Station Auto Wash

I'm terrible at keeping my car clean. Receipts, makeup, baby clothes and who knows what else litter the inside of my car, while the outside looks as if it survived The Dust Bowl. Recently, however, I decided that enough was enough and took my car to get washed at the only place I've ever consistently returned to, .

When I first moved back to Loudoun, I went to Station on a whim because I needed to get my car detailed. For about 1oo bucks, it came back to me looking as if it had just come off of the showroom floor - and that's after six months of nearly bi-weekly trips from New Jersey to Northern Virginia with an infant and a dog. I was impressed.

Unfortunately, just a few months later, in May of 209, the owners of award-winning Station Auto Wash suffered a tragedy as their business caught fire and burned to the ground, with damages totaling an estimated $2 million.

However, owner Tom Magazzine didn't let that stop him, and by September, he was on his way to opening the business back up. Going into Station Auto Wash now, you would never have known that anything had happened.

Not only does Station do such a brilliant job washing cars (My favorite is the #1 exterior with the B interior), but it's truly a lovely place to spend your time. Located right off of the W&OD trail, Station takes its name and design from the old train route on which it sits.

The interior is made to look like the train station, complete with "ticket window." There's even a train crossing signal as you leave the wash itself. But beyond the theme, it's nice to be in an auto wash that is clearly clean and well-cared for. The restroom is both spacious and spotless, and in the lobby, a large flatscreen plays movies to entertain the kids who are waiting with their parents.

The staff is also friendly and willing to go the extra mile to get out all of the grime that's hidden in your car. For instance, I learned on my last trip that my rims are actually silver! Imagine that.

While I still can't seem to time my car washes around the thunderstorms, every time I visit Station, I feel so much better about driving around, and I know I'll never go through a gas station car wash again.