Review: 60362 Car Wash
Posted by CapnRex101,
Car washes have appeared several times across LEGO City, traditionally in large sets. 60362 Car Wash instead focuses completely on this titular location, so seems to provide good value, while maintaining the excellent functions from bigger sets produced before.
In fact, this car wash captures some details and play features not seen on previous models, which only increases its appeal. Although smaller than the other buildings released this summer, I think this example could be among the best.
Summary
60362 Car Wash, 243 pieces.
£17.99 / $32.99 / €19.99 | 7.4p/13.6c/8.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Considering its size, 60362 Car Wash provides everything I was hoping for
- Impressive functions
- Appealing colours
- Great play value
- Overpriced in North America
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Two minifigures are provided, the first of whom seemingly runs the car wash. The blue cap and overalls work nicely together, although more intriguing is the use of a head produced for Police Chief Wheeler. Perhaps the chief is working undercover, infiltrating a gang conducting criminal activities from the car wash!
The second character is intended to drive the included car and features a new torso, also found in 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender. This pineapple design seems odd, although continues the trend of fruit-themed attire in LEGO City, which began in 2017. The bright light blue colour looks lovely, but the minifigure lacks an alternative expression, unfortunately.
The Completed Model
Cars in LEGO City are relatively formulaic and this is no exception. Nonetheless, the model is well proportioned and includes large tyres, offering ample ground clearance for off-road driving. The colour combination of yellow and green, with lime green bands along each side, is definitely bold, but does not particularly appeal to me.
The model is constructed around the standard chassis element, so includes a dark bluish grey band along the bottom, which the wheel arches match. The roof can be removed and reveals a 2x4 space inside, with just enough room for two minifigures to sit. Additionally, there is a stud for keeping an accessory behind the seats, although no suitable accessories are actually supplied.
I like the shape of the car, particularly towards the back, where the steep rear windscreen looks great. The wheels noticeably extend beyond the body of the vehicle, although I think that works with these tyres. One of only two stickers included forms the number plate, completing a simple but effective car.
The car wash differs surprisingly from earlier designs, including the most recent equivalent in 60292 Town Centre. This structure is more compact, measuring only 14cm wide, but includes extra functionality and avoids the boxy shape of its predecessor. Moreover, I like the white, dark blue and medium azure colour scheme, which looks appropriately clean.
The building is not particularly deep, although there is more than enough room for the brushes inside. A tyre pressure gauge and inflator is attached to the side with Technic pins, forming part of a connective system across the new City range. The height of the nozzle is absolutely perfect for the provided car.
Specialised brush elements were introduced in 1988 and have remained in continued use ever since. However, the brush has not been available in medium azure previously and I prefer this bright colour to the usual blue. The red supports and white Technic bushes stand out nicely as well, continuing the clean colours from the exterior.
The second sticker is applied above the entrance and looks nice, flanked by a variety of round plates and tiles, representing bubbles to match those on the sticker. Again, the bright colour scheme remains attractive, especially with a few aqua parts to complement the white ones.
As a car drives through the car wash, the small brushes on either side flex on rubber Technic beams and the larger brush above swings upwards. The whole mechanism works seamlessly, other than the horizontal brush not always swinging back down automatically. Also, there is no moving platform beneath the vehicle, unlike in 41350 Spinning Brushes Car Wash. Given the size and price though, this omission is understandable.
Similar brushes have appeared on several LEGO car washes, but the foam dispensing function is new. Ice cream pieces represent the foam and are stored in trays behind the brushes, which tip to dispense the foam. Ideally, there would be a knob on the side to activate this feature, but the manual mechanism works. Rotating fans also included to dry the vehicle as it departs, much like in 7993 Service Station from 2007.
Overall
Although far from flashy, 60362 Car Wash incorporates some enjoyable functions and looks great too, so succeeds in my opinion. The moving brushes are splendid and I appreciate the foam release, despite its basic activation. In addition, the shape of the building seems realistic, but not boring, due partly to the vibrant colours and signage.
I think the European prices of £17.99 or €19.99 represent good value, unlike the US price of $32.99, which is far too expensive. Otherwise though, I am very satisfied with this addition to LEGO City. Hopefully the wide selection of buildings produced this summer are an indication of more variety to come.
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68 comments on this article
Quick correction - the brush element was introduced in 1988, in 6394 Metro Park & Service Tower.
It first appeared in "plain blue" in 2005, before that it was more of a "medium blue".
"Two minifigures are provided, the first of whom seemingly runs the car wash."
Oh, he just works there. Pineapple-shirt lady runs it as part of her empire of 37 other car washes.
