Just taken my car to the car wash, its a newish one various prices the most being £8.00, i had that one as I have just returned from Le Mans (it was great fun, poured with rain) and there was a great deal of mud on the RAV. The wash starts off with de-greaser, jet spray etc , then through a comprehensive wash wax, dry. Once done I checked the car and the arches were still caked in mud, went back to the operator she said we only clean what we can see, the menu said the underside, but her retort was the arches are not, I was in total disbelief. I argued in a calm manner but she would not budge, she would not do it again as it would cost her money!!!!, I was not in the mood for any more, asked her for her bosses telephone number, nil response, I left, I have used many times before, but not any more. Thought of advising trading standards whats your view.
Richard Price
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Is this a hand car wash or an automatic.
If its a hand wash, then I would expect the initial rinse/jet wash to include some element of wheel arch cleaning.
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>>If its a hand wash, then I would expect the initial rinse/jet wash to include some element of wheel arch cleaning
What for £8.00, dont want much do you ;0
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This is another reason the Polish/Nigerian guys, working out of just about every disused petrol station do so well!
They tend to NOT miss bits, cleaning by hand (although I'd only EVER do it myself!!) & work pretty hard for their few £$£$.
There must be one near you, for next time!!
VB
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I use a hand car wash in a car park in Evesham. You park for free and come back to the cleanest car you can imagine - both my cars are black and even the 7 year old one comes out gleaming. No missed bits, no smears, wheels look like new, and wheel arched pressure washed. All for £5, or £10 with a wax finish, which I have occasionnally. Full valet £30.
Makes you lazy though ................
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we've got a load of Albanians near us who do it....my mate who's a water board employee advises me they don't pay the industrial rates for dumping everything down the drains, but being selfish i overlook that....another mate used to be a professional car valeter won't go near them for fear of longer term problems with his cars...but....they do a better job than i do and since the ex-valeter gave me some insight into the no-no's i've watched them carefully and they seem to do all the right things
e.g. rinse thoroughly with a mild jet wash first to get rid of grit, use a mitt next (when one bloke dropped his mitt, he immediately stopped using it and picked up another).
for what was £10 (now £12.50) a decent outside wash, some kind of spray on the alloys which gets the lot off, chamois dry, hoover and window clean/main surfaces inside, seems good value to me
problem with the 'black economy' isn't it......too attractive to miss
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These people WILL scratch your car, maybe not this week but maybe next time. I know it takes me a hell of a long time to wash my car, i'm very careful with my mit but sure that even me doing it does not guarantee a 100% perfect finish. They do a 5 minute job, "quick quick quick how many cars can we do in a day lets show the boss" attitude. I admire their hard work, but wouldn't let them near my car.
Always cracks me up the amount of real expensive supercars i see them cleaning. Why spend £100-200k on car and not wash it yourself!
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but wouldn't let them near my car.
I agree,it also takes me half a day to wash and polish a car properly,well worth taking the time over IMO
>>Always cracks me up the amount of real expensive supercars i see them cleaning
I see them,but they never do a good job...
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Yeh, I used to do all the washing stuff myself, but when I factor in the time, weather constraints etc...... the fact is that these guys get the car cleaner than I ever can. They operate in a multi-storey car park so no problems with weather.
I like my cars to look good but I sometimes think life's too short to worry about the odd light scratch (which I haven't picked up with their washing but certainly did pick up with my own 'meticulous' approach!).
I'm not a fan of drive-through car washes, though. I think these are now quite expensive for what they are and the possibility of damage - and the certainty of lots of fine scratches on black paint - means that that they are best suited to older cars or company cars.
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Pat L has hit the nail on the head for me........these people might not be perfect.....BUT...they do a better job than i'd do
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Is this a hand car wash or an automatic.
I'll always remember the occasion that a work colleague put his company van through an automatic car wash. The van ended up badly scratched by a previous customer's radio aerial that was caught in one of the brushes. I've never been to an automatic car wash since, and I never will.
--
L\'escargot.
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I'll always remember the occasion that a work colleague put his company van through an automatic car wash. The van ended up badly scratched by a previous customer's radio aerial that was caught in one of the brushes.
I seem to recall Mark (RLBS) lost his aerial in just this fashion!
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I am sure he wasn't too happy ;-)
Where is he, haven't 'seen' him for ages.
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I use Morrisons "Soft Brush" Auto car wash, £1.95 for wash rinse & wheel scrub, no scratches due it having soft brushes. What puzzles me though is why they give me a plastic sleeve to slip over the rear wiper but none for the front wipers, are rear wipers more susceptible to getting snagged in the brushes ?
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What puzzles me though is why they give me a plastic sleeve to slip over the rear wiper but none for the front wipers are rear wipers more susceptible to getting snagged in the brushes ?
Rotation of brushes pushes wwipers against the windscreen and can pull the back wiper off - hence the tape - this is easier than stopping half way through the cycle and rotating the brushdes the other way.
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Anybody who puts their prized motor through an automatic car wash must want their head examined.
But, I guess, if the car is only theirs for the first three years it will be history before they notice the state of the paint.
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I often use an ARC automatic car wash, I dont have time to regularly hand wash my car. They do a jet wash by hand before it goes through the machine and the end result is usually pretty acceptable IMO. They seem to me to be superior to the unmanned filling station auto car washes.
At the one I go to there would be no chance of them leaving wheelarches full of mud. The auto brushes can sometimes miss little nooks but overall its good enough for £4 or £5 when I havent got time to hand wash it.
In many years of regularly using auto car washes I've only once had a car damaged. One once took the (glued on) rear spoiler off my old Mk3 Golf but it was loose and flapping to start with, I knew there was a 50% chance of it getting ripped off. I stuck it back on with silicone and it stayed put after that.
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