Don't go. smelly stale water. Rude owner worried about utilities heat on a 50+ DEG day in MN! Sic . Approached me looking like he hadn't washed his A$$ or clothing in weeks .Bay are not ventilated well. I immediately left after this encounter. Never will go back. read more

Seriously. You need to appreciate these places. Sometimes you want to wash your car right. None of this touchless Holiday Gas Station stuff. You want to give your car a proper scrubbing and the only place you can do that is at a self-serve wash. The pro's? - 2 Bays for each garage. - Beeper letting you know when your time is going to run out. - Change machines and an accessory machine. - Slow times you can dry off your car in an enclosed place. - The bays and surrounding lot are clean. The con's? - The vacuums are ok but compared to other places, they are on par with those places. They really must take a beating. - The people using those vacuums who are in my way and I can't get in to the wash. But really. These places are tough to find and when you find a good one you celebrate it. read more

Solar Wash - Car Wash Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

The worest car washing ever it was so confusing, and my didn't even washed a bit! Even the foam is not removed such a bad experience

Thanks to yelp! I found this place. FABULOUS‼‼‼ Best quality equipment self service car wash in 4 states and 40 years!! My passion is a true RUST Free beloved car ( like my '96 Tahoe bright red NO rust real chrome bumpers shiny and 245,000 miles) First, it is open late till 8 pm I think. Second it is private peaceful SAFE ( staff upstairs) CHEAP and FUN to do !!! How I use their equipment for just $4: First I high blast rinse off the car then quickly switch to the looong handle super soapy foamy brush ( GREAT soap) and race around scrubbing top bottom sides ASAP, then I power rinse REAL well then race back and put in the EXCELLENT high polish wax. WHEW!! Yes, great exercise for a senior citizen !! But I LOVE a clean sparkling car!!! Then I take my three white cheap super water absorbing car washing towels ( fr Costco in auto section sold in big cheap stacks) and rapidly wipe off ALL the heavy beaded water everywhere first. Then I go back with towel 2 and REALLY dry each section slowly relaxed ( sipping my diet cherry Dr Pepper), THEN I do the last wipe buffing in circles the wax to give the car that WONDEROUS sparkle that leaves a big smile on my face. They also hv super powerful vacuumes (charge) AND an auto car wash bay w machines AND a bay for higher ceilinged trucks !!! Best thing ..... all powered by solar energy, Enjoy‼ read more

Unless your car already LOOKS like it lost a battle with a semi, do NOT use Solar Car Wash's automatic washer. That beast left a series of deep scars all along the passenger side of my car. Find another car wash because the attendant was of zero help in resolving this damage. All he did was pretend he knew all there was to know about rotary brushes (he doesn't know ANYTHING about brush dynamics!) and denied that this damage was possible. No help there! Avoid this car wash. Get a hose and a bucket first! read more

I just came from the Solar Car Wash March 28th, 2024 and used their touch less automatic car wash and paid for the top of the Line Touch less Service, but my vehicle was damaged in the process. I have a Jeep Wrangler with lights mounted to the front of my vehicle where their sensor did not sense them. I went to the office and was told "that the lights were aftermarket items and that they are not responsible for damages to the lights"... Needless to say I was not at all happy with this response. I would definitely stay away from this car wash and go to the touch less car wash on Snelling Ave and Minnehanna or the car wash at the Holiday Station a few blocks down from Solar Car Wash!! read more

this was the first time, I have taken my new car to do the "Self Wash". it was horrible, the car didn't get clean! AND I found two scratches (1 long & 1short) on the hood! those scratches were NEVER there before!! read more

Honestly, this was my first time using a manual car wash, so I learned a lot. Overall it was good for a quick wash. Make sure to bring quarters (or small bills; I think there's a change machine inside) and wear shoes you're not afraid to get wet! Pros: -Super cheap -- just $2 for 4 minutes with the machine, with the option of adding extra quarters for more time (I think 20 or 30 seconds per extra quarter) -Enclosed in a garage with doors so you can avoid the elements -There are clips to hang up your car mats Cons: -No way to dry your car unless you bring your own towels maybe -The hose we used had a hole about three feet from the nozzle, so water was spraying/leaking out and made the whole thing difficult to manage read more

