Santa Monica Car Wash & Detailing

So this is going to be short and sweet.
Place pretty basic. I thought from the sign I could get a $ 7 car wash. However it’s «$ 7 savings» on their sign. Misleading? Nah. Good advertising? Nah.
Got the basic wash which was $ 17.
Took almost an hour.
A few neat greeting cards on the inside of the place is the only thing that stands out as being interesting.
Place is pretty dingy inside.
They did hand-​wash it and my dirty car went in, a clean one came out.

This place is great! I recently switched car washes… I won’t name the other place but it was terrible and a friend recommended I come here. Even though it’s out of my way I decided to give it a try and I’m so happy I did! I got a wash and detailing done on my car and the manager gave me a pretty good price! The outside of my car was super shiny and the inside was better than I’ve ever seen. Usually I have to ask them to do clean different areas twice but they did it once! This is definitely my new go to place!

I wish I had checked Unilocal before I spent my money at this carwash. I got there this morning, it didn’t seem like anyone was working and I attempted to back out when a gentlemen waved me back. The whole procedure took over 40 minutes (my fault for not leaving). If the interior was cleaned, they did a shoddy job. The doors, handles and seats were not wiped down.
I asked for one of their special packages since my car is only a few months old, which included a ‘new car smell’, which I also did not receive. The best thing about it was the gentlemen who dressed my tires — a nice guy. I’m sure I can find a better car wash.

Do not go here. Do you hear me? Do not go here. It used be an alright place. The workers weren’t disgruntled. The overseers, er, the management, smiled. The car looked good. It used to be clean. And then. .. oh how things change.
Now, when you drive up the overseer who asks what kind of wash you want no longer smiles, nor does he even attempt to up-​sell you on their more robust detailing packages. I think it’s probably because he knows that they can’t deliver. The person behind the cash register (another overseer, er, owner) barely looks you in the eye when you go to pay for your $ 16.99 wash. Then you go sit in the sad little sitting area where everyone waits. .. and waits.. . and waits.. . for 45 minutes for a car to go through an semi-​automated car wash, which seems to be broken, or else they are trying their darnedest to conserve water. .. good for them even though I am guessing it is less about the environment than the profit margin.
Anyway, it takes forever to get a simple wash here, the overseers are super depressed and ridiculously aloof. This place is a farce, and the only reason I will be sad when it’s gone is that the workers that it employs will lose their jobs.
The overseers have a great location and business should be booming. It’s located in Santa Monica for god’s sake where people spend $ 9 on juice «freshly» squeezed from 10 cent oranges imported from Brazil. This place should be killing it, but instead the overseers suffering from ‘car wash ennui’ are going to drive it into the ground. .. probably slowly…
There is a solution here — the overseers should fire themselves and bring in someone who actually knows how to manage an operation and take care of customers. But that’s never going to happen.
So, I guess, just DON’T ever go here.

I was skeptical due to low Unilocal rating but they did a Great job on my car! I might have just found my car wash to go place!

$ 16.99 for a really crappy «basic» wash. Had to finish the wash myself at home. Ripoff. Rude people. Bad job. Never again.

This is the direst scuzziest least efficient most sketch car wash I have patronized in a decade in LA. It is remarkable in how disgusting it is and how primely located it is and how it has not gone under.
The management doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that people near deez parts want car washes that are not poorly maintained and/​or unhygenic feeling to sit in or near even for a few minutes.
The above facts have not stopped me from going here three times, however.
A basic car wash takes about 40 minutes when one lousy car is in front of you.
40 minutes is too long to be at a car wash and 2x too long to be at a truly foul car wash.
The bathroom is phenomenally disgusting bordering on offensive.
The checkout area is also filthy, unkempt, zero attention to merchandising.
The double bollard (?!) protected waiting area is shitty and next to the superhighway that is Pico at 26^th. I guess the insurers were like if you’re gonna make the people wait here eight feet from cars blazing down Pico you better double bollard that shit.
I went to sit elsewhere and then a soapy suds mist started spewing out a vent in the façade and onto my face and clothes.
Time to move.
This place rocks. Straight comedy.
While they can wash a car with a degree of basic competence otherwise this is a hygenic and aesthetic hellscape.

Came in to get my car washed and was treated extremely poorly. On top of that, the work they did was shoddy. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

I would give them zero if I could. I brought two cars for a mini detail, waxing and clay bricking plus a «really good inside detail» according to the manager. When I came back one car was semi decent and the other wasn’t clay bricked at all. The inside was pathetic, still a lot of spots spots were missed. The manager tried to tell me it was clay bricked and it just got «spotty» because it was sitting outside and the wind blew «dust» on it.
I told him I know the difference between a dust feel and a clay brick feel!
After I challenged him to get the brick out he hesitantly did it and guess what — car wasn’t done at all! He had 2 guys «redo» it. I had to wait another 46 minutes, after he had it already for 2 hours. It was a waste of time and money! $ 150.per car down the drain! The neighborhood kid could have done a better job! I will never go there again!

