Alvarado Coin-Op Carwash

I’ve come here a number of times to wash my vehicle, and the nice thing is that it is self-​serve and it’s not overpriced like Classic Car Wash. Only downside is that it can get pretty busy at times. There are also several vacuums to clean the interior of your vehicle.

After I put my $ 7 in the machine, I realized there was no brush attached to the end of the hose where it should have been. Seriously?!? It was just spewing foam out the end of the hose. My countdown had started at that point, so my only option was to use the spray soap which didn’t do a very good job. The whole bay reeked of a horrible smell like vomit and the sprayer left my hands smelling so bad I had to scrub them twice when I got home. Yuck. I will look for a better option for my next car wash.

This is an acceptable coin operated car wash. There are 4 spots to wash your car, and about 4 vacuums and some parking in the back to dry off your car. It was busy when I arrived, as the 4 car washing spots were being used and there were 3 cars waiting already.
I went at dusk, and the carwash station I used was not lit at all, but luckily some other car came to wait in line and their car lights helped illuminate my car washing.
There’s a brush to wash your wheels, a hose that dispenses soapy water and regular water, and some clips to hang up your floor mats. The water pressure is good, not excellent enough for a touch free wash. You pay about $ 3.50 for 4 mins, I think. I kept adding quarters to add minutes because I didn’t pace myself properly. There is a quarter-​changing machine. The vacuum is 1 $ for more than enough time to vacuum my car interior, but the suction was very weak. Bring your own towels to dry off your car.
I would come back, only because my complex’s carwashing hose is locked off because of the drought, and this place is the only coin operated carwash in the area, and because I hate the car washing factory that is the Classic Car Wash near my home.

Does the basics, water pressure is great. However, this place is not well maintained. One of the vacuums took my quarters, the other one could barely pick up some sand. The knob on the wash machine was broken so it’s was tough to know what setting I was on.

$ 2 for 5 ½ minutes are you kidding me? I don’t understand the negative reviews but this place is well worth the money. I left the person behind me three minutes to wash their car. The pressure was good not amazing but there was more than enough soap
I would definitely come back to wash my car again

If I could pick one word to define this establishment it would be… wait for it…
grungy. Sure they have soap and water to wash your car but I felt as if I should have worn plastic gloves and footsies. The place is old and decrepit. Perhaps if they put a little bit of money back into their establishment they would have better reviews on Unilocal.Perhaps they don’t care. One star for the soap, one star for the running water. Subtract 3 for the rot and decay.

First of all, this place is not permanently closed.
It was exactly what I expected. Insert coins, start water, rinse car; water stops, switch to foam, soap car; insert coins, start water, rinse car; drive to parking area, dry car (bring your own towels). My husband and I were able to wash both our cars (Miata & BMW) for about $ 10.
One great bonus was the fantastic water pressure. I was able to spray all the dirt off my convertible top without needing soap (which is important, because soap deteriorates canvas and plastic windows). Plus, the wash bays were open late in the evening so I could wash my car after work.
A great savings, for better customized care for my convertible, while saving water in the drought. Solid four stars.

Ive come to this pace several times over the past few years because its close. its always been mediocre at best.
Lately, its so bad im surprised anyone still goes here
One time there was no soap at all. Last time one of the stalls was out of order and the line was a mile long.
I discovered the stall I chose was also out of order. no soap from the foaming brush.
Ive wasted my last quarter at this dump

Been coming to this place for three years but recently, it’s been going down, down, down. It’s a total piece of crap now. It’s dirty, soap barely disperses and twice I put a dollar of quarters for vacuuming and the machine never came on. Total piece of shit. It’s too bad because this place has so much potential. I used to see the lady that owned the place come by to collect her quarters. I haven’t seen her lately. I guess it’s not even worth it for her to come by. What an irresponsible owner. If you can’t run it, why not just sell it? And if you’re reading this, I’d like my $ 3 in quarters I’ve lost the past month and a half.

This place is worthless. Old beat up equipment, vaccuums dont work, dirty, leaks fixed by tape everywhere, missing parts on the spray gear, just straight up not worth it.

This place is run down and is virtually worthless. The spray pressure is so weak that my garden hose has more pressure. You can go to a real car wash, let them do the work, get a better outcome and pay only 3 or 4 dollars more. The owner should be ashamed of themselves.

