Car Wash Blues

Yikes!........I'm totally against an auto-wash!
Way too many opportunities for scratches and mis-haps to the vehicles surface!
I've been using Zaino for 5 years now and love it. Easy application and great protection with truly wonderful results.
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Earlier this week I took my Prius to the local full service car wash, only to escape complete and total disaster due to the quick efforts of one of the attendants.

After the car was vacuumed, the attendant drives the car to the wash entry area, puts it in neutral and the car rolls through the wash. At the end of the wash an attendent enters the car and drives it to a drying area where it is picked up by the customer.

Well, thats what is suppose to happen. It turns out that ICE cars are actually put in neutral and the engines turned off as they go through the wash. The cars are restarted after the wash. With the Prius in neutral, my car, somehow, went into drive, or was never put into neutral completely, and was literally rolling straight down the wash lane and ready to plow into the rear of a Honda Civic. After the attendant jumped in my car, which was halfway through the first wash station, did they gain control of my Prius. The entire carwash came to a grinding halt, was restarted and the attendent rode inside my car the entire way. Under no circumstances would I want any fellow Prius owner feeling the complete and absolute helplessness of seeing your car almost jump the guide tracks, heading for another car without any driver.

I spoke to the carwash owner, a nice fellow, and explained the situation. He, ofcourse, immediately took no responsibility. I showed him the valet card, which I inserted into the MFD (yes, they did wipe it down and the owner did admit they knew not to) prior to the wash and reviewed with him pages from the owners manual. He didnt want to make copies but did accept faxed copies of the valet card (English and Spanish) and pages of the owners manual regarding the shifter process.

Long story short, wash a Prius yourself.

(Toyota: If you're listening, send a copy of a "how to drive hybrids" memo to the carwash association's public relations department for distribution to their membership.)

 

Bill, I very much hope that the error was simply not actually putting the car in Neutral to start with.

There should be no way that the car can magically get from Neutral to Drive - it at least needs someone with their foot on the brake to do the shift.

I would guess that your near-catastrophe might have been someone pushing the selector to N, but not long enough for it to respond, so it remained in D. They must have not checked the display, and the car may have been on enough of a ramp for it not to be apparent (yet) that the car was still trying to creep forward. So they got out, thinking it was in N. And of course, the lack of engine noise will have added to their confusion.

Possible design improvement: shouldn't pushing the selector to N, then releasing without moving to D or R, select neutral?

 

How could this happen with the Prius? My brief (one week) experience has been that when you turn the engine off, the car goes into Park automatically. Am I wrong?

 

You're right: when turned off the car goes into Park. The car wash attendant must have left the HSD system running.

 

There is a button that one can push to put the transmisson into neutral without starting the engine. However, I don't know exactly where that button is because I have mislaid my owner's manual.

 

If you want neutral with the HSD off, for towing or whatever, start with the car totally off. Then press Power twice, without depressing the brake. There should be an amber light on the button; you're now in "IG-ON" mode, which basically means everything is on, except the high-voltage bits. In this mode, you can select Neutral, by pushing the selector to N and holding it there for a second (with the brake pressed). You can't select R, D or B.

In "OFF" or "ACC" modes, the car stays in Park.

 

Any Prius Technicians out there care to comment about the appropriate process for taking a Prius to a car wash?

Thanks!

 

I have one car wash that does an excellent job at washing cars. However, despite me being there with Ladybug 3 times, and telling me that other Prius have been there, they still don't get it. But they may have gotten the Hang on Ig-On condition.

I talked with the lead, they were instructed to not touch the power, and be sure not to move anything when vaccuming or any other interior detail.

You CAN shift from N to D, or D to N without the brake. I do it all the time on the road to force coasting.

I don't know of any way to disengage Park without being in Ig-On. The parking pawl is an electromechanical servo, and needs power.

I have though of one potential problem with putting the car in N while in READY mode, besides the accidental putting in D, and that is, the HV battery does not charge when in N. If for some reason your car sits too long, the battery could run down. That also may have been why they had a hard time getting my car out from the exit end of the washer.
So, if the HV battery runs down, does the car turn off? Can it be turned back on to Ready and the ICE start charging?

If you ask me, once they drive it to the entrance of the washer, they should put it in Ig-On (amber mode) and then in N. Then the HV battery cannot be run down. Also would suggest leaving the fob in the slot, and take the mechanical key with you.

I plan to make a write-up for car washes. They are going to have to deal with that push button on Lexus also.

 

I've also had to shift from N to D without pressing the brake... while exiting the carwash. I go to the only wash in the area (that I know of) where the owner actually rides in the car. I won't hand my Prius over to a minumum wage/part-time/car-wash attendant (no offense). I just don't know if they'll be able to handle the odd little Prius habits. And even if the guy on Tuesday gets it, his partner next month might not.

Besides, my daughters love to ride through the carwash with me.

Once it warms up, perhaps I'll start hand-washing.

 

I'm also particular about car washes. I only use them in the winter or when it is too cold out to wash. But I prefer to hand wash my vehicles.

Anyway, neutral works as advertised. If you take the car through a drive through wash where you ride through it then you have control over the car and can place it in neutral and manage the vehicle there should be no issues. You aren't being pulled through the wash fast enough or with enough force to cause any damage to the hybrid system.

I will be so glad for nicer weather when I can do my own car cleaning.

 

So you want my opinion too? Ok here goes. I have not been asked about auto car washes here. Our car wash at work,you have to drive it thru. From reading all the posts in thhis thread,I would tend to agree with those who have experience in this. If it were mine, I would have 2 choices. One is to just wash it my self and not visit one of those types of car washes. Or two, ask to be allowed to go along with your car as it goes thru the wash. As others have mentioned,a lot of other folks ( and the youngster working at the car wash ) have never seen, let alone drive a Prius. Unless you have a regular attendent you trust and who is willing to learn, I would either avoid or go along for the ride. Hope this helps.

 

Avoid the automatic car washes. There is too much that can go wrong, as illustrated by the other posts in this forum. Your bumpers are worth about 1000 bucks each if they have to be replaced.

I've taken my cars for years to those do it yourself washracks. I get to control what goes on the car and when. They do a credible job for a fraction of the cost of an auto wash. Bring a bath towel to wipe the windows and the rear view mirrors so you don't get little splotches on them. I use the towel to wipe off the whole car, then lay the towel flat in the trunk with the hidey cover open; it dries in about two hours, max.
Bob

 

Well, I never go through washes that use brushes against the vehicle. That is just asking for swirl marks and various scratches.

What kind of bumper damage can happen in an automatic which is touchless?

 

Well I guess ignorance is bliss. I went through the Handy J car wash in west LA without a care in the world. These guys do probably the best job for the money. The wash is totally by hand so no scratches or swirls. They clean and armorall what needs to be done and leave the rest alone. I don't know if the guy who did the detail knew about the MFD but it wasn't wiped down. Actually, they avoided putting armorall on the matte finished interior pieces. Of course I still knit picked a couple of jambs and hinges with a towel I borrowed from them but other than that for about $14 for the middle of the road wash and wax they do a great job. They also have a great BBQ place i the corner of the lot so you can get BBQ while you wait.