Great wash! Takes way too long — seem understaffed. Expect about an hour wait on a Saturday afternoon.

I give this carwash 5 stars in every area. I like it that it’s a family owned business. I started going in the afternoons and there was never a line. I asked them for advice on cleaning a special area on my rim and they helped me out.

Wow — I wish I had read these reviews before I went here!
I bought the Malibu wash package $ 23.99
Not only was the car still DIRTY on the outside when they gave me back the keys, there was dirt still near the door handles where the car is indented, there were bits & pieces of torn paper towels left in the interior, I never received my «Free Air Freshener», and lastly a random purple lighter was left in my back seat… WTF I do not smoke!
DO NOT GO HERE AND WASTE YOUR MONEY!
I have had a better car wash from a gas station drive through.
Very disappointing — Terrible Job considering the location

I was in the area and needed a car wash and decided to stop here. Once I arrived, I went onto Unilocal to see how the service was and was pretty frightened by the reviews. It was obviously a little too late for me to go somewhere else since they had already washed the outside of my car. Once my car was finished, I was actually pretty impressed. I was expecting my car to be just as dirty and dusty as how I had it. Fortunately it was cleaned pretty well for what I payed. My car was vacuumed a bit and I had my cup holders pretty filthy and they cleaned that as well but they didn’t clean much of the rest of the dash. I payed for the basic wash and that’s exactly what I got and I’m pretty happy with it.

They have these little steps so that kids can see the car wash process. Tell me that watching your parents’ car getting washed as a kid wasn’t one of the top ten most exciting things in the known universe. Well, I did anyway. And so does my four-​year-​old.
They did a good job. Nothing amazing and the service was decent at best. I always feel bad for the car wash guys… that is a tough job and I know they get paid poorly. I tip particularly well for that reason. Not bragging, just hoping other people do the same. Some bad reviews here, but this was as good a place as any.

Decent wash for the price.

I Unilocaled car washes near me and this came up (within 1.3 miles). I needed a car wash ASAP to retrurn a car I was borrowing (my friends car) and yes I read all the bad reviews. It being a Monday at 12:15pm (a non rain-​Day) I drove over and it was closed. I called. No one answered, no answering machine. 6 – 7 cars sitting vacant around the lot. Were they at lunch? Nothing posts that they close during that time. Hours posted that they work on Mondays. Another car pulled up when I did and the driver seemed just as perplexed. Do not go here. This establishment was a waste of time. I ended up going to the car wash on Lincoln and was fine. $ 16.00 plus tip. This place (if it is still in business) is a waste and dump.

Today was my second visit to Santa Monica Car Wash & Detailing — and again they did a terrific job. I got the Premium wash for $ 29.99 — with interior detailing. The detailing was really a thorough cleaning of the interior with cleaning the perforated leather seats, all surfaces and vacuuming. The spray wax they use is better than any I’ve ever seen, with the previous wash and wax keeping my car looking great for more than 2 months. I was very surprised at how long the wax finish lasted.
The family run operation is great, the people are friendly and the experience was very nice. They make every other automated car wash I’ve used look average in comparison.

I would give them zero stars if I could!
I purchased a Groupon yesterday for a Premium car wash at this establishment. The staff made me uneasy, so I immediately put my recently purchased La Mer in my trunk. The wash took less than 10 minutes and was decent on the outside, but looked untouched on the inside… Dust and debris in the cup holders and the doors and dash weren’t even wiped down… For the deal I got, I let it slide. I got home and my boyfriend asked, ‘What happened to your hubcaps?!’ Confused, I looked at my car only to realize ALL MY HUBCAPS WERE MISSING!!!
I have contacted the dealership relentlessly since they opened today and was unable to get a hold of anyone nor was there a voicemail set up for me to leave a message. I am going to have to drive there before work and speak to someone this weekend… I am moving to NYC and was planning on taking my car to be appraised this morning– hence the wash– and had to cancel my appointment because I was robbed of my hubcaps!
Stay away from Santa Monica Car Wash and Detailing at all costs!!!

I’ve been coming here for a long time, the work has always been good. I’ve had basic washes, and occasionally full hand waxes and details done to my truck.
Today I paid $ 45 for a basic hand wash and they used no soap, just sprayed my truck with water and then wiped it down. It was still dirty of course, so since I was in a hurry I asked for my money back, as I didn’t want to wait around another 30 minutes as they re-​did it. The youngish guy who runs the place has always been very cool, but today there was an old man in his place. He immediately began accusations, saying I was lying and trying to scam him, and tried to run me off the property. Eventually he calmed down and had the guys re-​wash the dirty parts, but I’ve never been treated in a first-​world country as a customer like this.
Needless to say; I’ll never be back, and you should stay away as well.

This is an incredible value considering the premium location. They consistently do a great job, the prices are really good especially if you come before 10 AM Sunday through Thursday. No pressure up selling.