UPDATE 10/10: I went there this morning. Barely any soap. Again she came and sprayed it for a…read morewhile, after watching me do it. Like f she sprayed it, soap would come out for her. After spraying it for a while, still no more soap. Then she proceeds to tell me "that is how it is now". "Just a little bit of soap". Her words exactly. I talked to two people washing their car and they didn't even realize it because they saw a few suds. So apparently they put just enough soap in to make it look like there is soap but it's not enough to do anything. Should be called CAR RINSE.
I've been coming here for about 3 years because I prefer a DIY car wash, and unfortunately there aren't any other options like this in The Woodlands. I really WANT to like this place. But the ongoing equipment problems have gotten ridiculous. It's $8 for 10 minutes. The problem is that I have lost count of how many times I've paid, started washing, and gotten little to NO soap. And I don't mean one bad bay once in a while. This happens repeatedly.
Every time I get an employee, they come out and test the system themselves like when they do it, soap will come out. They spray the wand, check it, go back and add soap or do whatever they need to do, and eventually it works.
They do give me the lost time back, which I appreciate, but they only add it back 5 minutes at a time. I have to stop and go find someone twice just to get the 10 minutes I paid for. At that point, I've spent more time dealing with the car wash than actually washing my car. Sometimes I've had to switch bays and pay another $8 just to find one with soap. I've also had a card reader not work, forcing me to switch bays again. So therefore I paid $16 for a little bit of soap for 10 minutes.
The switching bays has also caused an actual problem with my wheels. I use a tire/rim cleaner during the wash, and on one visit there was no soap, so I had to switch bays. The rim cleaner was left sitting on the wheels while I was dealing with the equipment and changing bays, and it ended up damaging the finish on my rims. That was especially frustrating because I shouldn't have to worry about damaging my car while trying to get the equipment to work.
I go on Saturday mornings, and I have a schedule to keep since I only have Saturdays to get everything done. I don't have time to spend half my car wash hunting down employees because the equipment isn't working. And here's the kicker: the last time this happened, I was admittedly pretty frustrated and finally lost my patience. The employee went into the mechanical room and within seconds there was suddenly TONS of soap. Like... apparently the soap was in there somewhere.
The vacuums aren't great either. I was wasting another $4 every time I used them and finally bought my own vacuum because it was getting ridiculous.
I don't blame the employees. They are usually trying to help while also dealing with a busy drive-through car wash. I would happily keep coming here. I like DIY car washes, I like being able to take my time, and there really isn't another one nearby. But when I pay $8 for 10 minutes, I expect to actually get soap for those 10 minutes--not spend half my time tracking someone down to make the equipment work. I've contacted them through their number online with no response.
So if you're coming here, just know what you may be getting yourself into. You might get a great wash, or you might spend your Saturday morning chasing down employees, changing bays, waiting for soap, paying for extra time, and hoping your car doesn't pay the price for equipment problems.