Automatic carwash

[DylanVK]

Tunnel washes are fine.... if you don't care about the long term appearance of your car.

A tunnel wash that uses brushes is going to do a ton of physical damage. Those spinning brushes are made of less-than-paint-friendly materials, plus they're full of all the gunk and grime from all the cars that went thru before you. Might as well wash your car with a push broom and a bucket of sand.

A touchless eliminates the mechanical agitation, but in order to break down dirt/grime/road film will rely on more aggressive detergents. Without something to 'scrub' the surface the chemicals need to be able to dissolve contamination. These harsh detergents will strip your car of any protection (waxes or sealants) and over time will dry/damage porous materials like plastic, rubber, and vinyl trim.

Compounding the problem is the false sense of clean. A touchless, even with the aggressive chemicals, can't get your car completely clean. Many people then start wiping the car down afterwards, grinding that leftover film into the surface and introducing damage.

Long story short - if you care about your car avoid the car wash. No one is going to do a better or more thorough job than you will and you can tailor a process to suit your level of OCD, budget, and available time to perform it.

[SSE14]

Originally Posted by scandata

Aside from all the other warnings above, if you have a convertible, consider this: if there is a blow dryer at the end, STAY AWAY, or pull out before it starts. The air comes out at hurricane speed, and beats on the roof like a rapid-fire sledgehammer. In my last car (a Miata), the seams began to come undone from the pressure. Seriously, it sounded like the cast of Riverdance was rehearsing on my roof.

Photo evidence:

Does the "touchless" wash hurt the convertible top? There is a touchless carwash in our town that has a separate/optional drying area, but I'm interested in the underbody spray to get rid of the sand/salt. Is the touchless wash only safe for a convertible? Everything I've read seems to advise convertibles should avoid automatic carwashes.

[trashmanssd]

My daily driver gets the tunnel of death during the deep winter months a handful of times when it is so cold out over the weekend I cant use power washer at work. That may even stop this year may try powerwash at carwash then run home do rinseless wash never tried rinseless. have heat and tv in the garage now so I may give that whirl.

[mpiersd]

Originally Posted by trashmanssd

My daily driver gets the tunnel of death during the deep winter months a handful of times when it is so cold out over the weekend I cant use power washer at work. That may even stop this year may try powerwash at carwash then run home do rinseless wash never tried rinseless. have heat and tv in the garage now so I may give that whirl.

When I had a heated garage, I invested in an adjustable PSI power washer and would run it with hot water in the driveway for the wash, then pull into the garage for drying and detailing.

[trashmanssd]

Originally Posted by mpiersd

When I had a heated garage, I invested in an adjustable PSI power washer and would run it with hot water in the driveway for the wash, then pull into the garage for drying and detailing.

Yeah next summer we are doing over the master bath, while the plumbers are there I am going to have sink added to the garage with hot water. Then I can hook a hose to that and get warm water in the winter should give me few more weeks I can wash. Still though January february its just too cold hardly above freezing for weeks at time and I dont want to added water to the driveway it will just freeze.

[DylanVK]

Originally Posted by SSE14

Does the "touchless" wash hurt the convertible top? There is a touchless carwash in our town that has a separate/optional drying area, but I'm interested in the underbody spray to get rid of the sand/salt. Is the touchless wash only safe for a convertible? Everything I've read seems to advise convertibles should avoid automatic carwashes.

Its not ideal. As I mentioned in my earlier post, for a chemical to do any cleaning without mechanical agitation it has to be pretty aggressive so you have the chemical acting on the material which might be OK a few times, but long term could have adverse effects.

The other issue is the residues. The cleaners aren't going to rinse very clean from the convertible top, and a lot of the touchless washes feature a 'crash foam wax' as part of the process. Its a soap with a high concentration of wax that gets sprayed as one of the final steps before rinsing. Those kinds of chemicals will leave a lot of residue on something like a convertible top and you'll end up with chalky/blotchy looking spots on your 'vert top.

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by CamaroDreams07

Did the buffing come out ok? Every dealer buff job I've ever seen has only made it worse.

Sorry for the late reply.

Surprisingly, it was a bit better than acceptable actually.

But naturally I had to work a few areas over, myself...like half the driver's rear quarter...the killer was that about a week prior, I had buffed the whole damned thing!

[JD_Alaska]

Think you would be better served if you pulled your arm off an ate it than use a car wash

[Skemer]

Im glad i found this thread. I would take my car to automatic but not any more especially with my CF HOOD now.

[SSJ455]

Nein, nein, nein!!! No!! Nyet!!

[Camero5]

You know what's makes me cringe every time I see those tunnels. The guy at the front with the brush before you go in. They don't do it at every location but I see it more and more lately. They dump it in a bucket of soap and then scrub your car before it goes in. More like scratch

[Mongo RS]

Simple solution.


Do not drive your prized car in the winter, or when it rains.

[Tricksta]

Originally Posted by Mongo RS

Simple solution.


Do not drive your prized car in the winter, or when it rains.

^ not always able to be avoided

[Adam's Polishes]

Originally Posted by Mongo RS

Simple solution.


Do not drive your prized car in the winter, or when it rains.

Yep...but unfortunately not always a realistic reality for some people. If your Camaro is a daily driver, it gets wet out, and you have to get to work there aren't many options.

The good news is that you can easily keep your car looking better than 99% of them on the road with some very basic steps. SOOOOOO many people don't take the time to properly clean and protect their cars.