Automatic Carwash.....are they safe for our ride?

[DJ UNKNOWN]

This guy I know from work took his SS through a car wash and it scratched up all four of his rims on the tire machine that guides your car through the wash! I gave him the dumbest look ever and asked em why would u take your car through one of those anyway so your paint isn't the only thing you need to worry about. I always take mines to a hand wash.

[Russell James]

The touchless washes that actually get the car clean are using some pretty strong acids. If there are potholes in the street in front of the car wash, their acids are very strong.

There was a touchless wash near me. Within a year the ashphalt street was all tore up in front of the wash from the drips off the cars. The car wash had a concrete exit drive, they probably know asphalt gets tore up from the acids.

If you ever see aluminum wheels where the clear coat is melted and peeled off around where wheel weights use to be. That is from car wash acids sitting behind the wheel weights and melting the clear coat.

[TheHorse13]

So what do you do in the winter when you can't hand wash your car? Do you take it to the acid bath, or the rotary sandpaper wash?

I was told to use the self washer with the spray gun in the winter though I haven't tried that (yet).

[PatsRS]

I have an automatic brushless near me and I use it all the time. It is pretty good. I use shamwows and micro fibers towels to dry the car. Never have had a problem.

[hot_rod]

True story...week before last...co-worker comes in late to a meeting....

Co-worker: '''Sorry I'm late...went to the swirl-o-matic on XYZ street...sitting in the car as it's going through the wash and I heard something beating on my car in sync with the rotating brush...

After I exit the tunnel, I follow the car in front of me to park and we inspect our cars and find nick/s scrapes all the way around our cars. We go in to talk to the manager.....he comes out of his office....blah, blah.. Yes I know, these people had the same problem, points to three other people in the waiting area! He told us he was just watching the video and trying to figure out what happen, about that time Joe-worker comes in with an antenna. Manager says ...guess the wash brush tore it off and it got hung up in the brush! No problem, let me give you the insurance information and you can file a claim.

The only response I could muster was ...why didn't they inspect the tunnel after the first person told them what happened?

ah......guess they didn't think of that!....."

I'll just wash my own with my buckets, thanks anyway.....

[OverZeaLouS]

Hey guys just some advice from one car enthusiast to another. Touchless car wash has very strong acid based solutions to dissolve the dirt on your cars. What this means for your car is that acid is strong enough to eat through your clearcoat and eventually your paint. The only way I use a touchless is under the following conditions.
1. The car is extremely dirty from excessive mud or bird dung that needs to come off ASAP..
2. The wash before the touchless was done by hand and a durable Polymer-based or nano-tech based wax was used previously before the touchless. At least those types of waxes leave a barrier between the clearcoat and the acids in the soap that's in the touchless.
The wax in the touchless can't compare to waxes from meguirs, turtle wax ICE, mothers, etc... I wouldn't use a touchless more than 4x a year and when absolutely necessary.
3. A touchless wash is never followed by another touchless wash and I make sure I make my following wash a thorough hand wash and wax with premium soaps and microfiber cloths.
The camaro has really nice colors off the lot. Id hate to see you guys kill the cars protection fast.

[Mdipinto]

I wouldn't use the brushes... As it has one coat of special paint on top of it, and that paint is just so your car doesn't have corrosion... And the auto washes with brush take that off little bit by little bit.
I use a jet wash and rug(I can't use a bucket and the rest). But just thinking of something hitting the car the way the brushes do, is scary.

If I could I would get a bucket and a rose out and wash mine every week(if not everyday), but I can't. Living in the barracks in a military base, you can't do that much.

[Russell James]

Originally Posted by TheHorse13

So what do you do in the winter when you can't hand wash your car? Do you take it to the acid bath, or the rotary sandpaper wash?

I was told to use the self washer with the spray gun in the winter though I haven't tried that (yet).

Self wash coin spray booth and the two bucket method.

Get two five gallon buckets with lids from Home Depot, Walmart...

Put water and car wash soap in one. Just water in the other.

Put them in the trunk in milk crates so they wont tip over. At the coin wash blast if off on soap cycle. Then hand wash it with a mit and your buckets, rinsing the mitt off in your clean water bucket. Then pressure rinse.

Go on a day above 32F.

[seabslew]

I handwash The White Camaro "every day" using only a soft wash glove at the Precision car wash next to where I live. I do the same procedure of soaping the car, going over with soft glove, rinsing, spray Blue Coral wax and leaving the wax on the car while towel drying to a beautiful shiney finish every day. My car has NEVER had a hard wax put on it and I am coming up on two years ownership. OK to use touchless but really does not get your car really clean. NEVER, EVER, EVER use brush carwash. My buddy runs the car wash I go to. Keeps the bay I use super clean so for me it is much easier than doing it at home. My camaro looks super clean all year long. Check it out. Picture worth a thousand words.

[Johnnyma45]

Hey what's everyone's thoughts on the waterless car wash products? At a nearby gas station they were doing demonstrations and I forgot if it's a gel or foam that they sprayed onto a towel, once wiped on a car it looked sparkling clean. I'm skeptical of any waterless products because aren't you just pushing dirt around without lubrication? Anyone use these and like it?

[BowtieBelle]

We have a car wash here that's $10 that uses soft shammies (a brush looking setup with the big rollers, but with shammies instead of brushes) to wash the car. It does a great job on my girl with no damage, actually gets her clean as opposed to the touchless. That's what I use.

[Darth_Emma]

I only ever hand wash my car using the 2 bucket method. I never let those brushes touch my paint.

The method you use really depends on how picky you are about your paint. If you do not want swirl marks in your paint, do not go to the car washes with brushes.

[SS_Matt]

Originally Posted by 25thanniversary

it's a good excuse to have some beers

[heRS]

Home wash. I used to go to a drive through, but could see how badly it scratched the clear coat. This spring I did a clay bar treatment, swirl & haze remover, and started using the Ice products. Now I only wash at home, and I use an air force blower to blow the water off, finish with detail spray and microfiber between waxing.
Then I have to drive 1/4 mile on "moon dust death lane" to get to pavement... thank you California Duster!