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Q: Hand-only car washes in Silicon Valley Bay Area ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Hand-only car washes in Silicon Valley Bay Area
Category: Sports and Recreation > Automotive
Asked by: stong-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 16 Nov 2003 20:40 PST
Expires: 16 Dec 2003 20:40 PST
Question ID: 276621
I'm trying to locate good hand-only car washes in the Bay Area. I am
not interested in regular automatic brush or brushless car washes nor
am I interested in the "touchless" car washes (e.g., those that use
high pressure waterjets).

Here is an example hand-only car wash, but it is in Fresno rather than
the Bay Area:

http://whiteglovehandcarwash.com/
http://www.whiteglovehandcarwash.com/pictures.html
The closer to Palo Alto or Mountain View the better, but anything
within 20 minutes drive would be fine.


Thanks.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Hand-only car washes in Silicon Valley Bay Area
Answered By: byrd-ga on 17 Nov 2003 15:16 PST
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=276621



Hi Stong,

Hand car washing by itself doesn?t normally generate enough business
on its own to be worthwhile as a standalone business, which is why
there are few ?hand car wash?-only businesses.  However, handwashing
is usually offered by professional auto detailers as one of their
services, and is often called ?mini detail? or ?light detail? or
?deluxe hand wash? or other similar names in addition to or instead of
simply ?hand washing.?  Also, it?s the exception, rather than the
rule, for detailers to have a website, so many times the best way to
find them is via your local yellow pages under ?auto detailing? or
through online business directories.  Another trick that works is
reading the local want ads and calling the numbers of those who are
looking for detailers. Many of the best shops are very small,
one-or-two-person operations, and with no advertising budget, it?s
often just ?word of mouth? for their customers to find them.

Keeping that in mind, and using online resources, I?ve listed a number
of businesses in the Bay area that offer or appear to offer hand car
washing.  Bear in mind that some detailers are specialized and won?t
do just a basic hand wash, though most will if asked.  If  a
description isn?t included, and/or if there?s no website listed, then
I most likely found the listing in a directory of either hand wash or
detail businesses with no further information given.  However, a
simple phone call should be able to determine if they?ll do what you
want, and the price they charge.

==============
MOUNTAIN VIEW
==============

CAR SPA HAND CAR WASH
1101 W. El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040
(650) 967-7788 

EUROPEAN AUTO DETAIL
134 Fair Oaks Ave.	
Mountain View, CA  94040
(650) 988-0247

HALL?S AUTO CLEANERS
2080 W. El Camino Real	
Mountain View, CA  94040
(650) 964-6774

HIGH SHINE AUTO DETAIL
Del Medio Ave. & El Camino Real West
Mountain View, CA  94041
(650) 941-0590

PERFECTION AUTO DETAIL                 			
1917 Old Middlefield Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
650-968-7555 

==========
PALO ALTO
==========

JERNIGAN?S AUTO SALON
645 Donohoe St.
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 328-3032

PALO ALTO DELUXE CAR WASH
El Camino Real & Encina Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 328-0898 

==========================
ELSEWHERE IN THE BAY AREA
==========================

A.Z. AUTO DETAILING
2658 Spring St., Unit C
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 299-1522 Ph.
(650) 599-8609 Pgr
Their ?Basic Package? priced at $59.95 is basically a deluxe hand
wash, which includes: ?custom exterior wash, tar/tree sap/road-oil
removal, hand polish, window cleaning, wax by hand, tire dressing.? 
http://www.azautodetailing.com/services.htm

DETAIL WERKS 
529 Forman Drive
Campbell, CA 95008
(408) 559-3301
Offers a hand wash service with prices starting at $55.00:  ?Exterior
surface cleaning. Cleans rims, removes tar/bugs and sap. Condition
rubber moldings & trim. Vacuum and dust interior. Cleaning windows
perfectly inside & out.?  http://www.detailwerks.com

AJ AUTO DETAILING, INC.  
702 Coleman Ave.
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 947-1111
Offers a ?mini detail in which the:? ?Vehicle is washed by hand with
ultra pure water, using a gentle wash and wax car shampoo. Rims and
chromes are cleaned and brightened, tires and moldings are dressed,
windows washed inside and out. The interior is thoroughly vacuumed and
dusted, including dashboards, sun visors, gauges and instrument
panels. Door jams and sills are dusted and wiped clean. The trunk is
vacuumed and the floor mats are shampooed.? 
http://www.ajautodetailing.com/services.html

PRECISION AUTO POLISH DETAIL
982 S. Wolfe Rd.
Sunnyvale, CA  94086
(408) 735-0637

