Mobil

Mobil is one of New Zealand's largest car-wash operators. They are also the operator with the most variety in their machines. Mobil are notorious for keeping older machines in active service as long as possible, thus it is still possible to find old Ryko UltraClean's and Premier XL's at many of their sites. In later installations, the Istobal M12 and Washtec Softcare Evo were also popular with Mobil.

Nowadays, what Mobil installs depends on whether the site is a normal Mobil, or an "On the Run" Mobil. The normal Mobil's are currently installing Istobal M'Nex 22's, whilst the On the Run Mobil's are currently installing crap PDQ Laserwash 360plus's.

## Kilbirnie, Wellington

This site originally had Washtec Softcare Evo, with plain blue brushes. This is actually the closest Mobil's to the city to have a Carwash, as they do not have any sites within the city itself.

This car wash was replaced with an Istobal M'Nex 22 in September 2019.

## Karori, Wellington

This site originally had a Washtec SoftCare Intro, identical to the one above. In 2018, this was replaced with a PDQ Laserwash 360plus. This wash features LaserGlow LED lights.

## Petone, Hutt Valley

This site was home to a red & blue brushed Ryko Premier XL, as seen in this Google Maps Screenshot. In 2013 this machine was replaced with a Ryko Emotion 3 (Ryko Italia), with Blue & Dark-Blue striped brushes.

## [Gone] Woburn, Lower Hutt

There used to be a Mobil in the Lower Hutt suburb of Woburn with a Car Wash at the back. The site sadly closed in 2009 and was demolished, with housing now in its place.

I never confirmed the Car Wash machine properly, as I was far too young to do so when it closed, and I only visited it once. From memory, I recall it being a 3-Brush machine with plain blue brushes, with the side-brush at the front of the machine. Perhaps it was, therefore, most likely an Istobal M10? We'll likely never know!

## Boulcott, Lower Hutt

This site is located in the Lower Hutt suburb of Boulcott, directly accross the road from both Hutt Valley Hospital and Boulcott Private Hospital. This site used to have a blue-brush Washtec SoftCare Intro. In 2019, the station underwent a huge refurbishment, and the car wash was replaced with a PDQ Laserwash 360plus. As this is a newer machine, this wash sadly does not feature LaserGlow.

## Silverstream, Upper Hutt

This site had a blue-brushed Washtec Softcare Intro. It was the last remaining Mobil in the Wellington region to have one.

In August-September 2020, this car wash was replaced by a brand new PDQ Laserwash 360plus. As newer machine, this wash sadly does not feature LaserGlow.

The wash isn't broken, it's just closed whilst an Electrician carries out electric works on site to fix the vaccum cleaner. A wash bay door will soon be added here too!
## (GONE) ~~Carterton, Wairarapa~~

This Mobil had a red-brushed Ryko Excel. The awful photos I took of it from a moving car show it broken, however despite the bad looks, the machine did get fixed, as shown by this Google Maps Screenshot.

This Car Wash then broke again, and sat abandoned for around 3 years, before it was eventually removed completely in 2020. All of the equipment is gone, and it now looks like there was never even a car wash there to begin with.

## Masterton, Wairarapa

This Mobil has long been home to an Istobal M-12, with red & blue striped brushes. The site closed temporarily from late December 2019 for renovations and rebuilding, but a friend of mine visited the site in July 2020 and not only confirmed that the M12 is still there, but used it and confirmed that it works well.

In late-2020, this machine was re-brushed with plain blue brushes. These mostly came from the M12 at Gisborne, which was replaced in late 2020.

## Porirua City

This site was home to the last Ryko Ultraclean in Wellington. This machine was originally installed with light & dark blue brushes. some time around 2010, they were replaced with red & blue brushed (which appear to have come off of a Premier XL). In November 2018, the brushes were replaced again, this time with the correct light & dark blue colours.

In July-August 2020, this Car Was was replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22 with dark-blue brushes.

## Paremata, Porirua

This Mobil was home to one of the last two remaining Ryko Premier XL's in the Wellington Region, which had red & blue brushes. This Car Wash was removed in July 2019, and was replaced by a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22, with dark-blue brushes, which started operation on August 2nd, 2019.

## Paraparaumu, Kapiti

This site originally has Ryko Premier XL with red & blue brushes, which was actually the last one in the Wellington Region. There actually used to be a second Mobil just down the road, which was home to a light & dark blue-brushed Ryko UltraClean, but this site closed down in 2008 and was Demolished. A Wendy's fast-food chain now stands on the site of this other Mobil.

In July-August 2022, the wash was replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22, with dark-blue brushes, as part of a full renovation of the entire forecourt of the station.

## Otaki, Kapiti

This site was previously home to a red & blue brushed Istobal M-12. It was replaced with an Istobal M'Nex 22 in 2015, with blue brushes (Google Maps picture).

## Levin

Levin is an area I have visited and passed through many time. The Mobil originally an old Ryko Premier XL. This particular unit original had Red & Blue striped brushes - a pattern occasionally found. The Brushes were replaced sometime between 2009 and 2012 with the traditional checkered-pattern red & blue brushes.

The Premier XL was replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22 in August-September 2020.

## Palmerston North

I have visited "Palmy" on a number of occasions, as it's not far from Wellington. Out of three Mobil's that originally had Car Washes (all Ryko's), only one still has a wash, and it's an original Ryko UltraClean! This machine has had four of its five brushes replaced since 2015 (with ones from a Premier XL).

