Village Coin-Op Car Wash

Worst car wash in America. Trust the 1 star reviews. 5 stars must be the owners themselves or their friends and family. Run down, some machines don’t work, and can’t your quarters back. I called the number on the outside and of course no call back. You’re better off picking the dirt out of your carpet than using their vacuums with no suction what so ever. My guess is the only reason their in business is their location. Just drive out to Lincoln. Plenty of car washes out there self serve or full service. This place is ATROCIOUS!

Really like it here. Easy, cheap, and convenient. Wish they had a water fountain with running water to at least wash hands when done. That is the only missing element. Otherwise, great location, machines work great, and the job gets done. A facelift and running water would make it the best deal in town.

Is it that hard to keep the change machines functional? Back in town after the holiday weekend and just needed to rinse my car off. 2^nd time this month, both change machines out of order.
Place is run down, vacuums have very little suction power and not reliable.

Waste of time and very frustrating experience. The place is run down and the machines and equipment are in need for an upgrade or at least a repair. After a long wait in line for one of the three working stations you notice that the place is super tiny, even though I have a small sedan I can barely move around the car or fully open the doors while in the cleaning station. You are constantly harassed by transients asking for change or just wandering around looking for plastic material to pick up. Pedestrians will even yell at you for water from the sprayer hitting the car and flying towards the sidewalk, bothering people who pass by since the lot is pretty much on a sidewalk, it just feels like it does not belong there. After all that hassle, my car was not clean and I though about cleaning it again, but I noticed that I’ll have to wait in line, so I went to another car wash. Save your time and money and go to any other car wash it will definitely be better that this.

The quarter dispenser machine never works and there is no place to get change … So how are we supposed to use the machines? There are bums everywhere walking thru the garages as you wash your car and many fights have broken out in broad daylight. Always super crowded with impatient people that try to rush the person ahead of them. And the brushes and machine need updating especially the weak water pressure :(

We desperately needed a car wash and spent some time driving around Santa Monica before giving up and deciding that we would just go to a coin-​op for now. Village Coin-​Op was a disaster. It was decidedly more run-​down looking than other coin-​ops that I’ve been to and it’s on an awkwardly small lot, making it somewhat difficult to pull into but incredibly difficult to get out of. The first spot we pulled into, the sprayer was broken. There was an empty spot next to it, which we were able to get into and, fortunately, that one seemed to be working. When we were done washing the car, the awkward smallness of everything made it impossible to pull out of our slot because of people vacuuming and drying their cars. When we were finally able to pull out to dry our car, we discovered (after sticking a bunch of quarters in) that the machines were out of towels. There didn’t appear to be anyone on duty and we couldn’t find any signage indicating how to contact someone. I would rather pay $ 40 for a hand wash somewhere else than go to this coin-​op ever again.

Used to like the place but the new owner is a lying prick! The machines are not serviced and when you leave your info for the refund he promises, you will never hear from him. WHY GO BACK???

Love these self pressure wash places. They are quick, cheap ($ 5 or less) and safe on my car. Convenient if you live in L.A., don’t have a garage, and don’t want to spend more on half-​assed washes where they could care less if they scratch your paint.
Bring cash — small bills. There’s a change machine available at Village Car Wash. The liquor store next door makes you buy something in order to break larger bills.
I do not use the soap brush on my paint. Might use it on the wheels. Any hard to clean areas I run my own micro fiber mitt over. The pressure rinse and soap does a nice job.
I usually don’t have to wait long since people wash and then pull to another area to finish drying. Weekends can be a little busy. Easier to stop by on a weeknight.
Parking: irrelevant.

As of 3÷27÷2013 it’s still $ 2 for 4 minutes worth of time on the hose attachment. I moved Santa Monica several months ago and was dreading the whole car wash situation. I don’t drive my car much but it sits outside and is only partially covered by the awning of my building so it accumulates dirt/​pollen etc. pretty fast. It had been over 4 months since I washed my car, and it was looking pretty sad, so I took it here just to hose it off until I can figure out a better option. To my surprise with just $ 2 I applied soap for 60 – 90 seconds and used the remaining time to rinse the car off with the pressure washer. My car actually looks surprisingly good considering the minimal $ 2 investment. I can see myself using this place for monthly «touch up» rinses in-​between more extensive car washes.