COUNTRY CLUB CAR WASH 
4935 Stevens Creek Blvd
Santa Clara, CA
(408) 984-6161

AUTOPIA ? 100% HAND CAR WASH
2172 N. Main St.
Walnut Creek, CA
(925) 934-1603
Usual price is $49.95.  http://www.bayareasbest.com/automotive/autopia.htm 

================================
BAY AREA MOBILE DETAIL SERVICES
================================

SPEEDY MOBILE AUTO DETAIL
Serving the entire Bay Area with a mobile detailing service.  Prices
start at $69.99 for a basic detail, with a staggered remote location
fee for areas farther than 10 miles from San Jose.  See this listing
and/or call for more information:
http://sf.craigslist.com/sfc/car/19427397.html

CALDETAIL  (also BAY MOBILE WASH)
(408) 725-8841
Email info@caldetail.com
A little pricey ? their ?Express Detail? starts at $90.00, but I guess
you pay for the convenience.  They look very professional. 
http://www.caldetail.com/pages/10/index.htm

===============================================================================
You might also want to check out this short list of Bay Area
detailers, as it has some feedback and recommendations:
http://www.babblers.org/recommendations/index_nf.pl 
===============================================================================

I hope this information will be of help to you.  Please use the
?Request Clarification? feature before rating and closing your
question if anything isn?t clear, so I can be sure you have what you
need.  I wish you best of luck in finding a quality business to serve
your needs, and when you do, be sure to pass the word around so others
can find it too!

Regards,
Byrd

Search strategy:

Researcher personal knowledge of auto detailing business, combined
with search using the following terms:
?car wash? hand CA ?mountain view? OR ?palo alto? OR ?bay area?
?auto detailing? CA ?mountain view? OR ?palo alto? OR ?bay area?
?auto detail? CA ?mountain view? OR ?palo alto? OR ?bay area? 
Then it was a matter of sorting through the search returns and, in a
few cases, reentering search terms in directories.

Here are links to Smart Pages searches:

SMART PAGES - PALO ALTO AUTO DETAILERS:
http://www.smartpages.com/directory/search.jhtml?Tag=auto&DirectoryVerified=CAST+SJMZ+BAMZ+SFPMZ+SJPMZ+NCAMZ+SBC_PBD+NATL_PBD+PA&dn=Palo+Alto&CityVerified=Palo+Alto&StateVerified=CA&DirectoryStateVerified=CA&AreaCodeVerified=&ZipVerified=&HeadingCodeVerified=8015150&HeadingDesc=Automobile+Detailing&LocType=11&QueryString=auto+detailing&AddressChoice=&Radius=2&QueryType=1&DirAvail=false&From=&Clear
Level=HeadingValidation&TotalRows=0&listingid=

SMART PAGES - MOUNTAIN VIEW AUTO DETAILERS:
http://www.smartpages.com/directory/search.jhtml?Tag=auto&DirectoryVerified=CAST+SJMZ+BAMZ+SFPMZ+SJPMZ+NCAMZ+SBC_PBD+NATL_PBD+LAL&dn=Los+Altos&CityVerified=Mountain+View&StateVerified=CA&DirectoryStateVerified=CA&AreaCodeVerified=&ZipVerified=&HeadingCodeVerified=8015150&HeadingDesc=Automobile+Detailing&LocType=11&QueryString=auto+detailing&AddressChoice=&Radius=2&QueryType=1&DirAvail=false&From=&
ClearLevel=HeadingValidation&TotalRows=0&listingid=

This return is from the ?Smarter Yellow Pages? search on auto detailing:
http://www.smarteryellowpages.com/hl/ll/index.cfm/in.4510/cd.8244729/cn.40038898/hd.300000/al.A.htm
stong-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
Thanks. Answer was pretty comprehensive, although most of the places
were rather pricey. I also spent the past few days asking around and
doing some more searching, and I found the following hand only car
wash on Stevens Creek Blvd:

http://www.smarteryellowpages.com/HL/LL/LO/index.cfm/IN.4421/CD.8263010/CN.54861728/HD.767000/AL.C/or.56639.htm

Apparently they charge $11.95 for a hand-only car wash which seems
more reasonable than a $50 detailing, and more in line with the price
range of the example that I gave.

The above site can be found by doing a Google search for [hand wash
tunnel CA] (the thing displayed in the pictures I gave) and clicking
on the first result: http://www.jcchemtech.com/references.htm

These guys seem to make the tunnels, and they list the Magic Hand Car
Wash, Santa Clara as one of their references. Doing a search for
["Magic Touch Car Wash"] would find their address in the Smartpages.

Simon.

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