What’s the Deal With the Lack of Good Touchless Car Washes in Jackson, Michigan?
I understand there are plenty of alternatives to touchless, automatic car washes. Sure, I could wash my car myself or go to one of the self-wash bays but I'm lazy, it's cold and that's what the automatic ones were built for! So why don't they work half the time?
Maybe it's just bad luck on my end but I have struggled to find a good touchless car wash in Jackson that not only gets my car clean, but that works when I pay to use it!
Lately, I've seen quite a few TikToks of people getting "stuck" in car washes and I really should have taken that as an omen that it was a bad idea to go to one.
Why Someone Would, Specifically, Use a Touchless Car Wash
Traditional automatic car washes are all well and good; however, there are some people who are a bit more finnicky.
For example, someone who has a new car or even a sports car, may opt out of the kinds of car washes that have those things that spin on either side of the car as there is always the potential they can scratch your vehicle.
CLICK HERE for more reasons we should avoid the automatic ones altogether.
Reasons to not use any kind of automatic wash aside, I have to use the touchless washes for my car because I have a bug guard attached to the hood (it doesn't do much for bugs, it's to disguise dents from when I rear-ended someone). If I used a car wash with the little "tornadoes", that baby would be ripped clean off.
The Problem With Touchless Washes in Jackson
Maybe I just haven't found the right one, but we need to talk about how on the west side of Jackson, specifically, the touchless washes have some explaining to do.
There's one in Summit Township which, while great, is a bit out of the way and normally, I would rather stop at the one that is literally on my way home.
That is, if it wasn't for the last THREE times I've gone, the machine lets me swipe my card and pay only for the wash itself to never start up. I try to call the number they say to call if there is an issue and there's never an answer.
It's a bummer but I head about five minutes down the road to another wash that's often busy, is a bit more pricey but (usually) works every time...EXCEPT FOR RECENTLY.
Burned Again By Another Jackson Car Wash
The other day, I was borrowing my boyfriend's car. It was filthy so as a courtesy for letting me drive it, I wanted to take it through the wash for him.
Not wanting to get into the same situation I had with the wash closest to our house, I opted to just go straight to the other one down the road.
I got in line and when the truck in front of me pulled into the wash, I pulled forward, paid and was ready to wait my turn...until the machine wouldn't start for the truck and the guy kept looking like he was trying to back out. I kept backing up to give them space and we both just sat there for at least 10 minutes. I tried to call the number outside to tell them someone was stuck inside, but after FOUR tries, I gave up.
Finally, the truck must have backed up enough to reset the machine and it started right up. Once his turn was up and he was out, I pulled forward waiting for the machine to tell me to enter. I waited ANOTHER five minutes until it was clear it was not going to start for me. I then had to pay AGAIN in order to get it going...
Now, all I could think was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Because when you purposely go to one car wash over another because that sort of thing happens at the other and you think it won't happen at this one and it does, it's infuriating.
Jackson Needs A Better Touchless Car Wash
Is being able to get a car wash in a convenient, timely fashion really asking too much here?
There is no reason it should not only take trips to two separate washes, at least 30 minutes of waiting and paying twice, costing upwards of $36 to get a dang car wash!
I purposely did not mention the names of the car washes in question but reviews of both show this is a consistent problem that needs to be addressed.
So here I am, publicly pleading, for either better service and staffing at Jackson-area car washes or just better touchless car washes in general!