I went here specifically to use the vacuum. Someone broke into my car and busted out the passenger door panel window. Thanks Oakland! This vacuum is amazing! I definitely will be going back here and we'll try the car wash the next time read more

I came here to vacuum and clean my brother's car; he's got 3 kids and zero time so I thought I'd do something nice for him. The vacuum was FINE; I saw some other folks complaining about the strength of the suction and it worked pretty well for me. The place feels RUN DOWN and the vending machine didn't release the item I wanted. There was no apparent staff on site, so I guess I'm out $2? I know it's only $2 but the bigger thing was that I didn't get to clean the interior of the car in the ways I was wanting to, so basically coming here to accomplish 50% of what I set out to do kind of wasted my time. I didn't do an exterior wash, mostly because it felt pretty run down and I was cranky that I set aside time to clean the car and then I couldn't. read more

The car wash is great despite the line being long but goes really quickly. The cost is great!

Car wash is good. A little pricy. Don't waste your money on the vacuum, there is barely any suction.

My credit card was skimmed here at the vacuum station. I'm not blaming the owners, but it's always a consideration when using an easily accessible terminal for payment. read more

The vacuum machine looks like a good deal but as the minutes tick away and money added before the end of the cycle, you are not assured of the additional time. The machine stopped causing the start of a new charge. The attendant is grouchy and defense with a poor disposition. I won't be back and will share the experience. read more

Rinse and drying station not thorough - soap doesn't get washed off nor does the vehicle get dried Drying workers could have been prevented with a better system but the rinse cycle Monthly pass and manager always helpful though read more

If you have a prius make sure you remind them to tape down your rear windshield wiper. Otherwise it will break off.

As a happy sequel to my missing cap saga, I returned to Solar Car Wash today in hope of reuniting with what I lost. James, the awesome attendant at Solar, was nice enough to help me with it. Not only did he save my sideview mirror's cap, he also helped me snap it back on in a jiffy. I will definitely steer clear of drive-through car washes after this incident, but I might consider returning for a self-service wash here in the future. read more

Solar Car Wash - Lesson learned: don't ever trust a car wash machine - Car Wash Near Me - El Cerrito, California

I have had nothing but good experience here for well over 10 yrs maybe more. The gentleman that usually runs the car wash is very pleasant. But...I encountered a very rude, beligerent, grumpy dangerous old man whom I guess, is his fill in. He threatened to shoot me, called me ghetto, invaded my person space at least twice and then told me ,"I had no personal space while at his car wash" .. He doesn't deserve to work with the public talking to women in such a manner!! read more

Horrible car wash. Paid $9 and it didn't even dry my car. The self car wash shook my whole car and was very rough. On top of that you have to pay to use a vacuum. It charged me $8 instead of the $3 that it was supposed to. Don't waste your time coming here read more

The foam brushes suck and barely give soap same with the soap option of the hose and sometimes take up to 1-2 minute for soap to come out .

This location is the best one in the Solar Car Wash universe! No line on the weekday at 12 noon. The token machine took my worn out $1s without rejection. Easy drive through with the wash and vacuum coupled together. Huh? You wash the whip and the vacuum is straight ahead directly 10 feet away. I didn't need the attendant, but he was there cleaning up the grounds. Yelp check-in has a 3 token free wash promotion, but you need 4 tokens for a wash. I'll update when I receive a response. read more

Solar Car Wash - Okay, I'm emailing my Yelp check-in right now! - Car Wash Near Me - El Cerrito, California

Quick, easy and relatively cost effective. The wash is good too! Courteous and friendly counter lady.

Very good and well priced do it yourself car wash. The equipment is well maintained. Will continue visiting the El Cerrito store.

This system seems to be a good option to wash my car, but when I stopped by one day to check it out, there was a manager with attitude and he would not answer my questions. He was really rude. Not going there regardless. read more

Clean with great music and all the things in my bay worked time to hit the road with a clean car read more

Solar Car Wash - Great day to wash my car at solar car wash - Car Wash Near Me - El Cerrito, California

I love getting my car wash here, however what I don't like is getting charged multiple times for one transaction on my credit card. There's no one to dispute your charges with lol at some point I just stopped calling my bank to dispute transaction with and let them charge me twice. Just be aware. Picture below is a transaction that supposed to be $9. I was charged twice smh read more

