Your Local Exxon Car Wash

[ravensjeff]

No, I'm not gonna use it for washing the new Camaro. As I was filling up the tank on my 08 SS Impala, and looking at all the dirt/salt on it, I thought DAM, I should have finally said yes to the pump asking me if I wanted a car wash today.

I always laughed when it asked me the same thing when filling up the Harley.

Does anyone have any experiences with using these car washes? I'd like to hope that Exxon wouldn't use something that would mess up the paint job. But the thought of the car wash spraying/cleaning the underbody of all the filth got me thinking.

The Camaro should never see such weather, since it has a nice home in a heated garage next to the bike, and a fridge full of cold beer!! I'll take the Impala to work, or, during snow/ice conditions, the 4x4.

[SaintTimothy]

I used to work at a car wash manufacturer, so I am a little biased. I would (and still do) only use touchless car washes. If the owner of the car wash only uses the chemicals that the car wash manufacturer recommends, then there will be no paint damage.

But I'm with you - my new camaro will never see anything but a hand wash.

[t3chfr3ak]

The worst carwash is the type where you have to drive into tracks that guide you. The one I stupidly went through had deep tracks, so if you werent aligned with them perfectly you would scrape your wheels(which I did). the tracks arent eeven wide enoungh to handle wide tires. Last time I do that. No more automatic carwashes for me. I didnt think they still used salt on roads anymore. Around here they just use sand.

[UCF w00t]

Originally Posted by t3chfr3ak

I didnt think they still used salt on roads anymore. Around here they just use sand.

Umm what? You sure about that? The whole point of salting the roads is that the salt lowers the freezing point of the ice/water so that it will melt and not freeze again. Ordinary sand won't achieve that result. Maybe it's a finer grain of salt that is more sand-like in texture?

But then again, what do I know... we never have ice/snow on the roads so we don't do either.

[Rocks RS]

Still use salt here in Ohio.

What about the car washes that just shoot water at crazy pressure?

[bob2the2nd]

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Umm what? You sure about that? The whole point of salting the roads is that the salt lowers the freezing point of the ice/water so that it will melt and not freeze again. Ordinary sand won't achieve that result. Maybe it's a finer grain of salt that is more sand-like in texture?

But then again, what do I know... we never have ice/snow on the roads so we don't do either.

after about 25-27 degrees regular salt becomes totally worthless. there isnt enough salt and there is too much water to drop the freezing point of the mixture low enough to melt it away. there are special mixes that some places can put down that will drop the temperature a little bit more but it is very expensive. I lived in Lake Placid, NY for a couple of years and if they put down anything it was a sand/something else mix which helped with traction. Also it always blew me away there was almost always snow on the roads up there during the winter. An inch or two of snow never phased anyone and people just kept driving... YOU HEAR THAT WASHINGTON DC

[Rodrunner]

^^^It's not just DC, Bob. Down here in So. MD an inch or two practically brings things to a stand still. People just don't know how to drive in it.

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Umm what? You sure about that? The whole point of salting the roads is that the salt lowers the freezing point of the ice/water so that it will melt and not freeze again. Ordinary sand won't achieve that result. Maybe it's a finer grain of salt that is more sand-like in texture?
But then again, what do I know... we never have ice/snow on the roads so we don't do either.

Yeah, look who's talking....man from Orlando! Ha!

I know they still use salt here in MD. And car wash wise, all I've used in many years is the cloth type and have had no issues with them. But, no, my SS will never see the inside of one!!!!!!

[Mr_Draco]

NC still uses salt and sand for traction purposes but here they also spray the road with come kind of safe antifreeze.

