HOA disallowing car washing, Annoying

Hey everyone - my HOA recently put out a bulletin saying that car washing was no longer allowed in our private driveways which have their own hose outlet. Their reasons being that the car wash soap draining into the sewers was bad for the environment, and since the condominium complex has a shared water bill, I was making everyone in the the second building who doesn't have a driveway or a place to wash their car, pay for my car wash.

1. How bad for the environment is car wash liquid? Are there eco-friendly brands? There is no grass for the soap to drain into, only sewers.

2. I don't let the water run while I'm washing my car. It takes about 15 minutes total (water running) for me to wash my car - regularly. This is about the time some people can take a shower in. I use less water in my condo to offset the amount of water I use for a car wash. I'm sure this can be proven via measurements/readers for valves/pipes, but could be more trouble than its worth for them.

To me, this all sounds like jealous condo owners in the second building who can't wash their cars. I specifically made sure that it would be OK to wash cars in my private driveway when I purchased this condo. There is nothing in the condo's rules/manual about car washing.

Anyone have any suggestions for me fighting this? I loathe paying careless people to wash my car at those car wash places.

HELP!

This post has been edited by exb00st on Mar 7 2009, 09:32 AM

There are bio shampoo's/soap/detergent/ect but I think (reading and watching the news,) your state (CA) is in the poor house for not only cash but WATER. There are select areas here in Florida that water bans are rolling but the bio stuff, well, it aint here yet! By the way - please keep your politicians over there

J

you can also use one of the waterless wash products...
qew, etc

http://www.autopia.org/forum/detailing-art...y-part-1-a.html

or those coin operated wand type places (i hate those, but they are usually not bad if you keep the wand back from your top seals)

last idea: got a friend with a hose and a dirty car? either wash with him and supply products or offer to wash his too... of if hes a good enough friend maybe he will just let you use his hose!

See if the HOA will let you use Gliptones wash 'n glow car wash soap, it is biodegradable. I'm sure there are other brands out there too.

http://www.gliptone.com/retail/

http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html
Takes like 4 gallons with a two-bucket method? (I have yet to use it)
Anyways, I am pretty sure that my Meguair's gold class wash says "bio-degradable" and safe for the environment.

Optimum bills their No Rinse product as biodegradable and environmentally friendly. As is the regular shampoo I buy from Majestic Solutions.

If it's a water restriction sort of rule, you could get around that by using ONR and store bought distilled water. It's usually about $1/gallon. I've even done ONR washes in my garage - you use so little water that it's really not a problem to wash the car indoors.

Thanks for all the input! I'm going to try some of the biodegradable stuff and distilled water, maybe even fill a few buckets with tap water. ARGH.

I'm just so annoyed at this new 'rule'. I know that its just a bunch of bitter occupants in the other building who don't have a garage or access to a spigot.

^ lame bro. but i agree with looking into a product like ONR.

i plan to shift my washing in the summer to ONR for times when my car isn't REALLY dirty - just enough to warrent it being cleaned.
with a two bucket ONR method i use around 6-7 gallons of water + 1 extra gallon to pre-rinse the car with a chemical-sprayer. i think you'll find the results rather favorable, and it's surely better than taking it to a swirl-o-matic plus makes you feel good to do it yourself.
additionally, there'd be no need to even ask the HOA about this, as you wouldn't be using the hose AT ALL.

thank God for living in the location with the largest supply of fresh water in the world - probably the only thing Michigan has going for it right now

FWIW, a local member here, that lives in a condo, has had good results with ONR.

big thread from a month ago with LOTS of info, links and reviews of ONR:
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=672245

enjoy

the next hoa meeting you guys should have a vote concerning the issue with car washing, if it's cost related. environmentally, for me there is a difference between storm drains and sewer drains. storm drains carry rainfall directly to the ocean. one drop of oil supposedly contaminates 100,000 gallons of water. i don't know what cleaning products do though.

my HOA also has a peculiar rule too when it comes to car washing. all residents are only allowed to wash their own cars, any outside parties are forbidden. why? because the association cannot afford to lose money from extra water used. go figure lol

Thanks for everyone's help. I plan on trying out the ONR. I'm planning on calling the property manager and telling him I'm going to continue washing my car in my driveway (using ONR with 'distilled' water and a bio-degradable product.)