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This place has been here since the 90's, probably earlier than that. As far as the do it yourself car washes go, this one is my favorite. I get such a good feeling when the interior and exterior of my car is clean. The vacuums have the nice long extra hose that reach all through out, there are garbage cans situated to throw all the crap that's accumulated in the car into. Change machine for the washer Vending machine with wipes and air fresheners. Plenty of car wash bas when it's not overly packed. I always enjoy using the pressure washer and seeing all the flies and dirt come off. However, the timer never seems long enough to get everything done, but for me, it's still cheaper than some of the automatic car washes And it's cheap entertainment. read more

In my ongoing quest for increased frugality in all aspects of my life, Solar Wash is a gold mine. What's not to like about a $2 car wash? Granted, it's a frantic event, racing around your car like a lunatic, waving the hoses to and fro over your car, trying "to beat the clock". That is, your $2 only buys you so much time with the faucet of water and soap... But I had no problem washing my entire car within the allotted time. In fact, I even had time to use the wax setting on the hose. At its core, frugality is about DIY. Why pay someone more money to do something you can handle well on your own? Solar Wash fits that bill. read more

So far brought my car there first couple times this year, very nice well pressure hose cleans thorough, good quality soap spray as well gets the dirt out ... can't really beat 2.25 per 4 mins. therefore using the soap first then rinse for 4.50 do your self service...better than going through sit in car wash tunnel/stalls for 5 then still see dirt smudges. So far no issue with any business attendants giving me hard time as of yet as other comments. I bring my own change so don't have to deal with that change machines as I've heard. Time consuming just putting your bill then spits it out many times. Maybe considering having one the day of the week having a special dollar for 4 mins would be awesome! :) read more

I've been using this car wash for a few years now, and up until recently it was my go-to self wash place. I'm usually there weekly as I'm kind of a gear-head. I stopped by on a Saturday mid-day and pulled up. It's busy, no biggie. (After all it is Saturday.) I'm not sure who the owner is, I read on here elsewhere it is "Scott" - so we will just go with Scott. I pull up to a bay and peek inside the window of the bay (they are closed off by roll up doors). Scott comes out and approaches me in a very direct and rude manner. I'm pulled up, waiting to enter the bay when it empties. As I get back into the car, I explain to Scott that "please and thank you" go a very long way. He brushes his rudeness off, and half heartedly just "oh yeah, I'm sorry". I explain to him that I don't think he is and explain that I won't be back. Sucks, because I like this place - but just refuse to support such a rude owner like this. I drive from other side of town, but now on the look for somewhere else. I get it, he won't miss a single customer. But address the attitude Scott... read more

