Best Car Washes in Los Angeles, Including 3 That Never Close

The best car washes in Los Angeles are spread across a lot of freeway, so your part of town narrows the list before price does.

Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks has the lowest plan we could confirm, $19.99 a month. Spot Free runs touch-free lanes at four sites from $12 a wash, and three of them never close. Westchester Hand Wash starts at $39.95 by hand.

At two washes a month, skip the plans. A 10-wash pack at Spot Free works out to about $7 a wash.

Start with your part of town

We judged these on posted prices, plan cost, wash type, number of sites and hours. Star ratings are out because we can’t source them, and nobody from this site visited or tested them.

Mister and Quick Quack prices come from our chain guides, read at stores outside Los Angeles, so check your store’s page before you join.

Harbor water is nearly twice as hard as the Valley’s

LADWP’s water quality page averages 147 mg/L in the Valley and Western LA, 168 in Silver Lake, Downtown and South LA, and 279 in Eastern LA and the Harbor. It says softened water means “fewer water spots” on “automobile finishes.”

So the last rinse counts here. Spot Free lists a spot-free rinse on all four washes and Speedwash on all three plans. For spots already set, see our guide to removing water spots from paint.

Three Spot Free lanes never close

Spot Free Car Wash has eight open sites at Chevron and Mobil stations, and the wash type changes by site.

• Touch-free and open 24/7 at 5975 W Centinela Ave, 11197 Washington Pl in Culver City and 1515 S Myrtle Ave in Monrovia
• Touch-free until 8:45 PM on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, and brushless until 8:45 PM on La Brea Ave
• Express, which Spot Free calls a contact wash, on Jefferson Blvd in Culver City, Whitsett Ave in North Hollywood and E 7th St in Long Beach

Singles run $12 to $20, though the site warns that prices vary by location. Under Body Blast starts at the $17 wash.

The Deluxe 10 Wash Pack costs $69.95, about $7 each, the cheapest automatic wash we found. Spot Free doesn’t say whether it works at every site, so ask first.

Plans cost $29, $35 and $39 at all eight sites, for up to one wash a day. Two $15 washes cost $30, so Works saves $1, or $5 at La Brea. Our touchless and soft touch comparison covers what each type risks.

Most tunnels shut by 8 PM

Bliss’s Van Nuys page says 8 PM and its finder says 7:30 PM, so plan on the earlier time. Fashion Square also closes on rainy days.

Fashion Square has the lowest plan

Fashion Square Car Wash at 4625 Woodman Ave sells express washes at $10, $15 and $20. The $19.99 plan’s card lists only the wash and a hand dry with no count, though the signup form says unlimited. The $29.99 plan covers 10 washes a month, and you cancel at the cashier.

Full service runs $29.99 to $39.99, with a hand dry and interior vacuum. A package of five costs $99.99, or $20 a wash.

A year on the cheapest plan runs $240 to $360

Two washes a month is the test. Fashion Square and Speedwash win by a penny against their $10 and $15 washes, Quick Quack by 99 cents and Spot Free by $1. Mister and Bliss need a third wash.

A penny isn’t a reason to sign up. Spot Free’s pack makes two washes about $14, against $19.99 for the cheapest plan here. I’d buy the pack and switch only when a third wash becomes a habit, which is when Fashion Square pulls about $1 ahead.

Laiba Altaf

Speedwash and Bliss cover the Valley and beyond

Speedwash has seven sites, from Olympic Blvd in West LA to Woodland Hills, Pasadena and Long Beach. Washes cost $15, $25 and $35, and Buy 4 Get 2 Free cuts the lowest to $10. Plans cost $29.99, $39.99 and $49.99 and work at every site.

Its Woodland Hills page offers new members a $9.99 first month, so check the pay screen.

BLISS Car Wash lists Van Nuys, Covina, City of Industry, Santa Clarita and Palmdale. It posts $10 to $32 a wash and $23 to $55 a month. Its terms exclude damage on vehicles over 10 years old and want claims reported before you leave the lot.

LUV Car Wash lists Reseda, Van Nuys and Canoga Park on its California pages, but we couldn’t read an LA menu, so it’s not in our tables.

Mister and Quick Quack sit at the edges

Mister’s store pages show Inglewood, Alhambra and Montebello. Our Mister price guide has $10 to $26 a wash and $22.99 to $39.99 a month, and the underbody rinse starts at Base Plus on singles and Platinum on plans.

The closest Quick Quack we could confirm is in Covina, at $12.99 to $27.99 a wash and $24.99 to $39.99 a month.

• 5 days notice to cancel at Bliss
• 7 days at Spot Free and Mister
• 10 days at Quick Quack

Hand washes start near $40

Westchester Hand Wash at 8801 Sepulveda Westway calls itself “100% Hand Wash.” The Classic shows as both $39.95 and $39 on its page, with an interior wipe-down and window cleaning.

SoCal Hand Wash at 330 N Brand Blvd in Glendale has “No automated tunnel.” Its Classic starts at $39.99 for coupes and sedans, and every seventh wash is free on a punch card. Fashion Square’s hand wash bay costs $79.99.

California requires hand wash and full-service shops to register with the Labor Commissioner, and its car wash page links a search tool for checking a shop’s name.

Endless Summer Mobile Detailing comes to driveways in West LA, where its Essential Wash costs $85 to $105. It needs a power outlet, and cancelling inside 48 hours costs 50%.

Self-serve costs $1 a minute in Burbank

Zeavy Car Wash at 520 S Victory Blvd posts $5 for 5 minutes up to $8 for 8 minutes, the one self-serve bay we could confirm with posted prices. Our order of steps for a self-serve bay helps you finish before the timer does.

Rinse ash before you touch it

After a fire, LA County Public Health says to start with a gentle hose spray, then use mild detergent and water, and warns that scrubbing dry ash “can scratch paint.” The same page says to avoid washing ash into storm drains.

Santa Anas call for the same care, since the National Weather Service describes “dust-bearing winds.”

A driveway wash has rules here

LADWP’s conservation rules require a self-closing shut-off nozzle on the hose and ban runoff onto streets, driveways and gutters. A first violation brings a written warning, then $100, $200 and $300 on meters under 2 inches.

LA County adds that sudsy water shouldn’t reach storm drains, and our home washing steps cover where it should go.