OB Suds Car Wash

Just came here for the 1^st time and I’m so glad I did. My car needed it so bad! I parked under the OB parrots and they left such a mess! $ 3 for a car wash is totally worth it!

It’s a do it yourself car wash. 3 dollars for 5 minutes gets me rinse, wash soap, rinse, and spot free rinse. 5 dollars for 8.5 minutes. I dare not to let those dirty bristle brushes touch my black paint on my car. Some of the stalls have credit card allowance.
Bring your own towels, they have towels you can buy on site, but save yourself the money. Like every business, the earlier the better. In the morning, they fill the soap. So you get more suds in the“wash soap” feature.
They do have vacuums, 5 minutes for $ 1.25.
Any time I’ve had problems, their a phone number is displayed above the coin dispenser and you leave a message. I’ve had 2 problems, left a message, got my refund in the mail within days.
The owners have yelled at me in the past for drying in the stalls, but if it’s not busy they should ease a bit.
Pigeons tend to hang up top on the roof and can fly down into your stall.. Then they poop on your car. So scan above for pigeons. I bring a water gun just for such an occasion. Then shoot them out of your stall. LOL.

Where else in San Diego can I wash my car for $ 3 — soap, rinse, wax, rinse. You have to be speedy and quick. One of the machines had a small note on it that said some of the wash functions weren’t working (I avoided that machine and went to another without any notes).
Bring your own towels!!! You must dry your own car. Bring $ 3 in quarters, if you think you’ll take your time washing your car, bring $ 6 of quarters. Not sure why people are complaining about management when it’s a DO IT YOURSELF car wash hahah.

In light of OB Suds being under new management, I realize the time and money it must take to turn this place around. Thanks to the new management for keeping tabs of these reviews, and now I can see that someone cares. I will be back when I’m sure the many issues have been addressed and will help this business by submitting a positive review which reflects their progress. I do NOT like writing bad reviews because I care about business success, and it saddens me to see business owners not give a shit, these guys however have indicated that they in fact do care, and I’m looking forward to their progress and updating my review accordingly.

I put $ 2.00 in the machine to get quarters and it just took my money. There is no sign anywhere with a number to call. Even the phone number on this page is no longer in use.
I am at the point where I have lost just as much money as I have spent there due to various faulty machines just taking my quarters.
If management is reading this, can you please contact me so I can get a refund? I was there on 4÷25÷14 at 3:15pm.

Horrible!!! Over-​priced, Do Not Go!!!
I have never in my life been so angry at an automated car wash. So first of all, the change machine over takes $ 1s and $ 5s, that’s it. No $ 10s, $ 20s, nothing. I ended up asking a fellow car washer for change just to get enough quarters. FYI, the car wash takes credit/​debit cards.
So I vacuum for $ 1.25, then use the car wash. They have a $ 3.00 minimum to start, quick tip, they have a $ 5 for 8 minutes features that in hindsight would have been a better value.
So after putting in $ 3 and washing my car, I ran out of time before I’m done washing the foamy soap off, I try to put in another dollar to see if it would give me extra time, (some car washes do that,) not this one. So the I tried to get my dollar back, the car wash machine does NOT have a refund button. This is nothing short of HIGHWAY ROBBERY! So then I put in another $ 3 to finish washing my car and wanted to use the hose to air dry my car so it wouldn’t have water spots. The wash only has pre-​rinse, soap, high power wash, wax, and another wash. That’s it. No way to dry your car.
Worst car wash ever, way too expensive, save your money and go somewhere else.

Typical do it yourself car wash. don’t come here expecting much! You do it yourself! And it’s $ 3…plus $ 1.25 for vacuum. It really depends how well YOU clean it and if your towels are good enough to properly dry it at the end. Never had to deal with management like some reviews below?
guess I have gotten lucky but I go to this place when I need a quick clean and don’t feel like spending over $ 10 for a wash somewhere else!

