Automatic carwash

[davidjoshua11]

what are tha risks and or damages automatic carwash could do to my car? ive read some threads that it scratches oem (rs) 20s rims. for me, i care less about my rims since its just a winter setup i bought used. just something that would let me get through winter. what i really care about is if it could scratch anything other than the rims ( hood, fender, doors, etc.) its getting really cold here in chicago so id prefer an automatic carwash rather than handwash.

[Homer2]

touchless only.

[CruisingSpeed]

It swirls and even worse, scratches your car up. Like EVERYWHERE. Please use the touchless ones if you must. I only use the touchless and hand wash, with 2 buckets of course!

Just imagine another man's grime from their car tangled up in those octopus tentacles rubbing all over your clearcoat and penetrating down to the paint! Ugh. Now do you still want to drive in there and wait for that octopus to do its business all over your shiny white car?

[Jstephen]

Never had the car in one with brushes since I have bought it. Hand only or touchless and it looks great. Wife took her new Denali through one one time and I ended up polishing it out for hours. Terrible passenger side scratches.

[102SS]

A lot of car washes have to recycle their water so your vehicle gets a nice salt bath in northern climates.

I use the coin op pressure wash place once or twice a week in the winter.

[CruisingSpeed]

Originally Posted by 102SS

A lot of car washes have to recycle their water so your vehicle gets a nice salt bath in northern climates.

I use the coin op pressure wash place once or twice a week in the winter.

I wish car washes would actually display a sign after they do that. After all the dumb and careless car wash owners/operators out there I've encountered it fevers me to start one, a little pricey, but you will see nothing but swirlless sports cars and luxury SUVs if ya get what I'm saying.

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by davidjoshua11

what are tha risks and or damages automatic carwash could do to my car? ive read some threads that it scratches oem (rs) 20s rims. for me, i care less about my rims since its just a winter setup i bought used. just something that would let me get through winter. what i really care about is if it could scratch anything other than the rims ( hood, fender, doors, etc.) its getting really cold here in chicago so id prefer an automatic carwash rather than handwash.

My service center is a Cadillac dealer. They have an automatic carwash and I instruct them to never use it on my car, even though they do that as a 'complementary' service.

Last month, they accidentally did. And they had to buff and polish the entire car, on their dime. The car wash damaged my car.

Thousands, and I mean thousands of scratches. Not acceptable.

Use a touchless wash. All touchless washes I have seen will also do the undercarriage.

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

My service center is a Cadillac dealer. They have an automatic carwash and I instruct them to never use it on my car, even though they do that as a 'complementary' service.

Last month, they accidentally did. And they had to buff the entire car, on their dime. The car wash damaged my car.

Thousands, and I mean thousands of scratches. Not acceptable.

Use a touchless wash. All touchless washes I have seen will also do the undercarriage.

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

[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:

[lbls1]

Never have and never will use an automatic car wash on my signature cars. I'll only use a wash place on my daily driver, and even with this car its a hand car wash.

[JTruck]

I would stay far from any type of automated anything, including commercial "hand wash" places.

[charlietuna]

Most detailers love automatic car washes. Job Security and big pay days for paint corrections.

[JTruck]

Originally Posted by charlietuna

Most detailers love automatic car washes. Job Security and big pay days for paint corrections.

Touche

[mpiersd]

Originally Posted by Stay Fresh Car Care

Stay far away from automatic car washes! You can expect swirls/scratches and low quality chemicals.

This. But as a final option in the winter I use touchless washes only as a last option.