Tanforan Shell & Car Wash

Car wash sucks… Didn’t wash off the soap properly and left marks everywhere. On the windows, trunk, wheels… And I waited 50 mins in line while reading other Unilocal reviews that I should have read beforehand. Lesson learned.

This car wash is a complete joke, it’s a huge failure. The people who work here are not very smart, not that big a deal. I wasted a ton of time, don’t have a clean car and got to meet someone who obviously hates his job. When you pull in to the was you really have no clue how long the line is. It goes all the way around the to the other side of the building. If you see a car on the corner when you pull in there are most likely 6 cars in front of you and one in the wash. At 4 — 6 minutes a wash that’s a minimal of 20 minutes and a could be 10 to 14 more. That means it could take over half an hour to come out on the other side. Or maybe even more. You could watch a standard half hour show easy.
If you’re honest with yourself, do you have an hour to get a car wash that’s really only subpar. No you dont. I would highly suggest not wasting you time.

It is been over a half an hour and I’m still in line at this car wash. There are still 2 ½ more cars to go, so all in all it will have been nearly an hour of waiting in line. It’s very deceiving when you first enter you think that the line is going to be short, but there is a blind corner. It sucks!

The wait for the car wash is quite painful. I waited 45 mins to use the drive thru car wash. Too long!

It does take time to move through the carwash line –but well worth it. I checked my email and paid some bills while idling. I chose the premium wash which was very colorful and relaxing. The people who work there are nice. The gas is priced reasonably. It’s open 24 hours. I will go back.

Absolutely ridiculous. I waited in line for about an hour for a car wash that left soap on my car and was really crappy. I didn’t know it would take so long to get my car wash done here or I would never have come. I had to sit in the hot sun! I will not be coming back here. Very dissatisfied

Never in my life did I think I would be writing a review on Unilocal about a gas station but the service I received here today was amazing. The machine at the car wash entrance was down so someone took my card to pay for it inside while they started the car wash for me. I thought «oh great now I have to go inside to get my card.» But low and behold this kind gentleman was waiting for me when I pulled outside of the car wash waiting to hand me my card. He was the owner! Keep up the great work, guys!

I would say that the other reviews underestimate the services here.
— it isn’t slow
–they dry your car thoroughly (as long as you pass your car through the dryer slowly and maximize the time alloted for the car to dry)
— and HUGE plus that it’s open ²⁴⁄₇ especially for someone like me who is a total night person
— easily accessible

I went there for a car wash since it was early morning and they have a 24 hour car wash. Worst car wash in my entire life. First time I came out the car was full of soap still and I took a cloth and wiped the side and it was just as dirty as when I went in (see pictures). I told the clerk and he sent me through again free of charge. He came out to turn on something in the control box and I asked him about it and he said it was the best wash (doing tires too). I paid $ 12.99 for the best wash that said it included tires which obviously it had not if he came out to turn it on. The second time I exit the wash again with soap (although not as bad as the first time) on my car and dirt remained on the side. I ended up going to another car wash (at only $ 9.00 for their best wash) to get the soap and remaining dirt off my car! Do not go to this car wash.

DO NOT GO HERE! Not only is this the world’s slowest car wash, but they fraudulently charged my card $ 100 for the wash! When I appealed this through my bank, the station produced a transaction record stating I bought $ 100 in gas! My car couldn’t hold $ 100 in gas, but I have to eat it because I didn’t get a car wash receipt. Bad business!

This place is great. So happy I found a great self service car wash that is open ²⁴⁄₇. And with the added bonus that it’s very close to my home. Had I not desperately needed a carwash and spilled coffee all over the outside of my car I would have never discovered this car wash as I usually go to the Chevron on hickey. Now that place took forever, closes at 7, and is always packed. Bt since it was the only one I knew of it was the only place I went. Now I know better. The fact that it only took 10 minutes is not a lot to ask for a good wash.

«Home of the World’s Slowest Car Wash»
The car wash here is deathly slow. Who knew I’d waste an hour waiting in line with 4 cars in front of me. I could probably grow a beard by the time I think my car got dirtier waiting in that time.
Maybe they should use the money they get from selling knock off Giants and Warriors gear to improve the car wash.