The US price has got to be a mistake.
22.99 seems far more appropriate, even if still slightly overpriced.
Very cool set.
If there are going to be stickers, I would prefer it if there was more than one for the license plate, so if you get more than one set you can have different license plate numbers.
Not entirely sold on the car, it looks like something from 20 years ago. But otherwise a very nice set, at a decent price, at least in Europe.
That said, I think they could have made a simple mechanism to automatically drop the foam when you push a car trough. That would have made it absolutely perfect.
Can now common 6 wide vehicles run through it? Seems like a tight fit.
Guess I could just build this and test it out myself...
buying 2 of these, placing them back to back with some minor mods and you've got a decent carwash for any lego city.
I wish LEGO would make more cars that are smaller. Cars in the real world are commonly far larger than they need to be, so it would be nice if LEGO could introduce children to an alternative world where people don't feel the need to compensate for other aspects of their insecure lives with huge cars which needlessly impinge upon our built environment.
If they'd followed the 3177 design, perhaps there could be TWO in this set!
Really needs double height side brushes to wash the car side windows. Is the Technic rubber flexible enough to allow a 6 wide vehicle, as the tiled plate seems wide enough? Although guessing the roof is too low for the latest Land Rover or other taller vehicles to fit through?
@Gataka said:
"Can now common 6 wide vehicles run through it? Seems like a tight fit.
Guess I could just build this and test it out myself..."
Yes, but taller vehicles can collide with the roof. As @ambr speculates above, 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender is very slightly too tall, but would fit after removing the roof rack.
Car almost looks like a throwback to 6550
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Gataka said:
"Can now common 6 wide vehicles run through it? Seems like a tight fit.
Guess I could just build this and test it out myself..."
Yes, but taller vehicles can collide with the roof. As @ambr speculates above, 40560 Land Rover Classic Defender is very slightly too tall, but would fit after removing the roof rack."
Thanks for answering!
I think the dude with the blue cap is a hommage to the classic version of him. Blue cap and blue dungarees. One of my favorite figs of that era
Good review! I LOVE how much emphasis there is on modularity in this latest wave of City sets. Even this set, small as it is, shares the Technic pin holes on its sides with the larger sets from this wave like the Downtown and Apartment Building.
Likewise, the main building in this set (with the roof removed) matches the 8 brick + 1 plate height used for the stackable modular units in those sets. Of course, in this case, stacking other units besides the included roof unit onto this one would be counter-intuitive, since it would mean losing not just the stylish bubbly signage, but also some of the essential car wash features like the fans and soap dispensers.
It does frustrate me slightly that unlike some of the other buildings from this wave, the entrance/exit ramps in this set don't really offer a seamless way to connect it to modern road plates aside from raising the whole structure up or replacing the 2x4 curved slopes with shorter slope pieces. This is an easy fix in the grand scheme of things, but given how highly inter-compatible the other sets in this wave are, it feels odd that a more direct way of linking the model to road plates was not included.
The car is simple, but stylish, and its colors slightly remind me of 6550 from my childhood, albeit with the Bright Yellowish Green stripe providing a tasteful transition between the Bright Yellow body and Dark Green racing stripes!. The car's design definitely feels like a good fit for this set, since an off-roader like this is sure to need a wash after driving through the dirt and mud! The balloon tires also pair quite nicely with the tire pressure gauge and air pump.
Thanks for the review! I'm very eager to see Brickset's reviews of some of the other City sets from this wave. This new modular approach to City buildings excites me a great deal even though I'm not really a City collector, and much like the current City road system, it has really fired up my creativity. I'm sure we'll see plenty more innovation within this modular standard in the years to come!
Missed the opportunity to make this Octan themed.
@Brickmasterboy said:
"Missed the opportunity to make this Octan themed."
60292 : Town Centre had exactly that, an Octan Car Wash, and that set just retired at the end of 2022.
Once again, the USA gets the short end of the stick…
Ooh, you might not ever get rich
But let me tell you it's better than digging a ditch
A few dirt elements would have been great here.
I love it. I've nothing bad to say here. An actual (small) building? A function? Two figs, and a car? Is lego finally coming around with its smaller sets?!
And sold just by itself instead of being lumped in with 3 other bland vehicles that are each about as large as it is itself or something? Yes!
More of this please! :D
@Lemerbrix06 said:
"Once again, the USA gets the short end of the stick…"
You guys have been getting better pricing and bonus sets for all the time Lego was a thing in the US.
