Elements Hand Car Wash

Ferrarislave

Ferrarislave

exotiXboard
Here comes a rant! So here we go; I just recently moved and got settled in today. It’s in the single digits here in Chicago and my Jeep was filthy (lots of road salt) so I drove by this new really nice hand car wash called Elements Hand Car Wash in Mundelein, Illinois. Anyway, they pulled my Jeep in then washed the wheels, and under carriage and got off a lot of excess grit with a pressure washer. So far so good right? Afterwards they were supposed to start washing it by hand with mitts, instead the machine that sprays foam on the vehicle was broken so the bus boys pulled the car around 3 times and put it back in thru the car wash trying to get it t work. The foam didn't work so they can't wash it by hand. So what they proceeded to do now is use the lower body panel brush on the hood, roof, doors, trunk and every where else. I knock on the window and tell him to stop and get my car the hell out of there and go and talk to the owner. I tell the owner I know a thing or two about detailing and this is just ridiculous. He asks me if I work at a car wash (please, I’m in internet marketing). I kindly reply saying no, but I own a large forum that knows a lot about detailing and I’m a member at practically every other forum specializing in luxury and exotic cars. Anyway, he tries to show me the brush and mitts they use to further reassure me that everything they are doing is ok. He is then swept off his feet when he see's the bus boys doing it to another car. He tells them to stop and gets my car washed by hand. We talked for a little while and he apologized, gave me a free detail, and had my car cleaned up.



So you’re wondering ughh what the hell is the big deal right? You got a free car wash… I'm really anal and got really heated when I saw what was happening. Sure my Jeep is a 99 and has 80,000 miles on it, it's not a S600, or Ferrari F430, but that doesn't mean I don’t like to have nice paint. After they were done they couldn't start my Jeep. They said the battery died because they left the lights on for 45 minutes… They were lucky to have jumper cables and jumped it…



:: Elements Hand Car Wash :: is there website. The owners name is Bill Rouse. He is a pretty nice guy, although at first he came off as a “no not my guys” type character Then he then saw the bus boys using the lower body panel brush with his own eyes and apologized.



I got a few swirls on my hood, doors, and roof now. Nothing a little buffing can't fix in the spring, but still all I wanted was a car wash instead I got a car wash + swirls. Good thing my BMW wasn't going thru that car wash!!! The owner told me they had a SL65 AMG and a Murcielago come thru the wash a few days ago, kind of hard to believe, because i'd shoot up the place if I saw my Murcielago getting hacked up with a handle brush.
 
Ferrarislave said:
Ya, the wash would have been very decnet without the bristle brush!
Click to expand...

I have used the local car wash place here when I'm not feeling up to it myself or the weather is to cold...I accepted what I know is going to be the results
 
Yea, they had microfiber mitts, lots of soap, and good chemicals. But the guys just xxxxed up by using a spoke brush all over the doors and hood.
 
I'd rather get frostbite than take my car to a car wash. I've worked entirely too hard for them to screw up my paint in ten minutes. I'm sorry about your Jeep.
 
For me, I have a couple of clients with work vehicles that are below my standards for a wash. In lieu of having to throw away wash mitts, chamois, & towels every time they request these vehicles be washed, and as a courtesy for their long standing patronage, I'll run these vehicles through a local tunnel at my standard wash rate. For me, I tend to walk away with a grin seeing them go from washing a vehicle with flaking off clearcoat straight to a black vehicle (having managed a car wash I can tell where to stage a vehicle so as to be in front of something nice -- I am not well :lmao ) without even re-dunking the wash mitts. I kinda get a sick and twisted smile when I think of it like this -- look if you got the money to spend on a 760il, an S500AMG, or even a F250 Harley Edition why the @!#$% are you running it through the $9.99 tunnel, you really do get what you pay for. Oh, and I don't hide from who I am or what I do for a living. The owners, they know me, I'm there every other week in my shirt with my company logo on the back advertising in a subtle way.

Sorry to hear about your Jeep though, I do relate. Back when I was married, my wife decided to do something nice for us and have our black '89 Suburban washed for us at a tunnel... I to ended up with a free buff out from their repair of a dirt embedded wash mitt trail that went quite haphazardly from the front wheel well all the down the side of the truck. It only took me 6 hours to remove their "scratch removal" compound swirls (imron is a nice hard paint).
 
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