition, but at least they're not usually rusted out. You've just got to beware after a flood or hurricane that you don't get something that got wet.

Silicone spray lube on all door gaskets ONLY. Use a shield when near glass and upholstery. Hard to clean off glass W/O distortions and makes seat very slippery.

 

[dstig1]

Car washes around here close when it gets below 10 deg, typically. Sometimes below 5. 20's are perfectly fine to wash a car. Upper teens OK, lower teens can be pushing it depending on if you are parking somewhere indoors or not. Water is always hot as far as I can tell, year round. It would have to be to get anything clean, in any case. Every car wash I have seen here has the blow dry station at the end. I try to keep mine clean in the winter including undercarriage wash to keep the salt corrosion at bay. It is hard when we get extended cold snaps like now. There are ones that pull you through but by far the most common is the pull in and stop when the light goes on and the car wash moves around your parked car. I only use touchless ones on a car I care about but both types are common, and some can do both/either depending on what you pick. I keep my garage heated to about 55 in the winter so no worries that it will freeze and it has plenty of time to dry.

 

[Oaktree]

Every once in a blue moon I'll get a quick wash at the one gas station. You drive through it until the red light comes on, STOP, put it in park, and let the thing do it's job. Green light comes on and you drive out. Pretty easy but the actual building is small, no "car pulley" system.

That's how most, if not all the ones around me are.

The car wash I normally use just takes the top layer off, leaving a coating of dirt. If you pay for the clear coat, that layer of dirt becomes part of your finish. I mostly do it to get the windows clean.

Ones here don't to too bad of a job, rear hatch is the one spot that doesn't always get very clean. Mostly I use them in the winter to get the salt off. My vehicles are old enough that they don't need to be perfectly clean.

There's an initial charge, just as when you put in quarters. Then they add on more minutes until you shut it off.

Learned that the hard way first time I used one of those. No signs, figured you got a set time then it would shut off. Ran up a much higher bill than intended trying to run out the clock.

 

[Torvy]

When we still lived in SD..about 24 years ago this week, we drove down to Vegas to show our kids to my MIL. (2nd one had been born in Sep). Pretty bad weather had set in, but not too bad for someone used to snow and cold. We stopped in OKC to visit the zoo (had a zoo pass to get the 2 yr old out for a while). The parking lot was a sheet of ice and they had closed down the zoo. Shook our heads and headed west to Amarillo for the night.

Roads along the way were pretty salty, so when we woke up in Amarillo the next morning we decided to wash the car. The temp was probably 28 or so. We were shocked when they said it was closed. They didn't typically close back home until Temps got blow zero. Heck, we washed the car a lot more in winter than summer. Most of the washes had the underbody spray that helped fight the corrosion.

Driving on ice and snow is tricky, but it is a skill you learn when you live in it every day for 6 months.

 

[WM75Guy]

Both the cars are on the Take 5 carwash unlimited deluxe wash plan, $39.99 a month. The pickup goes thru as needed. It's the stay in your car conveyor system. At the end are parking spaces with free vacuums. We go thru at least once a week as we have an iron ore driveway. At $25 for the deluxe wash we come out ahead. The plan is to get the driveway redone with asphalt millings, so that should help.

 

[Sigarms]

Texted this to my son last night. He got up this morning already as he's working 7-3 at the car wash and then 4-10 at the grocery store.

Honestly, I'm going to be a little ticked if they close the car wash down early today as they told him last night they will be open. I understand it's not my place, but if you closed it down one day due to below freezing temps (the issue as I asked him was not people complaining, but the actual equipment freezing over), I'm scratching my head on why you would still stay open in later days when it's below freezing.

I asked him that before he left, and he just said "I don't know, I just do what I'm told" LMAO

I can only guess there are certain heating parts in the washing system that are installed to prevent freezing water lines or it could just be the indoor temperature in the wash area keeps the cold water issue at bay.

To the guys who commented on my son, yes, I am proud of him. At this point, he isn't going to college, but planning on the military. He already has multiple supervisors from his last two jobs that have told him they would give him a glowing reference if needed, and I have two friends who own some decent sized companies in my trade that have told me they'd have no issues with hiring him after he graduates high school (and I have no qualms with recommending him due to his work ethic I've seen).

He's turned out better than the same kid I knew 5 years ago who couldn't get up out of bed before noon on his own when he had a day off from school LOL

 

[Sigarms]

Both the cars are on the Take 5 carwash unlimited deluxe wash plan, $39.99 a month. The pickup goes thru as needed. It's the stay in your car conveyor system. At the end are parking spaces with free vacuums.

The company my son works for offers that as well. I really got excited because with my company truck, we have 5 vehicles less my son's car.

Then I found out that the $40 a month only covers one car.

Only time It would be worth doing one vehicle is when we drove 30 minutes into that town vs the self serve car wash only 5 miles into our local town (where I normally take them and then use the shop vac at home to clean the inside).

 

[daugen]

I've normally washed my own vehicles, except in the winter. Up North, all of us have to turn our outside water off.
coin op car washes are often a sheet of ice inside

I return to my dream of an oversized garage with a center drain floor and smooth concrete to roll around on a seat to fuss with cleaning the wheels
well heated of course

roads here still glistening white from salt and brine

costs five bucks to drive to car wash. another cost consideration

I think car washes can be hard on your car though. First the scratched paint, even with latest tech, and then i wonder about my front end alignment
as the machine drags my front tires against the side of the rail and you feel the car jerk. I spend extra time trying to line up as straight as I can.
Actually....I have a forward camera I could turn on. Might try that next time.
of course I have to turn off all the proximity buzzers, they come alive when you go in a drive thru car wash.