Are automated car washes as risky as they sound?

[JustCraig]

My local touch wash has attendants that actually prep your car, and spray off any dirt and scrub the bugs off the front. Go 2-3 times per month and no scratches.

[ToolFan66]

I go to a car wash get out and wash it myself. I have never had a problem with this!! I hand dry it, detail it, and it still looks fantastic 2 years later..

I wax it two -three times a year. Granted mine is not a DD but I don't see where there is a problem with going to a good car wash and do it yourself..

I would never take my car into an automated or touch less wash. I prefer to do mine myself at the car wash..

[tonyko1]

Wax is essentially useless except if you like the aesthetics of a small increase in reflective shine and the rain beading off the finish.

The clearcoat finish over the paint was made to protect the paint and waxing is a thing to do when you have absolutely nothing better to do.

[meissen]

Originally Posted by big papa

Unless your car is a Sunday or car show car, run it thru the car wash. I run my car thru a touch car wash at least once a month.

Thank you. My god you'd think our cars were made of sugar and would dissolve if it goes through a car wash. It's just a car people! I love my car just as much as the next person, but I'm not psychotic enough to think every wash has to be by hand. I run mine through both types of car washes (soft touch and touchless), though I prefer to use the touchless by my house because it has a nice undercarriage spray.

[Cheveey57]

Yes

[David79z28]

You need to ask yourself what you can live with. A lot of people don't mind swirls on their paint. Look around any parking lot, dealership lot, or even car shows.

I don't use car washes for my daily driver but it eventually gets swirls anyway as they are not 100% avoidable. I polish it once a year.

Now I do keep my garage queens as close to my definition of perfect as possible.

If swirls don't bother you, go ahead. You can always get them polished out later if you want anyway.

[Adam's Polishes]

"automated" washes can mean a lot of things. You have everything from swirly-whirly brush washes to touchless washes. Neither is ideal honestly, but if you MUST use some kind of tunnel wash make sure its a touchless. The ones with brushes and big strips of cloth wiggling from the rafters are just going to obliterate your car.

A touchless isn't ideal for 2 reasons (but still better than a brush wash)
1) In order for it to 'clean' without some kind of mechanical agitation it has to rely on heavily acidic or alkaline cleaners to do the work. This means that any coating you may have on your car (wax or sealant) designed to protect the finish from the elements is being degraded and stripped away. This becomes an issue b/c the next time salt hits it you're going to potentially see damage. Theres also the negative impact on trim drying out from repeated exposure to the harsh detergents.

2) The false sense of clean. No touchless wash is going to clean the car 100%. Don't believe me? Go thru a touchless wash then wipe any section of the car with a white towel. I promise you there will still be a layer of film/dirt on the finish. It'll definitely be cleaner than when you started, but its not completely clean. This becomes an issue if you intend to wipe down, dry, cover, or even possibly wax your car after the fact. You'll be grinding those particles into the finish causing damage.

In winter, if you drive your car you have to resign yourself to the fact there is going to be some kind of compromise -

• You live with a dirty car and let the elements do what they will.
• You tunnel wash it and just decide to correct the paint later.
• You wash it yourself in the cold and freeze your butt off.

When the weather is really sloppy here I just do a complete blast off at the local pay n' spray 1 or 2 times a week to keep the buildup from getting too bad. If you're lucky the place will have heated water (don't use the brush) and you can blow all the crud out from the underside and knock 90% of the grime off of the exterior in just a couple of minutes. No sense in REALLY getting it clean if its going to be driven and get sloppy again.

When there is an extended break in the weather I do a full and proper 2 bucket wash, dry, and reapply my sealant and dressings to protect the exterior thru the next cold/wet/snowy spell.

[All Star]

If it would get up to 40 degrees or so I would love to do it by hand, but as of right now, the water will freeze before I can even finish hosing it down. Maybe I'll go to the self-serve...blast as much salt off as possible, run it through the touch-less, and then bring it back to the sanctity of my garage and apply a nice fresh coat of wax. I really appreciate all the input everyone.

[Adam's Polishes]

Heres a video you might find helpful if you want to attempt a wash at the pay n' spray... biggest challenge is finding one that will let you bring in your own supplies, but when you do it can be a great way to detail in the winter:

[Frid]

Adam's has a video for washing in the winter. Or you could just spray it down with the wand in the selfwash part. But I wouldn't go through the automated wash itself.

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by tonyko1

Wax is essentially useless except if you like the aesthetics of a small increase in reflective shine and the rain beading off the finish.

The clearcoat finish over the paint was made to protect the paint and waxing is a thing to do when you have absolutely nothing better to do.

Can't tell if you're joking or just completely wrong...



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[camoman]

Originally Posted by HP Turbine

[poohdogger]

Hopefully he's joking^^^^^

[TJ91]

What's wrong with a complete touch less wash? I bring mine through atleast once a month to get the bottom cleaned off well