[Rallysport]

A guy from Florida talkin about salt on the roads.....that's funny. I hate salt. It ruins your car's finish, eventually causes premature rust, deteriorates concrete, thus ruining roads with potholes....then you accidentally run into a pothole F***king up your alignment and suspension. Gee, salt is great. I swear here in Omaha, someone in street maintenance is gettin a kick-back from a supplier, 'cuz they COAT the streets with this crap if even a HINT of precip is forecast to freeze. The next day, the roads are WHITE, and then the white salt dust lands on the top of everything. It's STUPID. I see cars from Colorado, and they don't rust like cars here or in the "rust-belt". I asked someone from Denver once and he said they used some black ash substance or something, but NO SALT. Imagine that. Did I mention....I HATE SALT!!!!!!!!!!

[t3chfr3ak]

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Umm what? You sure about that? The whole point of salting the roads is that the salt lowers the freezing point of the ice/water so that it will melt and not freeze again. Ordinary sand won't achieve that result. Maybe it's a finer grain of salt that is more sand-like in texture?

But then again, what do I know... we never have ice/snow on the roads so we don't do either.

Yeah we definitely dont use salt in Edmonton AB Canada. We have gravel trucks running constantly around the city. I dont see the point of using salt anyways. OK, it melts the snow but around here thats worse because next morning you have icy roads. Sand gives you decent grip always wet or icy.

[The_Blur]

If I'm not washing my car by hand, then it isn't getting washed. I am not a fan of automatic washes.

[RoyalKev]

Washing a black car by hand is going to be a new freaky experience for me. I think ill spray the car down for 30 minutes before hitting it with a hand mit.

[Parker]

When I had my black camaro in Wyoming they used some sorta powder, but store parking lots frequently used colored salts. Didn't wash it till spring and it had a nice two tone beige and black going on. Also snow aint that bad, wind and ice is horrible.

[Nexus6]

Will never happen....

[SaintTimothy]

Originally Posted by Rallysport

A guy from Florida talkin about salt on the roads.....that's funny. I hate salt. It ruins your car's finish, eventually causes premature rust, deteriorates concrete, thus ruining roads with potholes....then you accidentally run into a pothole F***king up your alignment and suspension. Gee, salt is great. I swear here in Omaha, someone in street maintenance is gettin a kick-back from a supplier, 'cuz they COAT the streets with this crap if even a HINT of precip is forecast to freeze. The next day, the roads are WHITE, and then the white salt dust lands on the top of everything. It's STUPID. I see cars from Colorado, and they don't rust like cars here or in the "rust-belt". I asked someone from Denver once and he said they used some black ash substance or something, but NO SALT. Imagine that. Did I mention....I HATE SALT!!!!!!!!!!

They don't use the cinders out here in Denver anymore. If they can get out before the snow starts, they will put down Mag Chloride onto the dry road first. Then it is sand after that. But you are right - you don't ever see rusty cars in Denver!

[mlee]

Camaros should not be driven in Snow and Salt unless it's the salt flats of Utah. I say send them all South for the time being until we figure out what's in the mixture up there. Also, the closer you get to Mexico the more hand wash and wax businesses there are to keep them spiffy.

[CamaroSSforme]

Originally Posted by SaintTimothy

But I'm with you - my new camaro will never see anything but a hand wash.

I wanna see you do that when the temp is 5 degrees out....

Have to do touchless in winter here. Outside pipes are frozen and even if you could get water out to the car, it would freeze within a minute. The touchless washes are heated indoor and they dry it before you leave.

I'll be putting Zaino on it before winter then do touchless rinses until the weather warms.

[CamaroSSforme]

Originally Posted by Rallysport

deteriorates concrete, thus ruining roads with potholes....then you accidentally run into a pothole F***king up your alignment and suspension.

Umm except that isn't exactly correct.

Yes salt can seep into concrete over time and expand the iron in the reinforcement causing it to expand, however that really isn't a problem up north. It's a problem with bridges over salt water (concrete resists salt water intrusion to the point that it has to be submerged in salt water for this to happen). The salt up here will rust the exposed iron on a bridge but does nothing to the concrete.