In 2019, the wash was replaced by a secondhand Washtec, which is a SoftCare Intro with plain blue brushes.

In 2022, this wash was replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22.

## Bulls, Rangitikei

This site is home to an original Ryko UltraClean. It retained the original light & dark blue brushes until March-April 2021, when the front brushes and top brush were replaced. The original brushes remain at the back.

In late-2022 the UltraClean was replaced with a brand new Istobal Tracer touchless system.

## Waipukurau

I've been through this town on trips to and from Hawke's Bay. The Mobil is right on the main road (State Highway 2). The site originally had an Istobal M10 Multiprogrammer, but sometime after August 2013 it was replaced with a Washtec SoftCare Evo.

When looking at a photo of this site, I notice that the panel above the side-brushes ins plain white with no logo, rather than blue with the "SoftCare" Logo like most other Mobil Evo's. This combined with superb condition of the machine suggests that this might've actually been a new machine rather than a secondhand one, or alternatively it could have just been refurbished before installation.

In 2022, this wash was replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22.

## Napier

I paid a visit to Napier in early 2016. This Mobil site is yet another I have been to which is still sporting its original Ryko UltraClean. This one had it's original Blue brushes replaced with Red & blue ones from a Premier XL unit sometime between 2008 and 2010.

## Havelock North

I passed through Havelock North on a trip in 2016, and went right past this Car Wash. The original Car Wash here was a Ryko Premier XL. In 2013, the site was converted to a "Wash'n'Run" site, and the wash replaced with a rare Mark VII TurboJet XT L-Arm.

## New Plymouth

I visited the area in 2018, but did not get any photos. This site originally had an old Istobal M10 Multiprogrammer. This was replaced sometime between 2010 and 2013, with a new Ryko Emotion 3 (Ryko Italia). Unlike Petone's, which has Blue & Dark-Blue striped brushes, this one has plain blue brushes.

## Tauranga (Chapel St)

I visited Tauranga very breifly in 2010, whilst on Holiday in nearby Rotorua. The only Car Wash I can remember vividly from my trip is this one. This Mobil is a Wash-n-Run site, operated a classic PDQ Laserwash M5 for several years. In 2022 the M5 was replaced by a brand new Istobal Tracer touchless system.

## Hillcrest, Hamilton

I visited this site in 2021. This site was originally home to a Washtec SoftCare Intro. In 2020, this was replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22.

## Mercer

I've been past this site on many road trips, including in 2018 and 2021. This site originally had an Istobal M12. This was replaced around 2015-ish with an Istobal M'Nex 22.

## Pukekohe, Auckland

I have a few relatives living in the South Auckland town, and their nearest Car Wash is at the nearby Mobil. I visited the area in 2018 and 2021. The original Car Wash here, being a Wash-n-Run site, was a Washtec SoftCare Evo, with blue brushes. However,

sometime between 2012 and 2015, it was replaced with a PDQ Laserwash M5, despite PDQ's discontinuation of the product in 2011.

In 2019, the wash-arm was replaced with one from a Laserwash 360plus and a door was added to the front of the wash bay.

## Highland Park (Pakuranga Road), Auckland

I visited this area in 2018. This Mobil is a "Wash n Run" site, and had a PDQ Laserwash M5. In 2019 a door was added to the front of the wash bay.

In 2022, the M5 was replaced by a brand new Istobal Tracer.

## Parnell, Auckland

This is a site in Auckland that I went past on a Bus in 2013, and again in the car in 2021. This site actually has a very interesting history. It started off having what I believe to be the only Ryko Premier Plus to have existed in NZ, which has plain red brushes. Sometime between 2008 and 2012, it had been replaced - very oddly - with a second-hand Ryko Premier XL (older than the machine it replaced), which even more oddly was fitted with the two-tone blue brushes usually found on the Ultraclean's, rather than the usual Red & blue. Finally, in 2013, the Car Wash was converted to a "Wash-n-Run", and the machine was replaced with a PDQ Pro Touch Tandem - the only Mobil to have one, and one of only two such systems known to exist in NZ!

## Quay St, Auckland

The closest Car Wash to Auckland CBD, I visited this site in 2021. This site was originally home to a PDQ Laserwash 4000. It was later upgraded to a Laserwash 360 in 2012 and then again to a Laserwash 360plus in 2020.

## Sunnybrae, Auckland

I passed this site in 2021. It originally had a Washtec SoftCare Intro. This was replaced in 2019 with a PDQ Laserwash 360plus.

## Glenfield, Auckland

I visited this area in 2021. There are actually TWO Mobil stations here, on opposite sides of the road, however only one of them operates a Car Wash. The wash here is still original, and is a Washtec SoftCare Intro.

This wash was replaced with a PDQ Laserwash 360plus in 2020.

## Greymouth

I last visited Greymouth in 2015, and found this Mobil with an original Ryko UltraClean! Greymouth hadn't been served by Google Maps since 2009, and after 10 years they finally returned in July 2019, and the Ryko was still there!

In late-2020, this was wash replaced with a brand new Istobal M'Nex 22. This was reported by one of our followers (visiting the area on a day trip), who helpfully supplied a photo.

## Christchurch CBD, Christchurch

I visited this site in February 2023. This site still has its original WashTec SoftCare Evo installed in the mid-2000s!

## Redwood, Christchurch

I passed this site in February 2023. This site originally had a Ryko UltraClean. This was upgraded around 2012-13 with a PDQ Laserwash 360, which is still in place to this day.