When you are in a hurry and just want a car wash that won't take 30-60 minutes to do I usually opt for a drive through automatic car wash but here in Chiang Mai I can't say I've ever seen one has anyone else please?

 

 

Here is your business opportunity. Love the super powerful vacuum cleaners they have too. 

So why would a country who has ample cheap labor invest in automated technology? 
 

think how they pick up your garbage with a driver and 8 guys hanging off the back of an open garbage truck and you have your answer....

Yeah, my wife had thought about opening one of these in Bangkok with touchless technology for hi-so folks driving Benz and it just didn't make business sense with such cheap labor.

 

The whole car wash, wax, and vacuum costs absolutely nothing in Thailand compared to Western countries.

10 men hanging off the top of the tunnel like animal help on The Flintstones

Yep though only open 7 days once a year.....aka Songkran  ????

Never seen one in Chiang Mai.

For people who don't want to wait just for the car, there are the car washs at places like Big C, or Central, so it gets done while shopping, but this costs quite a premium.

Some gyms have a car wash close by, without the premium pricing, so you could spend the time exercising.

9 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

costs absolutely nothing in Thailand compared to Western countries.

 

How much is nothing?

1 hour ago, Andy from Kent said:

How much is nothing?

 

180 baht for the full meal deal

When Makro [Nong Prateep] first opened back in the '80s there was a drive-thru car wash out in the parking lot near the super highway.

It seemed to be doing well enough but disappeared after a few years for whatever reason.

Since then I never saw another one in Chiang Mai.

Any old timers remember that?

4 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

 

180 baht for the full meal deal

 

 

Good price.   Is that in the village?

20 minutes ago, Andy from Kent said:

 

 

Good price.   Is that in the village?

120 B city

10 hours ago, JingerBen said:

When Makro [Nong Prateep] first opened back in the '80s there was a drive-thru car wash out in the parking lot near the super highway.

It seemed to be doing well enough but disappeared after a few years for whatever reason.

Since then I never saw another one in Chiang Mai.

Any old timers remember that?

Well remembered.

   It was a great favorite of our two daughters and their little friends back in the day.

   When the big rotary brushes started closing in with a deluge of sudsy water the kids would scream with delighted terror.

   Other than that, I wasn't sorry to see it go.  The hand car washes are easier on your vehicle.  The problem is finding a good one.

   My regular place in Nong Hoi became an upscale housing project. Now I'm looking for one as good and almost as cheap. At 120 baht (plus tip) it was hard to beat considering how quickly and how well they cleaned your car inside and out.

54 minutes ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

Well remembered.

   It was a great favorite of our two daughters and their little friends back in the day.

   When the big rotary brushes started closing in with a deluge of sudsy water the kids would scream with delighted terror.

   Other than that, I wasn't sorry to see it go.  The hand car washes are easier on your vehicle.  The problem is finding a good one.

   My regular place in Nong Hoi became an upscale housing project. Now I'm looking for one as good and almost as cheap. At 120 baht (plus tip) it was hard to beat considering how quickly and how well they cleaned your car inside and out.

120? It was 99 Baht until the day it closed. Maybe you were over-charged? That was the place I always went to. One day it was gone and it seemed like they built the housing project overnight.

150 baht at the station opposite the Riverside condo in Nong Hoi, inside and out. Have a good cup of coffee in the Fuel coffee shop right next to the carwash, usually 30 minutes to one hour.

17 minutes ago, elektrified said:

120? It was 99 Baht until the day it closed. Maybe you were over-charged? That was the place I always went to. One day it was gone and it seemed like they built the housing project overnight.

 Maybe I got the rah-kah farang.

But it always seemed inexpensive because they cleaned the inside as well as washing the outside.

 

A friend owned a drive-thru car wash in New York- it was a maintenance nightmare, and he was fortunate to be able to do many of the repairs himself as he was mechanically skilled, though that didn't save him anything on replacement parts.  He made decent money, but the operating expenses were huge.  It was a happy day for him when he finally sold it.

 

I could see an automated car wash being an even bigger hassle here.  With labor being so cheap and easily replaceable, I'm not surprised that automated places are very few and far between in LOS- they'd likely have to charge more than the average place charges now to turn a profit, which wouldn't help business.

I think the answer the OP was looking for is no.

6 minutes ago, Thailand said:

I think the answer the OP was looking for is no.

That was indeed the conclusion I came to from the replies.  Thanks folks.

On 12/20/2020 at 6:25 AM, flare said:

A friend owned a drive-thru car wash in New York- it was a maintenance nightmare, and he was fortunate to be able to do many of the repairs himself as he was mechanically skilled, though that didn't save him anything on replacement parts.  He made decent money, but the operating expenses were huge.  It was a happy day for him when he finally sold it.

 

I could see an automated car wash being an even bigger hassle here.  With labor being so cheap and easily replaceable, I'm not surprised that automated places are very few and far between in LOS- they'd likely have to charge more than the average place charges now to turn a profit, which wouldn't help business.

As a teenager and obtaining my driver's license I was informed by my friends, who also had their license about how to get a free car wash at the facility just on the outskirts of our small town. Soon there after I found out that many teens had the 'magic' key to the car wash stashed in the ashtray compartment of their car.

 

The 'magic' key:

 

A tab from a soda can (that was back in the days before the tabs were always attached to the cans) wrapped in a piece of electrical tape. One would cut about 16 inches of electrical tape, take and place the can tab in the middle (ring of the tab remove), then fold the tape over so that both sticky sides connected.

 

To operate the wash place the tab end of the tape into the coin dispenser, turn the knob to activate the wash and then release it. The tab would hit the activation button and the electrical tape would allow the 'magic' key to turn and stretch through the coin mechanism then be free to come back out.

 

NOTE: This was not for an auto car wash but rather for one of those DYI ones which at that time only cost a quarter (25 cents, for non-Americans).

On 12/20/2020 at 7:17 AM, Thailand said:

I think the answer the OP was looking for is no.

I think so too... an emphatic no.

   Automated car washes don't seem to exist in Chiang Mai at present.

   But in topics like this a simple "no" is seldom given. More often there are diversions and byways, bells and whistles and whirligigs to amuse and inform you.

   

13 hours ago, VillageIdiot said:

I think so too... an emphatic no.

 

   

How about, 'none that I know of'.......  ???

On 12/20/2020 at 7:25 AM, trevoromgh said:

That was indeed the conclusion I came to from the replies.  Thanks folks.

 

Just wait till pollution hits full strength.    You can get a free car wash by driving under the water spraying machines

installed in various areas .