As far as the roads....the salt has nothing to do with that. It's the temperature and water. The roads develop hair link cracks over time that water seeps into. That water then freezes and expands thrusting the road upward (called frost heaves). Once the temperatures heat back up that ice melts and the asphalt collapses creating a pot hole.

[SaintTimothy]

Originally Posted by CamaroSSforme

I wanna see you do that when the temp is 5 degrees out....

Have to do touchless in winter here. Outside pipes are frozen and even if you could get water out to the car, it would freeze within a minute. The touchless washes are heated indoor and they dry it before you leave.

I'll be putting Zaino on it before winter then do touchless rinses until the weather warms.

You have a point - but my Camaro is not going to be my daily driver. so it should never see rain, sleet, snow ...

[bob2the2nd]

Originally Posted by CamaroSSforme

Umm except that isn't exactly correct.

Yes salt can seep into concrete over time and expand the iron in the reinforcement causing it to expand, however that really isn't a problem up north. It's a problem with bridges over salt water (concrete resists salt water intrusion to the point that it has to be submerged in salt water for this to happen). The salt up here will rust the exposed iron on a bridge but does nothing to the concrete.

As far as the roads....the salt has nothing to do with that. It's the temperature and water. The roads develop hair link cracks over time that water seeps into. That water then freezes and expands thrusting the road upward (called frost heaves). Once the temperatures heat back up that ice melts and the asphalt collapses creating a pot hole.

exactly thats why places pretty far north dont generally have to deal with horrible roads because the freeze thaw season is generally pretty limited, so the roads arent constantly being expanded and contracted by ice. In other parts of the country however where during the winter it goes back and forth between above below freezing every day you see a real decline in the roads.

[CamaroSSforme]

Originally Posted by bob2the2nd

exactly thats why places pretty far north dont generally have to deal with horrible roads because the freeze thaw season is generally pretty limited, so the roads arent constantly being expanded and contracted by ice. In other parts of the country however where during the winter it goes back and forth between above below freezing every day you see a real decline in the roads.

I can't agree. The worst frost heaves I've ever seen were in New Hampshire (and I've driven in darn near every state other than Idaho, Montana and North Dakota.

I swear this one road was almost undriveable. I was literally car sick after about ten minutes from the up, down, up, down....some of the heaves were easily 8" high.

[Tal]

Beyond the weather the actual contruction methods and materials used for the road makes a huge difference and can vary a surprising amount.

[Rallysport]

Originally Posted by CamaroSSforme

Umm except that isn't exactly correct.

Yes salt can seep into concrete over time and expand the iron in the reinforcement causing it to expand, however that really isn't a problem up north. It's a problem with bridges over salt water (concrete resists salt water intrusion to the point that it has to be submerged in salt water for this to happen). The salt up here will rust the exposed iron on a bridge but does nothing to the concrete.

As far as the roads....the salt has nothing to do with that. It's the temperature and water. The roads develop hair link cracks over time that water seeps into. That water then freezes and expands thrusting the road upward (called frost heaves). Once the temperatures heat back up that ice melts and the asphalt collapses creating a pot hole.

So, you say salt doesn't harm concrete? Tell that to my garage floor. Or better yet, travel here to Omaha to see it first hand.

[PD123]

Originally Posted by bob2the2nd

after about 25-27 degrees regular salt becomes totally worthless. there isnt enough salt and there is too much water to drop the freezing point of the mixture low enough to melt it away. there are special mixes that some places can put down that will drop the temperature a little bit more but it is very expensive. I lived in Lake Placid, NY for a couple of years and if they put down anything it was a sand/something else mix which helped with traction. Also it always blew me away there was almost always snow on the roads up there during the winter. An inch or two of snow never phased anyone and people just kept driving... YOU HEAR THAT WASHINGTON DC

DC snow is more of a wet snow than up in Lake Placid. The snow that falls farther up north is almost pure snow. In DC because the temperature usually hovers around freezing the snow melts and turns into ice which is the worst thing to drive on.

[Miamimatt]

im going to pay 2 hot blondes to wash my car lol