I just spent one hour waiting in line, came out after the gold wash and the bird poop was still on my car. My car does not look better at all. Definitely a waste of time and money!

I come in here regularly for business and they know me here. In the last week someone stole my wallet, including my ID. I came here today looking all of my 27 years plus having known both guys on reg. yes I get you need an ID but I’ve been seeing these dudes for years. I can’t help my wallet being stolen plus knowing they claim to know me as myself … A 27 year old!!! I knew the guy who refused me and that’s bad business since he’s been my sh*t cashier every time and still denied me even tho I look near 30 and he knows me as a regular!!! Bad form for your repeat customers when I was stolen from … Wouldn’t buy my anything here again

Long queues and there is no way to know if it’s your first time as the queue is hidden behind the building and they don’t warn on how long it’s gonna take. It took me 50 minutes for a crappy wash. Never coming back.

Do not go here. It is not worth your time. If you see any cars when you drive up it will be over an hour wait. It takes approximately 7 minutes to wash each car. All this for a mediocre wash. Definitely not worth it, there are far better washes in the area.

Just don’t go here for the car wash if you have a somewhat nice car.
Leftover soap, I rinsed it again when I got home and dried it better myself.
Was TRYING to save water… also made my wheels look like shit.
Negative stars.
Sorry, gas station.

1 hour of my life I can’t take back! I usually go to Chevron on Hickey or I go to a self serve car wash. I should have done that since that’s what I end up doing.
I went here since it’s near work and it doesn’t look like it was busy. 3 cars ahead of me. So I decided to try. After 1 hour of waiting. I got to the machine to pay! I keep getting error. They don’t have a customer service button or anything so you have to call the clerk on your own phone. So I did that. I told that S.O.B I keep getting errors. He was being a smart ass instead of helping me. My card got money on it and I used the card at the mall an hour before. Yes! An hour ago since I waited for a freakin’ hour for this stupid car wash and end up not getting my car washed and insulted by some idiots who doesn’t know the meaning of customer service.
I should have read the reviews before I went here. I will go here again. Not even for their expensive ass gas! Go 3 blocks away at Chevron.

Used to love their old touchless power wash machine till they replaced it with this POS laser machine that does not wash, rinse and dry your car. It’s always broken, takes and hour of your time and the attendant that walks around to tell you something is never clear on what he is telling you or saying to you. Please get it together!

Worst car wash And it’s gonna cost you $ 10 !!!
My car wasn’t even clean water stains all over ! And guess what the gas is at least 75 cents to a dollar more per Gallon comapring to other gas stations !!!

Got one hour to waste? Then this is your place! Only a handful of cars (think 5 or 6) in front of me and took 1 hour. Forget about calling it quits Halfway through, the driveway is wedged between the car wash office and a wall which means no escape if u have second thoughts. Paid for the $ 11.99 wash, not impressed, came home 10 minutes later and wiped the car down with a white rag… it turned brown.

This car wash had one job. This car wash doesn’t wash your car. I took my company car here that had bird crap and dust all over it. I left with all the bird crap on my car, and lots of dust still there. The $ 11 hand washed car wash south a few blocks on el camino is a lot better

Paint dries faster, molasses is Usain Bolt compared to this line, the only thing slower is a Tea Bagger’s wit. Unless you have an hour to spare, avoid this car wash.

I have been here before and it was ok. But yesterday it left soap spots all over my car. the final rince is not clean. There is something wrong with this car wash. I would complain, but have no idea where to do that

Worlds slowest car wash. I’ve been in line for 30 min and just rounded the bend and still have 4 cars ahead of me. I’m stuck and expect to be stuck another 30 min. Better be the cleanest car I have ever seen. Even then, Im never coming back here.

