How Private Equity Drove America's Car Wash Obsession

Driven by private equity and subscription-based models, the US car wash industry is growing like never before. From New Jersey to California, cities and towns are feeling the sometimes unwelcome effects. Now some have decided to slow the surge.

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[meawwow]

Video sponsored by A1A Car Wash, Albuquerque

[andrewehyang]

Yeah the issue with car washes is when the industry goes bust the building usually can’t be repurposed

[uss_]

They sign you up for a subscription and hope you forget about it. And you’re still toweling off your car and vacuuming it yourself.

[deanfisher]

In my area, SoCal, many of the local car washes have closed and the remaining ones have switched to automated exterior only. I’ve gone back to washing my own car by hand, and have to say it’s pretty enjoyable and my cars are a whole lot cleaner and better cared for. I’m really tired of big corporations ruining local businesses that provided a way better experience.

[baccaandthesquad]

It sounds like streetsboro is where all the Ohio fent dealers wash their money

[The_Quaalude]

Fewer people will own homes, no driveway or parking spots to wash their cars.

[bimmer]

I still hand wash my cars 99% of time . Those more automated car washes never really get your car truly clean .

[laurachristianson]

I just love washing my own car, it’s such a zen experience. I always feel a personal relationship with my cars, I keep them for many years, so just giving them a bath every once in a while just makes us both happy.

[SuperPerfectMan]

They should do saturation bans for fast food restaurants 😂😂😂😂😂

[williameason]

I've found you can drive hundreds of thousands of miles without washing your car, and it runs just fine.

[JP-swho]

I wish they'd open more self wash locations, where you don't have to submit your car to the reused dirty rollers that swirl your paint. Just a stall with a pressure washer please

[BenTsangKun]

There's always a need to wash dirty -money- cars

[jonasl]

The entrepreneurial spirit of Romanian Immigrants with thick eyebrows plays a big part in this.

[willb]

I genuinely don’t know the last time I washed my car. Rain washes it fine

[Crazylegs]

They destroy and deteriorate your Clear coat, Wax, Coating, and PPF.
If you want a shiny car get a detail, if you want a problem after it dries go drive through.

[sonnymarino]

Yup, we had one open in our city. You can get a membership for like $40 a month for unlimited car washes. Course they use your license, so you can’t use multiple cars on 1 memberships. Also we have several gas stations that have car washes built into them.

[techserviceondemand]

I started to notice this in my little (10k population) SW rural town a few years ago. A bit of a head scratcher on why there are so many car washes here. Now it kind of made sense.

[eyelovecolorado]

People will do stupid things with money when you keep rates at 0% for 12 years! 😂

[Furious_Slap]

I don’t know about tunnel washes but my family own gas station properties and automated car washes are almost 90% profit.

[RRLV]

I’ve used these automated washes numerous times and my car hasn’t had any of the issues people in this comment section are talking about