Instructions for carwash attendants

The car normally comes with valet cards. A pack of 10. All the info you need to know. Ask your dealer for yours. I had to ask for mine.

I just did a quick search here on Priuschat.

Print your own if you can't get any from your dealer.

Download from this thread.

 

the towel people? :blink:

noone but noone touches my baby. then again, we have been stuck in the land of no snow and ridiculously hot summers since before we got the prius, so we don't have to think about washing the car in the wintertime. yet...

the valet card should explain it all- it's mostly illustrations so anyone can understand it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 15 2006, 08:42 PM) [snapback]272010[/snapback]</div>

Yup, the towel people--I know about them from trips to LA--didn't occur to me that they'd have 'em anywhere but the land where the car is god--and where, at last count, there was AT LEAST one car wash place per automobile owner, employing vast numbers of towel people, each wielding one itty bitty towel and trained to dry one itty bitty section EACH of your car... I come home to NoCal and get all disgruntled that we don't have 'em here. Well, we do, but they're called detailers here and charge a hundred bucks to even touch your car (as opposed to the $7-10 automatic car washes--which is how much it costs to use the SoCal towel people and their cronies...) :angry:

 

When I first went to the local car wash, I parked the car and talked to the manager. He assured me that he was familiar with the Prius and he even rode the car through the wash. On later trips the, as various employees became familiar, the assistant manager rode the Prius through, and now the more experienced front line people run it through normally.

There wos one time the exit guy was having problems, and I had to step in. But he did hit the stop button for the wash line.

 

I tell the carwash attendants: "Keep your hands off my 'TwelveInchPrius'!" :lol:

 

go with them if they don't speak english well. i got a yes but then my car was the only one with someone riding in it as it went through with a perplexed attendant sitting inside.
the car is not intutive and if you don't live somewhere where they are popular don't expect people to "get it".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 15 2006, 11:42 PM) [snapback]272010[/snapback]</div>

I gave one of those cards to the guys at the tire store last fall and they couldn't figure it out I had to drive my Prius in and out of the bay myself :lol:

 

I now actually only go to one car wash to get my car done. The rest of the local car washes have disapppointed me time after time; i'll wait until they learn with different hybrids before going back to them.

I put the card right in front of the steering wheel, but they ignore it. As a result, i see my Prius jumping the rolling tire pushers and it's not too funny to me... I even had to jump it once because they didn't stop the rollers and the next car almost hit mine!!!

Anyway, most car washers are catching up so that's a good thing. Still, keep an eye


Are these valet cards free? I'm due for more replacements.

 

One of those links above had a Spanish-language version of the valet card, but if you need help with some aspect of Spanish, feel free to PM me (in case I don't notice a post in this thread).

HOWEVER, my instructions to valets are: You ain't never gonna get your paws on my car! This car is different. Nobody drives it but me!

(Though I do let the people at the dealership drive it when I take it in for service.)

As I've posted elsewhere, the human brain tends to ignore or interpret creatively what it does not understand. This accounts for optical illusions. An intelligent person may understand the instructions. But many people will look at them, and they will simply not register. They then drive the car as they assume all cars are driven. That a car may begin driving forward when the engine is off is so foreign to many people that they will be unable to comprehend the necessary procedures. Have you ever been so tired that you read a paragraph and have no idea what you've just read? Well, the same can happen when a person is presented with something entirely outside his experience. Additionally, many people are embarassed to admit they do not understand something, so they'll say they understand when they don't. Don't trust to the valet cards. They may be useful as reminders, but they are unreliable as instructions.

 

Could someone please scan the valet card in Spanish and post it here once more?
All the links I found are broken

 

what do you folks do about the antenna? It looks ready made to be ripped off in a car wash. And no I havent had it off. I tried to unscrew it and it seems stuck. I may need to get the dealer to install the shark fin for me rather than break the base. drat.

 

The place I take mine, which was Prius-savvy the first time I went there, always takes the antenna off and tapes down the rear wiper with a piece of packing tape. They usually remember to put it back, too.

 

The link for the valet cards is not working, can someone upload them elsewhere?

 

wash your own car! dont be lazy!



if you buy the right waterhose head it wont waste any water..maybe 10 gal. They use hundred gallons per car at many washes. The only time's of the year I wont wash my car myself is dead winter, when it is 35 outside or colder in these time of year I take it to a pretty good wash, no brush and they do everything by hand with a good pre rinse..although there towels are kinda of gritty..it's not to bad, better then freezing my nice person off. Being in the desert I only stock minimal winter clothing, nothing heavy duty

 

I can't wash my car at my apartment complex, so it's usually automatic car washes for me... I wish I had the luxury of a place where I could hand wash my Prius...

 

Re: Instructions for Spanish carwash attendants

It says 2004, but the operation is the same. Don't confuse them with SKS.

 

you should be able to hand wash in the complex, im not sure on that though. I used to live in apt's aswell. Maybe ask the renter about washing yourself, granted if you have a water spicket near by the car port..otherwise your sol on that.