This place is the closest to my house so I’ve used it a few times. There is no soap in the high pressure hose even though it says there is. So I end up wasting time spraying the car waiting for the suds. Eventually I give up and move on to the brush. The hose line on the brush isn’t long enough so it kept slapping it violently against the side of my car. The coin machines are hit and miss if they work.
Over all the place is run down. Which is really disappointing because it’s only a cement roof with a pressure washer attached. How hard could it be to do some general maintenance and keep the place nice? There’s another coin op wash on Lincoln Ave that’s better if you really want to do it yourself.

I found signs of poor maintenance are found with just about everything. The two vacuums I tried could barely lift loose sand off the floor mats. One of the two change machines appears to be permanently out of order. The other only takes $ 1 and $ 5 bills. The towel dispensing machines had their coin slots taped over and the window wash cloth dispenser didn’t work.
That being said, the wash bays were working. Soapy brush and sprayer were functional and the drainage appeared ok.
It could have been worse.

Came by for a car wash the other day and definitely agree with Unilocalers that this venue is dilapidated and decrepit.
Inserted $ 2 in quarter for 4 minutes of low pressure water…
.

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!
I’ve been here a couple times in the past and have been unimpressed. The vacuums barely work and it’s pricey… so I had pretty much given up on the place… but I needed to take my 66 Mustang somewhere close by and quick.
I change out $ 5, load up the machine and start rinsing the car off. That works fine, but when I switch to the foam brush option and walk over to grab the equipment off the wall… there is no brush. There’s just a broken hose spewing soap out of the end.
Seriously???
No out of order sign was posted anywhere. Nothing. And there was no attendant on duty, either.
So at this point, since I had already fed quarters into the machine, I’m stuck and have to just drench my car in soap without being able to scrub the crap off and hope for the best.
Never again.

Not bad. Definitely has some setbacks but nothing that actually deters from the function of the carwash. Has weird smells but what part of wincester doesn’t. It’s 4 minutes for $ 2 which is kinda ehh for me but it could be worse. My car was completely gross. I hadn’t washed it in almost 3 months so it was grimy and I never have time or patience for an automatic car wash so this place did the deed.

Me and the boys decided it was time to make my car green again. (And by «the boys», I mean my thoughts).
Regular, legit car washes are expensive; but here, you need only $ 2 in quarters to get started. After the initial $ 2, you can extend your time by adding more and more coins, which you’ll definitely need to do. You should do fine with $ 5.
It’s pretty cathartic spraying the hell out of your car and then burying it in infinite soap that literally PLOPS out. While the soap goes plop, plop, plop, you scrub your car. (One of the boys wondered if this is what it’s like to wash a baby elephant.)
Skip the vacuums. They take four quarters, yet they suck about as much as Sylvester Stallone does — which is only sometimes. I found myself picking stuff off the carpet and holding it to the mouth of the vacuum as if I were at some petting zoo.
EPILOGUE:
If I were lame enough to get checked out, I’m pretty sure I’d be diagnosed with OCD, cause I am a man of routine. I begin EVERY Saturday morning with the same two stops. I’m not telling you what they are cause I don’t want you stalking me (I’m also delusional and paranoid). And If I don’t make those stops, I’m grumpy. What I’m saying is, I think this place will be added to my routine. You get these exhilarating feelings of responsibility, pride, and oddly, like you’re destroying the evidence after you’ve dumped a body off somewhere.
Many a Boys’ Night Out will be celebrated here.

I tried to use an Alvarado Coin-​Op vacuum this weekend. It’s disappointing to see how this Campbell car wash has become so run down. The owners must be oblivious to the fact that their equipment is either broken, filthy, missing parts or ineffective. They would have happier customers and referrrals if they simply maintained the place and reinvested in their business. Instead, I saw where the profits are going when I watched a woman, apparently an owner or manager, collecting quarters from the vacuum cash boxes. I was stunned by the size of the diamond on her finger. I’ll take my quarters elsewhere, unfortunately, to a car wash outside of Campbell.

Not a good place at all. Only two options when washing, rinse and soap. The soap isn’t even that good. 1 out of 7 vacuums actually worked and not very well at all. It wouldn’t even pick up a french fry that was on the carpet.
Doing it yourself is not as expensive as major car wash, but now i have to wash it twice and at another and better coin op car wash.

I self serve car wash was one of the first things I looked for when I moved here, being a bit of a car guy. I like to wash my own car, and without a driveway, this place is the next best thing.
There’s nothing better than to take a morning to spray down all the dirt and grime off your car, then pull out back and hand towel dry it and clean everything out.
The price here is good and cheap. I tend to stay away from foam brushes since I’m a stickler for paint jobs, but everything here seems clean and works well. I’ve never had to wait long to get in a stall, if at all.