I am 99% sure this memo went out because there are bitter homeowners in the other building upset that they can't wash their cars because they don't have a driveway or garage. They can shove it.

Thanks again for the help and links! VERY useful!!!

This post has been edited by exb00st on Mar 9 2009, 09:48 PM

Do it anyways just at like 3:30 in the morning when no one sees you.

Maybe you should buy in bulk, to get wholesale pricing, on ONR and sell that stuff at the next HOA meeting.

i could care less for the f'in environment, HOAs piss me off exactly because of this kind of bs, and screw the "water shortage" in california-- it rained for a mother f'in week... let me correct myself, it STORMED for a week.

^lmao u dont sound too happy...

i do think it is important to take care of the environment, but i also dont want mother nature used as an excuse when others may b jealous or ill-informed.

^ its not been my day today. i'm usually a happier person lol. i guess its the over exposure to the hippies... couldnt be helped since i live in the bay area and someone's always saying "don't do this because it pollutes"

Back when I had my condo, I ran into the same problem.

First they had restricted car washing in the private driveways. Too many people complained about it so they setup a community car wash area. Everyone still washed their cars in their driveways. Well then, since we had a shared water setup also, people still complained about the water usage and the costs going up.

So I decided to start going to the HOA meetings. When the part about the water usage and the dues going up to cover it, I suggested that they meter the individual units. No one liked that idea. Fast forward to the next HOA meeting. The same thing was brought up. So again, I suggest metering the individual units.

My argument was that me as a single person living by myself, and my water consumption of car washing once a week plus showers, minimal dishes and laundry (let's face it...i was 21...I wasn't doing a lot of cleaning. haha), in NO WAY came close to the family of 5 in the next unit.

It took 4 HOA meetings before they "allowed" car washing in the driveways again. Turns out, the dad of the family of 5 was actually on the HOA board. He knew that if they metered the individual units that he would be paying a lot more than what he was. Meanwhile me by myself was stuck paying the rates of a family of 4.


You might be able to get some leverage with that route. I was never able to get them to meter the units. I don't think my note that I left them helped either when I moved out. haha.

Good luck dude. Unless you get some sympathetic people on the board, you're in for an uphill battle.

This is such a good idea. I didn't stop to think about how a family of 5 vs. me in terms of water-usage might pan out... but I think it's a great argument.

I already sent the property manager a note, but I'm going to attend an HOA meeting and bring this up.

This brings up another issue with me about water usage vs. me and a family of 5. I HATE how we have shared water expense! It's not fair either.

^ exactly. the difference is they know they're out-of-sight=out-of-mind.

ur outside in everyone's view using water, they're running their dishwasher every other day, taking 3-6 showers, doing 4 loads of laundry everycouple days.
maybe if u just let your hose run during the entire duration of the wash i could POSSIBLY understand. fact is, you're on the low end. it pays to attend HOA meetings

You should definitely check your association bylaws to see if a vote or something is required for such a change.

Thanks, but the amount of people in building 2 is much greater (probably 600% who don't have a private garage or driveway/spigot) than building 1. So a vote wouldn't be in my favor. However, monitoring water usage for each unit and making sure my usage isn't greater than the average unit, is probably the better way to go...

Did you pay more for your unit with the garage, driveway and car washing privileges than the people in the other building paid for their units? If you paid more, do they have any right to take what you paid extra for?

Ask that they reduce your HOA fees by the amount that you would pay for professional car washes.

You stated,"I specifically made sure that it would be OK to wash cars in my private driveway when I purchased this condo. There is nothing in the condo's rules/manual about car washing."

Do you have anything in writing about your car wash privileges? Insist that those rights be "grandfathered" into the new policies.

I did pay more, and thats a good point.

I was speaking with some of my neighbors and they brought up good points as well, including that they were told they could wash their cars whenever they wanted as well. Obviously this was an incentive to buy a unit in this building.

Anyway, it's almost like like a benefit comparable to buying a place for location, or view. I bought this unit because it specifically had a garage and a water spigot.

The HOA is in for a fight. I guess my neighbors are pissed too.