A1A Car Wash (2024)

The A1A Car Wash is an Albuquerque car wash owned, for many years, by Bogdan Wolynetz. When he was a high school chemistry teacher, Walter White worked part-time at the car wash as a cashier before deciding to quit after learning of his cancer diagnosis. The car wash was later bought by Walt and Skyler White as a money laundering facility for Walt's illegally procured gains. After they have been helped, customers are told to "have an A1 day" (the motto of the car wash).^[1]

History[]

Breaking Bad[]

Season 1[]

Bogdan Wolynetz was the long-time owner of the A1A Car Wash. Walter White was hired as a cashier, but because Bogdan frequently found himself understaffed, Walt would often find himself out scrubbing cars. This led to a particularly degrading moment where he is seen shining one of his students' car. Following the news of his cancer diagnosis, Walt's fury at being patronized at the car wash boils over: he says “f*ck you Bogdan! And your eyebrows!”, and then quits his job, causing a huge scene by wrecking the place and making an obscene gesture to Bogdan on his way out. ("Pilot")

Season 3[]

Skyler White suggests that Walt buy the car wash as a means of laundering his money, pointing out that it'd be a more believable cover story than the Laser Tag business suggested by Saul Goodman. The only problem with the car wash is that it lacks a manager willing to cover up the money laundering, so Skyler volunteers to run the business herself. ("Abiquiú")

Season 4[]

Skyler attempts to buy the car wash from Bogdan, but because he is still offended about Walt's rude exit, his asking price is a ridiculously high $20 million. ("Thirty-Eight Snub")

Saul and Skyler arrange a fake environmental audit on the car wash with Patrick Kuby, providing false data that it is contaminating the nearby ground water and needs a costly and lengthy overhaul of its filtration systems to comply with state and federal law. Bogdan then sells the car wash to Skyler. ("Open House")

Later, Walt picks up the keys and they re-open the business and commence laundering money through it. ("Cornered")

Season 5[]

Skyler and Walt are co-running the car wash approximately one month after Walt's decision to bow out of the meth business. They discuss minor details about the car wash and expanding their business, and pretend as though the past does not affect them. Lydia Rodarte-Quayle walks into the business one day and confronts Walt about the operation he has left behind, and how the quality of the methamphetamine has dropped significantly. Walt tells her that this is none of his concern, and when she persists, she is told by Skyler to leave and never return. ("Blood Money")

After Walt's involvement in the drug trade finally became publicly known, the business was seized by the state due to its having been purchased with illegally-earned money, forcing Skyler into working as a taxi dispatcher to make ends meet. ("Granite State")

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

• The slogan for the car wash is "You’ve Tried The Rest, Now Try the Best."
• It is called "Octopus Car Wash" in real life and is one of six branches of Octopus around Albuquerque. In 2014 the business was sold to new ownership.
• In the Pilot (2005 script), it is called the Velvet-Touch Car Wash and the owner is an Iranian immigrant named Amir.

Notes[]