OB Suds is your ordinary «spray and wash» style car wash. There are plenty of other types of car washes in town, like the washes where you have to drive through a scrubby tunnel of soapy spinning brushes, but being that my car is lowered and I don’t like the idea of rough bristled brushes touching my paint, I can’t really use those types.
The bays in OB Suds are not created equal. Some accept cash, some accept cards, some only accept quarters. I don’t know what’s up with that, but just like some bowlers have a favorite lane in their local bowling alley, I have a favorite bay at OB Suds that takes cash, card, and quarters alike (2^nd bay from the west). It’s $ 3 to get the wash going, but you will probably want to bring around $ 5 or $ 6 for a solid wash.
There are a couple of cons of OB Suds, but you just have to learn how to work around them. For example, after you wash your car, if you go the vacuums on the north part of the property, you will get mist from other people washing you car all of your freshly cleaned paint. To avoid this, I back into my wash bay and do the detail work on the south side of the property facing 7 Eleven. Problem solved. Also, there is not running water or a sink at OB Suds available to the public like most self car washes. Plan ahead for that – maybe a small jug of water or something. Another thing – I know that a lot of people are very particular (or should I say pretentious) about the water they use to wash their car – I cannot verify if the water if filtered from micro-​particles and such so use at your own risk – I so far haven’t had any phantom scratches. AVOID THE SOAPY BRUSH ON YOUR BODY – IT CAN AND WILL SCRATCH YOUR CAR.
I’m not overly particular about my car washes, but here it my routine for a quick wash: 2 minutes of soapy spray with the gun (starting from the top of the car then down), a minute of soapy spray on the wheels and tires, few minutes of high pressure rinse, and a minute or so of spot-​free rinse. From there, I park next to the vacuums on the south side of the property with the following detailing cleaners along with a bunch of microfibre shammies:
1) Windex/​glass cleaner
2) Armor-​all for dashboard and plastics
3) Tire shire
4) Spot wax spray
A typical stay at OB Suds for me is 1 hour: ten minutes of using the actual wash functions in the bay, and 50 minutes of me using the detailing cleaners above to get my car looking dealership fresh. By the end of it all, people walking by give me compliments and take pictures which makes me feel accomplished so I gotta say – OB Suds is a solid 4-​star establishment because it has everything I need for the perfect clean.

GREAT PLACE TO GET QUARTERS FOR LAUNDRY WHEN THE LAUNDROMATS ARE CLOSED BUT THATS ALL I WOULD DO HERE… THEY LEAVE THEIR QUARTER MACHINE OPEN 24 HRS!
Have been forced to use this place in the past in a pinch and it is a total shart hole. Dirty brushes, dirty/​rusty walls, very short amount of time for the money, laughable «grace period» to add more money, once time runs out with no warning you must pay another $ 3, eats quarters, and bad service/​help if any. Today I went to just vacuum my car and the fat grumpy ugly owner/​manager asks while I’m getting my quarters, «You gonna wash that, sport?» in a condescending tone like he has never dealt with a customer in his miserable life and when i told him i was just vacuuming he gave me a disbelieving snort and head shake. So I decided to prove his assumptions right and just drove off like a boss. Suck tailpipe fatboy!
Now I will change $ 100 in quarters there after they close every night.

I haven’t written a review on Unilocal for the past few years but decided to come out of hibernation due to this place. I stopped here at the weekend for a car wash. Manager/​Owner was onsite. VERY RUDE! I will not be coming back here again. And yes if you use your card here there is a $ 15 hold on the card for some reason. Also the timer was questionable. I swiped my card and the display showed 8 mins which I believe is correct for $ 5. I had rinsed my car and covered it in suds with the brush. I then switched to rinse and remember having 4 mins left on the clock. Before I finished rinsing my car the pressure washer stopped. There was no warning I was running out of time and there was no way I had used 4 mins of time. I had to spend an additional $ 5 to finish rinsing my car. Shady timers.

Water pressure, great suds, and spot-​free rinse makes this Place my favorite stop for a wash!!!

Stopped here for a quick wash on the way home from a long, dust-​filled road trip. Spot-​free rinse made it quick and the owner/​manager was happy to show me how to use it although he seemed gruff at first. Happy to come again next time I’m in town.

You have to wash your own car here. The machines sometimes eat your quarters. The brushes are usually filthy. I take my work truck here to wash it. But I would not bring a nice car here. You can get a full service wash in Point Loma for the same it will cost you to do it yourself here. But sometimes it is relaxing to clean out your car and can be a meditation.

Although the credit card machines are awesome, it held $ 15 out of my checking for a 3 $ wash. Now with no receipt, how do you get a refund? My bank will «look into it» and who do I call? I am so frustrated. If I wanted to pay $ 15 bucks for a car wash, I surely wouldn’t do it myself and I would have them detail and dry it…
I am pretty pissed. Shady activity.

I was wondering if anyone knows who owns this Car wash?
I am looking to speak with the owner. Even a mailing address would work. Nothing bad about this place I just would like to see who owns the land.
Thanks so much everyone!
Erin

Oh-​how the mighty have fallen! In my efforts to reach 100 Unilocal on
, I have decided to review this scruffy little Car Wash-​OB Suds-​and surprisingly, I have lots to say about… a car wash!
Yes-​this is the quintessential Ocean Beach business with a cranky, but lovable wash attendant who don’t take no stuff from any customers!
The trash cans here are emptied daily, but IF you are lucky-​you can score some buds out of them! The homeless have been known to shower in the soapy leftovers of the car stalls when the weather is particularly warm and inviting! These residence-​challenged individuals are very fond of the alley behind the car wash as Pat’s Liquor is just down the road! The backwards «R» in the business sign is totally emblematic of the whole rebel, hippie vibe of this beach-​side trench town. And because Dog Beach is just one block away-​I bet the car wash and vacuum cleaners get a good workout daily from all the people (and canine) traffic!
I usually am lazy and roll my car through a drive-​thru car wash that recycles their water; I am not sure if this one does that here or not? There are change machines that USUALLY work. There are glass cleaner and Armour-​All dispensaries that USUALLY work! You put your 4 quarters into the vacuum machines and they USUALLY work. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for that since the other vacuum place right near my place always eats my money up! Bummer! Since I CANNOT stand driving a dirty car around, I am always down here sucking up sand and stuff from my car mats!
It is either the greatest talent in the world or just proof that I have a lot of hot air in me that I can go on and on… for so long about a CAR WASH – but let me conclude by stating that this is a great place to go to clean up the pimp mobile and if you can hold your tongue when that prick-​ly attendant is around, then enjoy your good times at the OB Suds Car Wash-​just leave some soap for that homeless guy waiting in the alley for a quick clean-​up!