If you're reading this review you're probably wondering what I was wondering, is this place worth my $2? The short answer: Yes. You can use high pressure wash, wax, and rinse all within 4 minutes. 2 minutes on the wash, 1 minute on the wax, and last minute on the high pressure rinse. The vacuum is $1.25, I believe it lasts 4 minutes which is also enough time to get most of the dirt and sand. The long answer. Solar Car Wash has I think 8 manual wash bays? 2 bays per tunnel, 5th tunnel is an automated car wash which I haven't tried. If you're like me who doesn't keep cash around and only grabs cash from the ATM when needed. Don't have quarters? No problem, the machine takes $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills. I only use the 4 minute wash option on my winter beater, if it's a car I like I'm not letting this stuff touch my car. It looks like it's the type of soap that strips the wax off your paint. So I don't recommend any car wash if you don't want to strip the wax off your paint. If you like hand washing your car but live where you don't have access to a water hose or something, this is what I do. The key is to use the $2 car wash to rinse the car, while you use these items to do the cleaning. Grab these items off Amazon if you don't already have them. I already did the research and these have the most positive reviews. The soap is designed to clean your car without stripping the wax off your paint. The grit guards are designed to trap the harmful minerals that can scratch your car and create swirls. This particular wash mitt is very good at trapping soap suds. The Absorber has never let me down, it gives my car a spot-free dry, no water spots yet! On top of all this, I use a polymer wax that can be applied in direct sunlight. I hand-wax my car in the parking lot of my apartment, I only use Solar Car Wash to keep the dirt particles off my car. The goal is, if you wash your car often enough, it'll be a lot easier to clean next time around: Qty 1 $8.49 Meguiar's G7164 Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner - 64 oz. Qty 2 $9.99 Grit Guard Bucket Insert (White) Qty 1 $4.99 Meguiar's X3002 Microfiber Wash Mitt Qty 1 $10.33 The Absorber Synthetic Drying Chamois, 27" x 17", Natural Grab 2 buckets from Home Depot, they only cost a few bucks. 1. Insert $2 to fill bucket with water, in 4 minutes you should have plenty of water. Shoot the water into the mitt so the water gets stopped by the mitt, otherwise there's so much force it'll just shoot out of the bucket. You don't have to do this if you can pre-fill the buckets from your apartment's bath tub. There probably won't be enough time to fill one bucket, so just focus on one. Once timer runs out, pour water into the other bucket. 2. Insert grit guard in each bucket. 3. Add 1 ounce of soap to one bucket, this will be the soap bucket. The other bucket will be used to rinse your mitt between washes. The key is to keep the wash mitt clean so it doesn't pick up particles that can scratch your paint. Mix soap bucket until it suds up real good. 4. Dip wash mitt into soap bucket, this wash mitt is well designed and can absorb a lot of suds. Make sure you grab as much as you can as these suds are key to trapping any unwanted contaminants. Wash one panel at a time, working in sections from top to bottom. Remove any unwanted particles from the wash mitt by rubbing it against the grit guard inside the rinse bucket. The rinse bucket is used only to clean the wash mitt, it's where the majority of the unwanted particles will go. The soap bucket is designed to keep the clean soapy water so you can keep applying the suds to your car. 5. After each section, rinse with a 3rd bucket if desired. Otherwise do what I do and skip that 3rd bucket, I just wash from one section to the next until the car is ready for rinse. Remember to keep rinsing that wash mitt and reapplying the suds until you finish cleaning your car. The key is to do this during non-busy hours in the mornings or weekdays, because you'll be holding up the line! It shouldn't take long, it takes me less than 15 minutes each time I do this. 6. Insert $2, and use only rinse from the 4 minutes. Feel free to use the spot-free rinse if you already cleared most of the soap off your car. 7. Use "The Absorber" to dry your car, do not wipe it across your car. Instead, lay it flat and let it absorb the water. Remove, dry, repeat. Dry the car while inside the bay to prevent water spots. read more

After doing biz at Wash Me on Hiawatha for many years, Solar Wash is a pleasant surprise to discover. I got a better wash for my van and trailer for $3.00 less than it cost me at Wash Me. I will use Solar Wash as often as possible. Thanks a lot! (update: September 04, 2015) The owner of this place has turned out to be a real opportunist. Scott has tried to get me to pay him $100.00 to paint over a scratch on the trim of one of the wash bay entries at his business Solar Wash. I gave him $20.00 cash when the scratch occured due to my ladder rack on my van not quite clearing the bay door. I had just picked up the ladder rack and drove back from Otsego, MN the day the scratch occured. It had been a long cold rainy day for me and I was exhausted from all the events, weather and driving that day. My first priority was to take my used ladder rack to Solar Wash to wash the bugs off the front of it. I frequent solar wash a couple of times a week and usually spend at least $12.00 /week there to keep my van and trailer clean. I appologized to Scott who was there the day I scratched his trim, but he insisted that I owe him $100.00 to paint over this very small scratch. People like this should not even be business owners. I even offered to paint the scratch for this guy and he insists to continue blowing this way out of proportion. read more