@bananaworld said:
"
I wish LEGO would make more cars that are smaller. Cars in the real world are commonly far larger than they need to be, so it would be nice if LEGO could introduce children to an alternative world where people don't feel the need to compensate for other aspects of their insecure lives with huge cars which needlessly impinge upon our built environment.
If they'd followed the 3177 design, perhaps there could be TWO in this set!"
I've read that cars have gotten wider because people have. Not sure how true that is, but it was in some car magazine.
No words about the missing doors in the car?
Or am I the only one to miss them? :-/
For those who know.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eB0aROCl530&pp=ygUUdGFsa2luIGJvdXQgY2FyIHdhc2g%3D
Such a wonderfull set. I love cheap but not really cheaped out sets.
"Specialised brush elements were introduced in 1988..."
And I've been wanting some over since. I might have to overlook the price and get this one,
@Modeltrainman said:
"I've read that cars have gotten wider because people have. Not sure how true that is, but it was in some car magazine. "
More likely has to do with safety regulations. Look how thick doors have gotten, while at the same time the seats are further removed from the doors. My current car is the widest I have had so far, yet I'm closer to the passenger than with any car I had before.
And since cars have become bigger and heavier, they need bigger wheels and tires....which also have to go somewhere. It's a vicious circle....
Talking about the car wash, yeah.
Once again, I’d really like to hear the justification for the US price, more than $10 over what a straight currency conversion would suggest. You need a 25%+ discount just to get it where it should sell at retail price!
@PjtorXmos said:
" @Lemerbrix06 said:
"Once again, the USA gets the short end of the stick…"
You guys have been getting better pricing and bonus sets for all the time Lego was a thing in the US."
Fair point
Nope, this gets a poor vote from me.
First, one of those ugly SUV-coupés that identifies someone with even more stuff to compensate than an average SUV owner. Wasn't LEGO City going eco friendly? Maybe backing up on this is part of the deal with Jeep...
Second, the vertical brushes only wash the bottom part of the car.
@AustinPowers said:
"The US price has got to be a mistake.
22.99 seems far more appropriate, even if still slightly overpriced. "
Sadly, $32.99 is the price listed at Lego.com in the US. I may resort to bricklinking the building, although the blonde driver with her fruity shirt is also tempting. Or I may use Pick a Brick for whatever they offer. It's a very cute set, but not *that* cute!
it costs $54 nzd !!!!!!!!!
$33 for this is absolutely mad.
@Modok said:
""Two minifigures are provided, the first of whom seemingly runs the car wash."
Oh, he just works there. Pineapple-shirt lady runs it as part of her empire of 37 other car washes. "
No wonder she can afford to drive around in her yellow 40650 Land Rover Defender as her daily!
@Holodoc said:
"No words about the missing doors in the car?
Or am I the only one to miss them? :-/"
It bugs me too. I really don’t understand what determines which vehicles get doors and which don’t, especially when they can easily be integrated into the build.
The car looks incredibly basic, even the hood is just a 2x4 tile.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Gataka said:
"Can now common 6 wide vehicles run through it? Seems like a tight fit.
Guess I could just build this and test it out myself..."
Yes, but taller vehicles can collide with the roof. As @ambr speculates above, 40560 Land Rover Classic Defender is very slightly too tall, but would fit after removing the roof rack."
That says Professors of Hogwarts from Brickheadz. I'm pretty sure you meant 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender.
Needs to be longer like my animated car wash. https://youtu.be/vBX_rH6sZ3M
@Maxbricks14 said:
"it costs $54 nzd !!!!!!!!!"
It costs $36.99 in New Zealand and was 15% off over the long Kings Birthday weekend from Brickstore.
The US price makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
19.99 Euro currently equals 21.38 USD
32.99 USD currently equals 30.84 Euro
That's a whopping 54% price increase.
You'd need at least a 35% discount off the US price just to make it even to the Euro price.
I like this set, but there's no way I'm paying such an absurd retail price for it. I'll wait for it to drop to ~$21 like it should be.
Now who in the world drives their car into a carwash with the windows down
@Holodoc and @Chrisaw: Doors nothing...where are her side windows??? Going through a car wash without them rolled-up results in you having a 'bathtub on wheels', although you're more likely to wreck your electrical and electronic systems first...
@Biff_Superman said:
"Now who in the world drives their car into a carwash with the windows down"
Slight improvement over taking your go-kart through the wash: 41350
The car is terrible... Oh, the colors...
@brick_r said:
" @Holodoc and @Chrisaw : Doors nothing...where are her side windows??? Going through a car wash without them rolled-up results in you having a 'bathtub on wheels', although you're more likely to wreck your electrical and electronic systems first... "
The design is ludicrous. Does anyone at Lego have a boss, manager, editor, anyone who actually reviews or checks these things anymore? A car for a car wash without windows?