The lot of the wash was tiny, but gives you just enough room to maneuver around other folks’ cars. I spent close to $ 5.00, using a rinse, brush with soap, and rinse again. Parked the car at the end of the lot near a vacuum station and had enough walking space between me, the wall, and the vacuum station, but would have wished there were more space. Other than that, it is your basic self car wash — does the job, just wish the actual lot had more space to maneuver your vehicle and more space to dry and wipe down your vehicle.

My experience at this car wash is always great. I come once or twice a month. It cost $ 2 for the hose to start and $ 1 for the vacuum. I end up spending around $ 5-​$ 6 total which some people spend more on their water bill just to shower themselves every day. My car gets clean and I feel good. I just might buy it!

I used this car wash yesterday. This is a standard self-​service coin-​op car wash. I am not sure what some people are complaining about. It worked very well for me. All the functions worked well: pre-​wash, soap, rinse, wax, etc. There is also vacuum cleaners to clean the interior of the car. My car was dirty with the Los Angeles smog. The water gun has a lot of force and cleaned my car very well. I am giving 4 stars and not 5 because there was no way to change bills into quarters, and because the instruction plate was old and dirty and therefore a bit hard to read. In all, a good experience and I will definitely come back.

I only ever had bad experiences at this place. I would go here when I lived in SM and was trying to save a buck but have a clean car. The machinery is fine but way skeevy crowd at this place (both loiterers and patrons). One time I was propositioned by a gross old man who was washing his crazy suped up car with wings. After turning him down, he didn’t let up and then proceeded to follow me about a block away after I drove off.
The prices end up not being that cheap because I don’t think the machines give you enough time to complete a wash the first time around so you end up doing a double cycle… meaning you only saved like $ 2−3…Not very cheap in the end.

I love washing my car and I don’t understand why all «hand wash» car washes in Los Angeles are… at the cheapest… $ 12.99. That’s crazy!
The hose actually costs $ 2.00 for 4 minutes… as of today (3.25.09) since I went today to wash my car. (I have been going there for awhile and never noticed a $ 4 for 4 minutes… but maybe the prices changed), and if you keep putting quarters in before you time runs out again, you’re a-​okay. The thing beeps at you too at a minute to warn you to come back and re-​fill with quarters.
So nowadays I don’t wash my car as often as I probably should. And I’m not as thorough as I once was. And I’m quite speedy at the whole thing. I can rinse, quickly soap and then rinse again (I don’t do wax or tires) spending only $ 2.75.
Then I move my car to their vacuum, which is $ 1.00 for 4 minutes. That is WELL enough time for my needs. I bring my own towels and window cleaner so I don’t buy their stuff there and then lay out my mats before I put the quarters in the vacuum so that when I add those quarters, I can zip right through the mats and the front and back of the car quickly.
So all in all, I usually end up spending around $ 3.75 to $ 4.00 here to wash my car, which is well worth the money saved. Especially since most times I just want to have it SOMEWHAT decent-​looking and get the salt and dirt off it so it doesn’t start rusting or something. The reason I also like driving down to this one in Santa Monica is that the self-​washes in Koreatown and up near Hollywood always have people walking around who sometimes harass you for money, or just generally weird me out. Since I usually wash my car by myself, I like the area near Santa Monica more.
:Oh, but if you’re one of those people who likes to dry their car off in the washing area, if someone is waiting, you might want to let them know you’ll be a bit longer… I never mind when people do that, but I’ve seen some people get a little grumpy @ waiting:

If you like to do it yourself – and why shouldn’t you – then this is a good place to go. WIth today’s economy, who wants to blow money on costly car-​washes when you can do it yourself at a fraction of the cost?
Oops, I forgot this isn’t an infomercial…
Since I have a hose at my apartment, I only come here for a quick vacuum. For four quarters you get four minutes of strong suction to get rid of that layer of leaves and debris on your floor and mats. I recommend you spend a few extra moments before the vacuum starts removing all items in your car, taking out the mats, and opening all of your doors. This way, you can race through the four minutes and get it all done in one session. With some practice, you’ll be able to. Otherwise, you’ll end up out another dollar…
One way to get your speed up: pretend you are in the pit crew of a NASCAR team. You’re efficiency is the difference between glory and disappointment so put that bubbly on ice…