I've driven past Fast Auto Wash on West 43rd about a hundred times before I actually pulled in. It sits in that stretch between Marion and Sycamore where everything's gas stations and fast food — the kind of area where you're always just passing through on your way somewhere else.
What got me to stop was watching the line. Not a long one, but steady. People choosing this place when there are three other car washes within a mile. That tells you something.
Inside, it's straightforward in the best way — touchless automatics, self-service bays, and those vacuum stations that actually have suction. I ran my truck through on a March afternoon when the roads were that particular Sioux Falls mix of salt, sand, and whatever brown slush accumulates on 85th Street. The wash took maybe four minutes. Clean enough that I didn't feel like I needed to immediately hit it again, which has happened at other places.
The self-service bays are where Fast Auto Wash makes sense. Eight dollars gets you enough time to really work on the wheel wells and undercarriage — the parts that matter in a state where winter lasts six months. The foam brush actually foams. The presoak setting works. Small things, but they're the difference between a car wash that functions and one that just takes your money.
It's not fancy. The building's basic, the signage is practical, and there's no attendant trying to upsell you on wax packages. But the equipment's maintained and the bays are clean, which is more than I can say for some of the newer places on the east side of town.
Four-point-eight stars from two hundred sixty-seven reviews says the same thing I'm saying — it does what it promises. In Sioux Falls, where road grime is a year-round sport, that's exactly what you need.
— Grace
I've driven past Fast Auto Wash on West 43rd about a hundred times before I actually pulled in.