If I could give this place a negative star. I would totally do it. Was there earlier today to get my car clean. Been here before and I never have to wait so long in my life for car wash. But then again I came on a hot day and a Sunday. Bad on my part. Well… the problems is not the waits or the service. I have a 2011 Rav 4 and to anyone that own Rav 4 knows that in the back there is a spare tire cover. The cover blew away while my car was going through a drying process. Well. It flipped back to the car wash machine and it got dragged and cracked. I rushed to tell the young man that worked there and he told me to give him a moment. A moment??? Are you crazy??? It’s already getting crushed by your car wash machine!!! And as soon as he went to grabbed it… sigh As I expected… HUGE CRACK AND SCRATCHES. I called them and told them about this. The first thing to tell me is that they are not responsible and that there are instruction of what to do to prevent the damage to your car before you do this. Nothing on that damn instruction says about how to prevent your tire cover being blown back. So think before you come here. They are shit with gas price and even crappier with their car wash.

The car wash left soap all over my car. After I drove out, the soap ruined my plastic trim pieces. I had to wash my car again when I got home.

If I could 0 Stars, I would.
I was at the top of Sneath and needed gas. But for some reason skipped the 2 gas stations by the freeway and stopped at the Shell at the bottom of the hill.
I ended up paying 30¢ more a gallon.
My fault. This location is on El Camino. I should have known better.
Went in to grab a bottle of water and decided to get a quick car wash as well. Paid the $ 11.99 for the platinum. Cheap enough. And fell in line.
AN HOUR LATER.
No joke. A full 60 minutes later and I’m still in line. With 2 cars still ahead of me. This is ridiculous.
I would have backed out and left if there hadn’t been 3 more cars that fell in line behind me.
My 4 year old is in the back of the car screaming Bc we’ve gone 30 feet in the last hour. While she’s strapped into her car seat.
This better be the best car wash I’ve ever had. But after reading the other reviews, I won’t hold my breath.
DON’T COME HERE. FOR A CAR WASH. OR EVER!

Best car wash in the area! No rubber bristles to beat up your paint job. Touch less car wash using high pressure water cleans cars scratch free.
5Stars

i paid $ 8.99 for a crappy laser wash.
i thought it was a drive through car wash with bristles but turns out it was «laser wash» aka power wash. my car came in dirty, came out slightly less dirty, but regardless, it was money not well spent.
i think i could’ve done a better job hosing my car with a garden hose…

Definitely one of the slowest car-​washes I’ve been to and after nearly filling up with rather expensive $ 4.39/gal regular (not the 8 gallons needed for the free car-​wash).
I got their top-​of-​the-​line best car wash for $ 11.99 and my pretty grimy car came out mostly clean – but still had dirt left in the wheels (this level is supposed to add a wheel scrub and «tire-​shine” – apparently not a good one). I also got the Rain-​ex coating and all that, but I’m not sure that it’s worth the cost.
It is indeed touch-​less (high pressure water jets) and if you care about not having a giant lengths of sponge dragging or rotating bristles scrubbing your car, then this might be an acceptable option.
So this is an overall OK place but I’m sure there are better options that give you the same for less, and are faster.

Others were not joking. This car wash does take forever. There were 4 cars in front of me and it took about 40 minutes before it was my turn. However, this wasn’t the case.
I haven’t washed here since 2012. Today, I decided to give it a try as I was passing by. Before, things were simpler. There used to be 3 options instead of 4. This new 4^th option scrubs your wheels. Why in the world I come to a touchless wash for that? Right then, I knew something was new. Could the new machine be an improvement? A Hell To The No.
As mentioned, the newer wash is much slower… causing a huge line. Slower is better right? NO! The new machine doesn’t even rinse off all the soap. I posted pictures! I have a white car. The blue soap/​polish dried and left a blue dye. Good thing I didn’t just take off and cleaned it off with my microfiber from my trunk and dried the rest of the car with my shamee. Yes, it dryer turns off before numbers finish counting down. WTF???
So they added a tent at the entrance, some mural and downgrade the system that doesn’t fully rinse and dry. Go ahead if you want. Tip-​if you still want to wash, go in the late evening to avoid the crowd. If I were you though, I would drive a little further to Hickey’s or even Mountain View’s Laserwash. Those clean more powerfully and actually rinse and dry. A very disappointing ‘downgrade’.