What is a giant Buc-ee’s car wash like? 10 things to know about the one coming to Florida

C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
·5 min read
2

Want to get your car really, really washed? You'll get your chance soon as one of the biggest gas stations in Florida gets even bigger.

The construction next to the massive Buc-ee's gas station/convenience store/basically retail and snack theme park in Daytona Beach has been confirmed to be for a Buc-ee's car wash. Which isn't a big deal, usually, but this is Buc-ee's, a gas station that drew an estimated 5.4 million visitors over a 12-month period, and the Texas-based chain seems categorically incapable of doing anything small.

Here's what you need to know.

How long is a Buc-ee's car wash?

This rendering from 2019 shows a future Buc-ee's car wash next to the planned Buc-ee's gas station/travel convenience center on the northeast corner of the Interstate 95/LPGA Boulevard interchange in Daytona Beach. The 104-pump gas station and 53,000-square-foot travel convenience center opened in 2021. Site work finally began in fall 2023 on a 235-foot-long Buc-ee's car wash set to open in either late summer or early fall 2024.

The Buc-ee's car wash in Daytona Beach will be 235 feet long, Jeff Nadalo, general counsel for Buc-ee's Ltd., confirmed to The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week.

To put that in perspective, the national average for car wash tunnels is 120 feet, according to car wash industry news website DRB. (Yes, there is a car wash industry news website.) If you put the new Buc-ee's car wash on a football field you could almost drive from a goal line to the opposing team's 20 yard line, a nearly 80-yard stretch.

Is it the world's longest car wash?

No. That would be the 255-foot-long Buc-ee's car wash in Katy, Texas, which was confirmed as the longest by the Guinness Book of World Records when it opened in 2017, with 17 blowers and 32 vacuum stations.

Why make a car wash so long?

"The longer the tunnel, the higher the quality of the wash and the higher the volume you will be able to serve effectively," said industry expert Steve Gaudreau in a 2017 article published by Carwash.com. "Successful operations, if they have the real estate and project high volume, choose to build their tunnels as long as possible."

What's it like going through a Buc-ee's car wash?

Trippy, according to a 2017 article in Texas magazine Houstinia.

"Within seconds, the Buc-ee's beaver logo was splashed across my windshield, a spirit animal to guide me through this transcendent experience," wrote Sarah Rufca Nielsen. "As we soaped up, splashes of red, yellow and blue turned the world outside into a colorful kaleidoscope. It was, for a moment, as close to as life gets to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. ... The individual colors melted into pretty waves ― red swirled with a hint of yellow, mimicked a particularly lovely sunset just outside my driver side window ― before coalescing into a muddy greenish brown."

Reviews on other Buc-ee's car washes tend to be positive, with one reviewer for a location in Richmond, Yexas, saying, "I didn’t know what a good car wash was until I came to bucees !!"

When will the Buc-ee's car wash be open?

The Buc-ee's general counsel Jeff Nadalo said by next summer. "Buc-ee's expects to open the car wash in Daytona within the next 8-10 months," he said in an email to the USA TODAY Network.

Do you have to buy gas to get a Buc-ee's car wash?

No, but Nadalo said if you buy the "Works" car wash you'll get a fuel discount of 20 cents per gallon.

Will the Buc-ee's car wash be open 24/7?

"Currently we expect the hours of operation to be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.," Nadalo said.

How much will it cost to get your car washed at Buc-ee's?

According to Nadalo, you'll get two options:

  • Basic wash: $13

  • Works wash: $16

Will the Buc-ee's car wash be staffed?

Yes, according to Nadalo, but he didn't say how many jobs it would create.

A recent job posting for car wash manager for the location offered $33 an hour, as did another for assistant car wash manager. The job also included medical, dental, vision, three weeks paid time off and a 100% 401k match up to 6%.

Buc-ee's is known for higher-than usual hourly pay rates, with workers making at least $17 an hour, and its benefits.

What is Buc-ee's?

Started in Texas in 1982, the Buc-ee's gas station/convenience store chain expanded into Florida in 2021 with locations in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine. Another is planned for Ocala and there may be one coming to the Treasure Coast.

Buc-ee's, open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, is what you get when you put a convenience store on steroids and ask theme park imagineers to design it for you. Everything in it seems huge, from the deli/bakery counter to the rows of ice bag freezers outside to the countless shelves of store-brand... well, everything. The Buc-ee's locations in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine tie for the title of largest gas station in Florida at around 53,000 square feet. That's about twice as big as the average Publix. The new Ocala location will have that beat at 80,000 square feet,

10 things you'll find in Buc-ee's: Jerky, super clean clean bathrooms, Beaver Nuggets and more

Buc-ee's is known for cheap gas, a wide selection of fresh hot food prepared in-house, addictive branded snacks (including Beaver Nuggets!), a Wall of Jerky with about 20 different flavors, a section devoted to household goods and barbecue grills, literally hundreds of gas pumps, large, sparkling clean bathrooms, a grinding Beaver mascot and a nearly cultlike following.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Buc-ee's in Daytona Beach adding massive car wash. Here's what to know