Wasing the smart

[jediknight36]

I know it was touched on in an earlier post, but I live in an apartment. No hoses. Would the car wash be recommended or should I take it to the hand wash places where you feed the machine a few bucks for soap and such and do it myself. If so, what should I steer clear of?

[dancote]

smart's too narrow for my local car wash. The attendants essentially do a hand wash of the passenger side before sending the car through. Doesn't do a good job on the wheels either. Looks like I'll be doing it myself from now on.

[Connelly]

My car wash was the same. The manager wasn't sure what to expect, so he actually walked with it through the tunnel. (I've been a pretty long term, regular customer and got to know the manager a few years ago. He's originally from Italy, so he was thrilled to see the smart had finally made it here.) The brushes didn't swing in far enough on the passenger side. But they do a pretty good with after wash toweling as a rule, so it came out fine. Generated a lot of buzz with the waiting customers and the foreign-nationals crew.

[RLove]

You know, you can wash a car with a couple buckets of clean water. Makes very little mess and it's fairly fast. Being it's a tiny car I wouldn't think it take much effort. If the car is really dirty, go to a spray wash, drop a couple of quarters and get the big stuff off, but for light washes, the bucket method works great.

Having said that, I'd petition you apartment complex to designate a car washing area. I had two at the one I lived at in Irvine several years ago. They had a hose out to use just for that.

[MarkB]

I live in a Condo which I own and I'm still not allowed to wash my own cars. Bull**** if you ask me. So I'll have to have it hand washed at the carwash. Oh well.

[spdickey]

Our local car wash is no brush, no cloth, hand wash as the car goes down the line. Only one track on the left side. No problem, the guys gave my car the same time as a Suburban going down the line, so I got some extra washing.

Faster to towel dry once out. I should pay 1/2 for half a car wash.

[gamernotwatcher]

or get a SCOA buddy, go together, put those smarts back to back;) and then split that car wash charge

[shack01]

Better yet, when the car gets dirty, just swap out the body panels. You get a clean car and a new color!

tm

[Westfield 11]

My car wash gave me 1/2 price because I have a 1/2 size car. I still give the same $5 tip though. That's what gets you a clean car, esp. the interior.

[Throwdown]

Do it yourself, that's the joy of owning a nice car. I wash my 8 twice a week, so when my smart arrives I'll just wash them both at the same time.