Tanforan Shell & Car Wash

I love that this car wash is TOUCHLESS. Especially if you care about your paint. Those brush/rag/sponge thingies at other places scratch your paint all up. It's the only touchless place that's local and open 24hrs. Get a touchless wash, go home and detail. That's what I usually do. No complaints here. Plus, the guys who work there have always been helpful and friendly.

This is a review of the car wash and convenience store only; I have never purchased gas from here.

It's located at a convenient corner, but it can be a tricky lot to get into, no matter which direction you're coming from. People like to hang out in their cars all over the lot for some reason, so be very careful when you're here, especially right after you exit the car wash.

I've gotten spoiled by the automatic car wash near my parents' house. That one is only $6, and four or five cars can be in it at the same time, so a long line to pay doesn't necessarily mean you'll be waiting long.

At Tanforan, a long line means that you'll be waiting a long time. Only one car can be in the wash at a time. Take whatever you expect to wait and double it, and then you'll have to way a little bit longer. Here's my rule: If I can see any cars already in the queue from its entrance, I don't enter. Why? Because the line is staple-shaped. You can only see one of the short ends from the lot, but the long end and the other short end are there as well, and that's a lot of cars.

When it first opened, all the ocean and environmental and other decorations were fun, if not over the top and corny. Now, a lot of them are in bad shape, and they've outright removed some of the larger-than-life aquarium castles and rocks and fake coral, so it's depressing.

The wash itself is a ripoff. If your car is very dirty, don't waste your money here; the machine does a poor job of removing grime. Also, this isn't indicated on any signs, but at the end of your wash, you should drive as slowly as possible through the fan so that your car gets as dry as possible. You have a full sixty seconds; use them!

The convenience store is very well stocked, and the people working when I've come inside have been universally friendly and efficient. They have some pretty good deals for a gas-station convenience store.

When it was she'll, this gas station was mediocre. But now it transitioned to a private label company, who does not use "top tier" gasoline like shell uses. Top tier is a grade of gasoline that experts say you should be putting in your car if you do not want it to gum up over time over cheaper quality gasoline. Now you're paying higher than average prices for cheap gas.

The car wash is terrible. It's "touchless" which is a plus, but the system does not clean well. Worse of all, the wait in line takes forever. I was stuck in line for 15 minutes despite only 3-4 cars ahead of me.

The entire station and car wash is also plastered with cringy "X% donated to charity!!!" With zero proof or links to how much was donated to which organizations

This review is strictly for the car wash.

I didn't have time to wash my car myself or go to my regular spot, so I opted for a drive-thru wash. Three options, I decided to go with the 'Platinum' which was $19.95, and if I could describe the results, I have one word...TRASH. There's no brushes, it relies solely on water pressure which is pretty mid.

There's no difference between getting a car wash here or crumbling up a $20 bill and throwing it in the trash, they'd produce the same results. I basically just threw $20 down the drain bc I gotta go get another car wash lol this is what I get for being lazy

To say it's a complete waste of money would be disrespectful because 10% of the proceeds go to a good charity, so shout out my $1.90 doing some good.

Tried this place as it was touch free and laser wash. Wasn't what I expected, a) took long wait (40 min in queue, and you can't back out) as they just have 1 wash lane b) price is $13 for basic wash c) doesn't cleanly wash (see pics) . Felt like I wasted over 1 hr overall for this type of wash ‍
Going to stick to hand wash..

Great service overpriced but nice. Plus the guy comes out to make sure you miss your first free wash, and on top of that he turns off the machine so you get to pay twice $ - $ its amazing . Lights seem a little dimmed but other than that this is a destination . Bring your kids wife neighbors and dogs.

Car was pretty dirty and this place looked like a fun place to drive thru with kids. When all is said and done I think this might be the worst car wash job I've ever had. Car was a little bit cleaner but not much. You could still completely see the Batman logo my kid had drawn on the door in the dust a week before. For $13 I will never be back.

Tanforan Shell is not a place that I frequent for gas, but I often go to their car wash. It is fast and inexpensive compared to other drive through car wash places.

I've never had an issue waiting a long time, it might be because I'm used to SF car wash places where the lines are long and backed up 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I like the colorful underwater murals and decorations that you drive through on your way into the car wash, a nice distraction while you are waiting. The car wash is pretty decent and leaves my car clean and shiny on the way out.

First of all, I didn't realize this was a 24/7 car wash!!!

I'll be coming here more often, now.

I'm not a big car guy, so when I highlight, or show support then I guess that means something. Also, I don't really go to car washes, so this might also be bias.

All around this is a great car wash experience. From tuning into a FM channel as your car gets washed, to having visuals inside the tunnel- that's just the aesthetics.

The premium wash is only 14.99 and it comes with a butt load of specials. From the wax, to the protection, to the rinse, to the dryers, this place does, and has it all!

Did I mention they're 24/7!?

It's true that if you go for the car wash you will have to wait over 30 minutes (check my photos for the timestamp :) ). For me this whole thing took 46 minutes.
Like others say, the line does wrap around the building. The car wash was just okay; my car wasn't as clean as it would be if it was washed at other places. But I do like how nice the employees are and how they donate 10% of the proceeds to charities. But because of the long wait I wouldn't recommend coming here for a car wash.