Brown Bear Car Wash

Love this place, even on hot summer days this place is never super crowded. I think it’s because not a lot of people know of this location and I’m perfectly fine with that haha. The vacuum machine suck tho, no really… they suck really good. When I wash my car I always use the two-​bucket method of washing. I do that mainly to not use their soap-​brushes since that’s the number one way to scratch and add swirl marks to your paint and I’d rather not do that. I’ve seen people washing dirt bikes, boats, ATV’s and they all use those nasty brushes that leave little dirt and debris to scratch up your paint. I personally love the way my paint shines and it’s in large part for not using the brushes on self-​serve car washes like this one. The machine takes either your credit/​debit card or $ 1 dollar coins given out by their machines. It’s $ 2.00 to get it started which gives you $ 4 minutes and every additional $ 1.00 adds two minutes. They have a couple vending machines which work fine but I’ve never used them. There’s also a little room outside the washing ports where you could dry your car or dress up your tires. I’ve never written a review about a car wash but I like this place in large part because when I’m in the mood to wash my car I almost always find an open port with no waiting, even on hot sunny days. 5 stars!

I love these self serve car washes since most of those automated ones scratch and swirl your paint beware! Not to mention the salt in the winter time gets into the water and can really mess with your car. All of the brown bear car self serve car washes are the most equipped and give the most options. One unique thing about all brown bear car washes is they have a conditioner option and paint guard. This location is very conveniently placed and well lit at all hours. There are plenty of small detailers and towels to buy from the machines. So if you’re in the mood to wash your own car this is the place to go!

This place is a self-​service car wash, so there’s no staff or anyone on hand. I guess if you set your expectations relatively low (since there’s no customer service to be had) this place is fine to get your car cleaned and get out.
When I got here it was deserted. There were no other customers, although there was one car just parked suspiciously in a wash bay. I had to vacuum a bunch of crumbs and crud out of the car, so it was a quick visit. There’s a machine where you can get tokens to use in the car wash or the vacuum station, or you can use quarters I think. If you want to use credit card I think there’s a different machine that you have to use, although you might also need to contact customer service for that.
It’s close enough to downtown Kirkland to be sort of convenient, although for a vac if you can get much the same services at a gas station, you’d probably want to go there.