A vehicle washing apparatus includes a brush mounted to a drive shaft, a position locator for positioning the brush relative to a vehicle to be washed and a motor for rotating the drive shaft. A controller positions the brush proximate the vehicle for washing. A load sensor, for sensing the load on the drive shaft, is connected to the controller so that the controller may react to the sensed load exceeding a threshold by controlling a retraction of the brush from the vehicle. Additionally, parameters related to the operation of the brush may be determined based on information related to the size of the vehicle to be washed, where the size information is obtained by sensors.