Tried this place for the first time and it'll be our last. Drove in around the back per the arrows and went in to the front stall. Having no change but seeing pics online of the machines, didn't find on the front but had to walk back through the rear wash area (as the front office door was closed). The jerk behind was washing his truck and didn't stop as I tried to get by (and I know he saw me!) and hosed me down fairly well. Got back to the change machines which were not working well at all. It took me four tries to get change from a nearly new fiver and several attempts each for the couple singles I had. Change was a mix of quarters and tokens. I walked back to our stall and heard the jerk behind us yelling at my wife for not washing the car as she tried to explain that I was trying to get change. He had seen me go by so knew that, but jerks will be jerks. He was upset he had to back out. I started putting tokens and coin into the selector but that too was not reading well and it took several attempts with each coin reinserting again and again until I finally had enough in to start. I added another four which ate up almost a minute trying to reinsert each because the coin acceptor wasn't working right! Washed the car and when it started beeping, attempted again to add coins to extend the wash, and again wasting almost twoinutes at that almost futile attempt. Finished washing and had just ten coins left, so started adding those. After several attempts had enough to start the rinse so flew around the car rinsing before the timer ran out, as I knew it would t take the last two coins. So that machine wasted almost three minutes of wash and rinse time. The floor was filthy with an inch if sand that I could t help but to teach it into my car on my feet. And my wife was upset that mr. Jerk off had yelled at her! As far as I'm concerned, this place should close up if the owner won't keep the machines running and keep the floor clean. I will never go back here and strongly recommend that others find a better place to wash their cars. This place is a real dump. read more

I have used Solar Wash for years. They are an economical option especially if you only need a quick rinse. It was a little busy mid afternoon on a Saturday but my wait was still only 15 minutes. They have six wash bays that each hold two cars. They have an ample number of vacuum cleaners and two change machines. My only problem today was that I was 25 cents short on the $2.25 price of the 4 minute wash time. I only brought 4 quarters because that has been the price for all the years I've gone there. After unsuccessfully spanging for a quarter, one of the employees came to my rescue after I told her I didn't know they had jacked up the price. While she stated that one 25 cent price increase in 10 years hardly constitutes "jacking up the price" which, in retrospect, was probably a little strong on my part, she put a quarter in for me and I was good to go. I'll be back next time with proper change. read more

Solar Wash - Car Wash Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

Absolutely the WORST service I've gotten anywhere. We pulled in with our pickup after a day of work to spray the dirt off, and immediately had our water shut off and a woman (presumably owner) came out and immediately started screaming at us for washing our vehicle at her car wash, claiming that we ruined the inside of the overhead door as it got some dirt on it. A simple "please don't wash your muddy vehicle" would have sufficed, but this lady was incredibly hostile and unprofessional right off the bat. We apologized and offered to clean the door, but there was no reasoning with her. After yelling at us and saying we should have washed our vehicle BEFORE using her car wash, she went inside, came back out, and took the 2 empty plastic bags that we had put in her COURTESY TRASH CAN back out of the trash, claiming that she "didn't want our trash here". Not sure what this car wash is in business for if not to wash cars and allow people to use their courtesy trash cans, but I'd recommend going elsewhere if you'd like to actually wash your car at the car wash. We went up the road to the Rice Street Car Wash which was much nicer, cleaner, and allowed us to wash our vehicle and put our 2 plastic bags in their courtesy trash cans. We left the stall spotless as we always do, and we'll be back to do business with them again. read more

Had to spend $5 to do both soap and spray. Had to hustle but saved $10 vs automatic washes

2 dollars fir all the soap and suds you can slather on in 4 minutes...pretty good deal. $1.25 for a couple minutes in the vacuum too....all in all, one of the better car washes in the metro. Plenty of stalls too so the lines aren't too bad either. read more

The sun, quarters and the power of you combine to wash your car. Faster you are, cheaper it is!

this place is great, but the woman who is customer service or attendant is very rude. i will take my business elsewhere. washing your car is supposed to be pleasurable, right? read more