Solar Car Wash - Transaction details - Car Wash Near Me - El Cerrito, California

I have to stick to my 2 stars rating. Washed my car today. Good news was there was wax! BUT, the "Value" stall, which used to be $6 for 10 minutes, is now $6 for 6 minutes! You can't wash your car in 6 minutes! I have a small car, and I did not finish rinsing off the precious wax that was on my car. Good luck to those who drive bigger cars! They have a monthly plan where you can wash your car every day for $15. Kicker is, each wash is 7 minutes long. Might be enough time for me to finish my wash, but I usually wash my car once every 2-3 weeks, so it's not a good deal for me. Another example of shrinkflation! read more

Went here a couple weeks ago for my Prius. Solid DIY car wash place. I will go back for sure to wash my car in the future. Cheap pricing and you can't really beat the price to quality that you get from doing it yourself. Their wax wash is also pretty great especially at the pressure it runs at. *always be careful and ensure you wash the foam brush with the sprayer to get all rocks and dirt out before using it to not scratch your car. Learned that the hard way* read more

LOVE this self car wash. The vacuums have SUPER STRONG SUCTION! Haven't found any other car wash with such strong suction vacuums. Why don't other car washes have them with this strong suction? Others are always so weak and hardly pick up anything but these are just fabulous! Today I met the exceptionally nice and friendly attendant. He asked me if I needed help as I was looking at the menu of choices for washing. I let him know that I thought the vacuum cleaners were superb. He said he cleans them out a lot to make them have such good suction. I told him I appreciated it very much and of course I'll be coming back, this was my second time here. Very clean, numerous bays and perfectly good working tools to wash your vehicle. I will always go here from now on. I highly recommend. read more

Very satisfied. I like its solar operated and it only costs $5 for very good deep wash. A smart business operation and very cost efficient for customers! read more

Seth the owner/general manager was gracious enough to contact me and apologize to me about my experience with the individual he identified as James. He explained to me that this employee is well liked by most customers who deal with him. As I told Seth, I suspect this James is selective to whom he decides to be nice to, and can be a scary ogre to those people he decides he doesn't like. To me that still doesn't make it right that he behaved in such a threatening manner towards me as I cleaned my car there at the Solar Wash and I still feel he has no business dealing with the public. Judging from some more recent reviews after mine, this James individual still seems to be threatening other patrons. I have also read accounts about him in other review sites going as far back as two years. I advised Owner/ GM Seth to keep a close eye on his unstable employee. read more

Solar Car Wash - Very rude and unstable middle aged employee with a white Cadillac. (James). Avoid the wash here if he is present! - Car Wash Near Me - El Cerrito, California

Vacuum had a bad smell coming from it. Left a foul smell in my car and machine would keep spitting out the coins. Look for another place to clean your car read more

Great place to wash your car and they have a rewards system so you can earn savings towards future car washes.

I went to Solar Car Wash today at 11:00 to wash my car. I took my time. During the whole time I was there, the attendant was not wearing a mask. He was talking to a guy who was not a customer for a while. This guy was also not wearing a mask. I have been a customer for many years, but am high risk for the virus. I will go somewhere else from now on. read more

Had a visit here where the credit card machine showed no signs of any light or time after swipe. Instead it wiped off $15 and then $3 from my account. I called the service number yesterday i.e. 9/8 and today 9/9 left a voicemail with no return call or any emails ( left a mail @ contact us website) Least show customer support ! So here I'm with Yelp Leaving a star as it won't post read more

$5 gets you 6.5 minutes. You need to wash fast if you want to get wax on your car. There is a big sign that says VALUE BAY 5 TOKENS FOR 10 MINUTES. The last car washing stall on the right is the ONLY one that you can get this deal. The first few stalls are the price above. So, be careful about that. Otherwise, the options provided are great. You can even email them to get deals and specials. If you see a line, most people are waiting for the VALUE BAY so you can go into the other stalls if available. The vacuums are on the other side once you have washed your vehicle. I like this place because it is clean and I can get a quick wash. read more

This car wash is by far the cleanest one in the whole East Bay. I think the guy that manages the car wash, his name might be James. I just saw him this morning and thanked him for always keeping the place clean. The soap is always full, the garbage bins are dumped regularly and he cleans the ground, every inch of it. Some car washes are disgusting and this one always makes my day. THANK YOU JAMES AND IF YOUR NAME AIN'T JAMES YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! read more