The reviewer definitely missed that HUGE flaw. Should have at least been remarked.
The only thing sillier than the design is the US price. However, that will certainly be remedied shortly. I guarantee this will be $19.99 or less at Costco for Xmas.
The issue is that it isn't even worth that.
@StyleCounselor said:
" @brick_r said:
" @Holodoc and @Chrisaw : Doors nothing...where are her side windows??? Going through a car wash without them rolled-up results in you having a 'bathtub on wheels', although you're more likely to wreck your electrical and electronic systems first... "
The design is ludicrous. Does anyone at Lego have a boss, manager, editor, anyone who actually reviews or checks these things anymore? A car for a car wash without windows?
The reviewer definitely missed that HUGE flaw. Should have at least been remarked.
The only thing sillier than the design is the US price. However, that will certainly be remedied shortly. I guarantee this will be $19.99 or less at Costco for Xmas.
The issue is that it isn't even worth that."
I see you dont play with your lego. Less windows on sides = easier acces
The azure brushes look much more like the original ones from 1988-2001.
I wonder what Lego's official color description of these older brushes was, as they are clearly not Bright Blue (the standard blue). The only available blues at the time that came close were Pastel Blue (better known as Maersk Blue) and Trans-Light Blue. Maybe it's simply a milkier variant of Trans-Light Blue due to the softer plastic...
@SkyCaptain_USA said:
"Once again, I’d really like to hear the justification for the US price, more than $10 over what a straight currency conversion would suggest. You need a 25%+ discount just to get it where it should sell at retail price!"
Maybe it accidentally swapped prices with the oddly non-overpriced 76958?
@Fandabidozi said:
"Talking about the car wash, yeah."
I always understood the lyrics as "talking about the car wash, talking about the car washer" until... yesterday ^_^
@Ridgeheart said:
"Yeah. I imagine this to be an action-woman on the go, who doesn't even have time for doors. Of course she's going to launch herself through the window into and out of the car. Maybe she did have windows once, but Action Susan destroyed them on her first entry and never looked back.
Which is why she also doesn't have functional rear-view windows. Action-people don't ever look back."
Doing the whole Dukes of Hazzard thing, eh? "Jus' a good ol' girl, never meaning no harm..." In all seriousness, I think the reason there are no doors is that I'm not sure the windshield piece would be enough to secure them in place, seeing as how it'd only be holding down one side of the door piece.
Thanks for the terrific review! I'll get this one but only on sale as it's a $20 set at best here in the US...not sure where LEGO came up the that $33 dollar price.
@PjtorXmos said:
" @Lemerbrix06 said:
"Once again, the USA gets the short end of the stick…"
You guys have been getting better pricing and bonus sets for all the time Lego was a thing in the US."
Not that I've seen since emerging from my dark era (2020).
@lordofdragonss said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @brick_r said:
" @Holodoc and @Chrisaw : Doors nothing...where are her side windows??? Going through a car wash without them rolled-up results in you having a 'bathtub on wheels', although you're more likely to wreck your electrical and electronic systems first... "
The design is ludicrous. Does anyone at Lego have a boss, manager, editor, anyone who actually reviews or checks these things anymore? A car for a car wash without windows?
The reviewer definitely missed that HUGE flaw. Should have at least been remarked.
The only thing sillier than the design is the US price. However, that will certainly be remedied shortly. I guarantee this will be $19.99 or less at Costco for Xmas.
The issue is that it isn't even worth that."
I see you dont play with your lego. Less windows on sides = easier acces"
Sorry, I was too busy playing with my Lego to respond sooner. Pew, pew! Vroom, Swoosh!
But, c'mon. This is a joke. Lego design is a highly sought after occupation and one that presumably pays a decent salary to play with bricks. Solve a simple problem like a basic car that can be fully enclosed as it goes through a car wash. That can't be done by Lego in 2023?! Sad.
Oh, don't forget to also add fold down or out doors so that it's easy to put in figs. Wow! Soooo difficult. We need a Lego Master for that!
"Clean colours" I see what you did there.
Great review, especially with the refferences to previous car wash sets
@StyleCounselor said:
" @brick_r said:
" @Holodoc and @Chrisaw : Doors nothing...where are her side windows??? Going through a car wash without them rolled-up results in you having a 'bathtub on wheels', although you're more likely to wreck your electrical and electronic systems first... "
The design is ludicrous. Does anyone at Lego have a boss, manager, editor, anyone who actually reviews or checks these things anymore? A car for a car wash without windows?