When you live in OB there’s a certain element that makes you feel at home. It’s a bit like defining porn, it’s kinda hard to put your finger on it but you know it when you see it.
I like to take my car to a place I can wand wash it and not have those lame rubbery philanges whipping at my windows and paint. Of course living by the ocean it’s not that I bother washing it much because within days the ocean fog and dirt and dust from my Torrey Pine drips all over it and once again it’s covered in filth.
The best part about this car wash is the backwards «R» on the sign, I don’t know if they intended this but I hope they never change it. It’s also clean and well maintained compared to some other local wand washes that smell nasty and are in ill repair.
It’s the kind of thing that when you see it, it just makes you feel like someone you loved crawled up inside you and the butterflies are running amok in your tummy.

Its a simple enough car wash with bays to wash your cars. You put in your coins $ 3 (quarters). There is supposed to be a change machine but it didn’t seem to work. We were prepared with our quarters upto $ 6 for two cycles.
The Carwash was not too busy with one bay open when we came this Sunday afternoon. I guess its not as warm enough a day for most but it’s sunny. The truth is that I came to walk the dog and Brian cleaned the car, he has been wanting to wash the car all week and I allowed him to do so.
In the mean time, Apricot and I walked the block to check out the neighborhood, this is the same block with the two dog washes, one an old bystand and the other a newcomer. We have used both before. There were plenty of drive thru smoothies/​coffees stand.
After 15 min, I went back to see Brian on the vacuum phase of the car wash. I think this was an efficient car wash for a cheap and quick wash. Instead of drying the car at the carwash, we moved the car to the Dog beach parking and Brian dried it there, while Apricot and I again played in the grass and sand.
Brian’s opinion is that the wash sufficed but definitely, you need to dry your car since you are near the dog beach and if you want your car to look like it was cleaned, drying is a good ending.
Recommended on days when the beach goers are still not in force to visiting the beach esp dog beach!

Self-​serve, coin-​operated establishment. I used to live a couple blocks from this place and miss it tremendously. I haven’t found anywhere else yet that gives a decent wash for this cheap. Three bucks for seven minutes. I usually take a look at my watch and plan ahead so I don’t run out of time with a bunch of soap on my car. They’ve got the rinse, the clean rinse, the wax, and the amazing foam brush — the key to car cleanliness.
Afterwards, the vacuum is one dollar for quite a long time. I’ve never really needed all the time provided, so I don’t know exactly how long — maybe seven minutes too.
Place doesn’t get five stars because: The coin changing machine is notoriously fickle. Your one or five dollar bill must be immaculate or the machine will spit it back at you repeatedly. Fortunately there is a 7 – 11 and OB QuikStop right across the street, and they will gladly give you change. The change machine took a five dollar bill of mine once, but I called the phone number, left a pissed-​off voice mail, and lo-​and-​behold, I got a letter about a week later with a crisp, new five dollar bill in it – shocking!
Only other downside to the place is if you go on a weekend — especially in summer — the place will be swarmed. If I recall correctly, there are only four stalls to wash your rig, so you will likely have to wait. Go during the week early in the morning, or after dark, and you’ll have the place to yourself.

I am not a «do it yourself» kind of girl… I like having male friends around to do things for me like washing cars, pumping gas, changing lightbulbs. But after 5 months of driving around a ridiculously dirty car, since it never rains hard enough to wash off all the birdy doo doo, I finally broke down and said «Enough is enough!»
OB Suds Car Wash has those car stall things you pull your car into, then you pay $ 3.00 in quarters for a 7 minute cycle of spray, foam, spray, spotless spray, and wax. Pretty easy right? Totally!
If you are like me and slightly OCD then you will want to plan ahead so you can make sure not to run out of time before all the suds are off your car. I took about 2 minutes to spray down, followed by another 2.5 minutes of using the foam brush to scrape off the loads of bird crap that had accumulated all over my car. Remaining 2.5 minutes was used to do a spotless spray down, and whammy with the shammy – my car looked great!
They also have a vacuum machine available for use at a price of $ 1 in quarters, and I found that I only needed about half the time they gave me to do a great job on my interior.
Cost of a do-​it-​yourself carwash, including vacuum? $ 4
Feeling proud of myself for saving money and doing it all by my high heeled wearing, girly self? PRICELESS.