If you love cigarette smoke you'll love this place. Employee there who drives a white Cadillac will chew you out and tell you your tresspassing after you kindly ask him to please move the smoking up wind. This man is aggressive. Glad my dash cam picked it all up for my YouTube channel. Not safe place for people allergic to cigarette smoke. read more

In fairness, I did finally receive a refund of tokens from what I presume is the owner....after 3 phone calls, one negative Yelp review, and an email. While it is appreciated, it doesn't make up for the lousy customer service of the employee at the car wash. read more

This place is quick and cheap, but you gotta bring your own towels or you end up with water spots. Also, if you do the Yelp check-in to get the free car wash, understand that they snail mail you tokens for you to use next time you go there - it's not instant. read more

No problems with the equipment but the "middle aged African American" employee mentioned in other reviews is just rude. Walked through the stall I was in barking orders at me without knowing what was going on. Been coming here for years, never been treated like this and shouldn't expect to be treated poorly when I was giving them my money and my business. Believe me, I don't want to take up his precious space any longer than I have to. He needs to think and ask questions before opening his uninformed mouth! Maybe a job that isn't people oriented would be better suited for him as he has no people skills just a superior attitude. read more

$4.00 minimum and enough to get my car clean normal dirty $8.00 Is what I takes to get in back from burning-man/death-valley dirty Thanks to Lawrence who was on shift Christmas Eve. Helped me out a bunch with advice and tips. Very helpful and unexpectedly great employee for what initially looked like average do-it yourself carwash. I'm new to the area and this will definitely be my spot. My car was Death Valley dirty. Equipment in fully operational and good condition. read more

Automatic car wash stole my money even though I pressed cancel multiple times when it seemed nothing was working. Company will not return my phone calls or emails. I wish I had never returned. Kaady car wash is my go to now. read more

I haven't used the wash, but the owners donated half a day and half their stalls to the El Cerrito High School Softball Team so the team could hold a car wash fundraiser. I really appreciate this gesture of community building and donation to the local school. The stalls looked well equipped with pressure water and soapy long handled soap-feed brushes. Looked easy to use. Thank you to the owners! read more

Best car wash in TOWN. I would recommend everyone to use this location, my all time favorite solar car wash spot. The attendant is; approachable, helpful, and AWESOME. This location is clean, cards always out if something isn't functioning properly, and you're typically refunded quickly if something out of your control happens. If you have not washed at this location I would recommend you to do so. read more

Very nice carwash. Love the environment and the vacs Friendly people Very detailed Hardworking read more

Great Place clean affordable and all you need to clean your car up spic and span. The owner is really nice and helpful and everyone there is so kind read more

On Sunday, July 30, 2022, we went to the Solar Car Wash located in El Cerrito, California on San Pablo Avenue to wash the car. We wanted to use the stall designated for handicap. Person disabled in car and can not stand for long periods of time. A woman (about 68 years old) and her son (about 28 years old) both with no disabilities proceeded to take about 20 minutes to vacuum their large black SUV blocking the handicap stall to wash our vehicle. They then proceeded to wipe down the inside of their SUV for about 10 minutes before moving their SUV into the stall for washing.s time, the other car wash stalls were being used. The woman and her son finally proceeded to wash their SUV which took another 20 minutes. They were clearly stalling to take as long as possible to vacuum, wipe down SUV interior and then wash their SUV as the Solar Car Wash, El Cerrito California San Pablo Avenue attendant named Ray told them that they could take as long as they wanted to take to wash and vacuum their SUV knowing all along that we were waiting. Due solely to Solar Car Wash El Cerrito, California attendant, Ray's verbal instructions to them, this woman and her son took almost one hour to wash and vacuum their SUV while additionally standing around talking amongst themselves and with the Solar Car Wash, El Cerrito, California attendant named Ray while we waited and waited and waited. Both the woman and her son clearly were not handicapped in any way and knew that we were waiting for them to finish. The other car wash stalls are designated for ten minute car washes. We have never met these people and never said anything to them and we had no dealings with "Ray" except to ask for his name. That's it. Could someone please tell me what are Solar Car Wash, El Cerrito, California location's procedures for using their handicap ADA car wash stalls? We feel that the Solar Car Wash, El Cerrito, California location on San Pablo Avenue is not compliant with California laws as it relates to ADA designated car wash stalls on their premises? Why does Solar Car Wash employees / attendants encourage non-ADA customers using ADA designated car wash stalls to not consider the needs of disabled customers? ***END OF REVIEW **** read more