The reviewer definitely missed that HUGE flaw. Should have at least been remarked.
The only thing sillier than the design is the US price. However, that will certainly be remedied shortly. I guarantee this will be $19.99 or less at Costco for Xmas.
The issue is that it isn't even worth that."
This is a joke, right? Look thru the Lego vehicle history, especially the 4-wide era... note how many ever had side windows
The car is, of course, perfect for the car wash. If it had side windows they wouldn't get washed because the brushes wouldn't be long enough to touch them.
So all is well in Legoland.
@DaBigE said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @brick_r said:
" @Holodoc and @Chrisaw : Doors nothing...where are her side windows??? Going through a car wash without them rolled-up results in you having a 'bathtub on wheels', although you're more likely to wreck your electrical and electronic systems first... "
The design is ludicrous. Does anyone at Lego have a boss, manager, editor, anyone who actually reviews or checks these things anymore? A car for a car wash without windows?
The reviewer definitely missed that HUGE flaw. Should have at least been remarked.
The only thing sillier than the design is the US price. However, that will certainly be remedied shortly. I guarantee this will be $19.99 or less at Costco for Xmas.
The issue is that it isn't even worth that."
This is a joke, right? Look thru the Lego vehicle history, especially the 4-wide era... note how many ever had side windows"
It's one thing for Emmet to cruise around in one. But, in 2023, with a car this big, in a car wash set, the designer needs to be better. This is pathetic.
North America =/= Just America. This site never lists canadian prices and acts like NA is just America, it's really frustrating trying to get accurate info and has been ever since I've joined.
It's $39.99CAD by the way.
Blame Canada!
;-)
@WizardOfOss: Hey, hey, hey; come on now...I'm advocating for 'side-windows'...
@HipsterArcticFox said:
"North America =/= Just America. This site never lists canadian prices and acts like NA is just America, (...) "
I think it's just a numbers game; most of the site's visitors are US, UK, & eurozone.
Though I do agree that using "North America" instead of USA is unfortunate.
It would've been nice if they could have included some water elements. The new brush color is great, nice they made two sizes of it. Unfortunately overpriced, kind of like the Octan service station 60132 was a few years back. I ended up buying it, because it was a great set, but this set, is not that great. The price will keep it off my list, especially since the car is not my style either.
@HipsterArcticFox said:
"North America =/= Just America. This site never lists canadian prices and acts like NA is just America, it's really frustrating trying to get accurate info and has been ever since I've joined.
It's $39.99CAD by the way. "
I am aware of that, but referenced North America to encompass both the US and Canada in this case because prices tend to be consistent between the two. If a set is notably expensive in one, relative to the European prices, it will be notably expensive in the other as well.
@bananaworld said:
"
I wish LEGO would make more cars that are smaller. Cars in the real world are commonly far larger than they need to be, so it would be nice if LEGO could introduce children to an alternative world where people don't feel the need to compensate for other aspects of their insecure lives with huge cars which needlessly impinge upon our built environment.
If they'd followed the 3177 design, perhaps there could be TWO in this set!"
Ah, for the halcyon days of environmental bliss in the 1980s and 90s, when every car was so small that it was single-occupancy, precluding even the possibility of carpooling. If the minifigures want to go somewhere together, they either all took their own vehicles (race cars! vroom, vroom!), or they just chartered a flight!
@AllenSmith said:
"(...) every car was so small that it was single-occupancy, precluding even the possibility of carpooling. If the minifigures want to go somewhere together, they either all took their own vehicles (race cars! vroom, vroom!), or they just chartered a flight!"
You jest, but the truly hilarious thing here is that the bloated behemoth in this set still only. seats. one. Minifigure.
This is not progress.
@bananaworld said:
"(...) the truly hilarious thing here is that the bloated behemoth in this set still only. seats. one. Minifigure."
It has a 2×4 plate for a seat, so it should be able to sit two front-to-back. They review mentioned that it could.
It's bloated and hideous, and the giant wheels are preposterous-looking, but if you're a minifigure who wants to carpool, you take the car you can get, not the one you want.
I’d have preferred if this carwash were buikt for the now more common 6-wide cars. Also I find this car very unappealing. It reminds me of the car of 4435, just a bit beefed up. I also disliked that one.
32 USD.. and stickers? Pass. I mean if printed parts I could kind of see the price, but even then the discrepancy between the Europe and the US prices boggles the mind. Its really a 20 USD set all day and night (even with Inflation and LEGO's hardship tax)