Car Wash

A Rancher pick-up truck being cleaned in a car wash..

..and a Manana convertible being cleaned manually.

The Car Wash is a business featured in many Grand Theft Auto games, although it is only functional in Grand Theft Auto IV, Episodes From Liberty City, and Grand Theft Auto V that lets the player take any passenger car, light truck or SUV to this facility to remove dirt, grime, and the occasional blood.

Description

Other GTA games

Car washes are found all over the map in previous Grand Theft Auto games, although the player cannot interact with them in any way as they are considered static objects. The player may still drive through the car wash and they also are often attached to a gas station. When accumulated dirt was introduced on vehicles in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, car washes were believed to be featured, but the feature was never included in the final version of the game, though during the car chase sequence of Reuniting the Families, a car wash sprays soap onto the Greenwood driven by Carl, Sweet, Ryder, and Big Smoke as the chase leads through it, much to the chagrin of Carl.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Available immediately after the beginning of the games, car washes are interactive in Grand Theft Auto IV and its episodes. In most cars and while not wanted by the police, the player can pull up to a marker behind the car wash to trigger a cutscene. In the scene, the player pushes a button on the control panel, opening the entry gate. The player then drives in and stops, allowing several brush strokes and water sprayers to clean up the car. Once the car is shiny, still in the cutscene, the exit gate opens and the player drives out in a view that shows off the new cleanliness of the car. The cutscene ends and the gamer, assuming the player's control, may now drive the car.

Taxis, except Roman's Taxi, get a discount washing at $3 instead of the usual $5, except the car wash in Tudor. Convertibles are washed by hand. Large trucks and vans such as the Boxville, emergency vehicles, limos, helicopters, motorcycles and boats are restricted from the car wash. Police and NOOSE cars are also unwashable.

Occasionally, if the player skips the wash sequence cutscene, the vehicle's passenger side door will open, likely a game bug.

Trivia

• In Grand Theft Auto V, you don't have to use the car wash to get your car cleaned. You can take it to Los Santos Customs to "repair" it clean.
• In Grand Theft Auto V, the car wash on Innocence Boulevard is based off of Lennox Car Wash in Lennox, California, with some elements being based off of Mission Car Wash in San Fernando, California.
• There is a glitch in Grand Theft Auto Online where if a player blows up a car in the wash while there is a player in the car being washed, the player in the car would freeze in the car and become invincible, but will be kicked for idle.

Locations

GTA Vice City

• Washington Beach at the Going station.

GTA San Andreas

• In Idlewood in Los Santos attched to the Going station.
• One lone one in northern Los Santos.

GTA IV

Image	Location
File:BrokerCarWash.jpg	Tutelo Avenue, Beechwood City, Northern Broker.
File:WillisCarWash.jpg	Saratoga Avenue, Willis, Southern Dukes.
File:PurgatoryCarWash.jpg	Hell Gate, Purgatory, Western Algonquin.
File:WestdykeRon.jpg	Big Horn Drive, Westdyke, North Alderney.
File:TudorGlobe.jpg	Tinderbox Avenue, Tudor, South Alderney.

GTA V

Image	Location
	Innocence Boulevard, Strawberry, Los Santos.
File:CarWashGta5ii.png	Lindsay Circus, Little Seoul, Los Santos.