ericsan13

The manual (and most auto enthusiasts) claim that:
"Brushes used in automatic car washes may scratch the vehicle surface and
harm your vehicle’s paint"

But is Brown Bear's soft cloth acceptable? What about Costco's wash?

FamilyRX

Personally, I like this idea.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/18/h...ows-your-chan/

ashtray

iTrader: (12)

I ONLY hand wash. Last time I went through a tunnel, water hit my spark plug alley somehow and caused sputtering..plus now that she's lowered I dont want to risk hitting those guide rails. Also I genuinely enjoy hand washing my car. Lets me spot all her imperfections and pay attention to where she needs most detail and what not.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I only hand wash my cars. The one time my SC went through the Lexus dealership car wash my front emblem got broken in half.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

If you let anyone else or anything else touch your paint, you risk harming your vehicle. Simple as that. Only you know how your wash mitt was cared for and how your towels are cared for, etc. Those drive through "hand washes" use dirty towels and mitts that WILL harm your paint.

THIS IS THE WAY YOU SHOULD WASH YOUR CAR

DunWkg

I need a bit of clarification....which choices are touchless? Brown Bear must be a local franchise never heard of.

Pretty much avoid unattended, touching tunnel and touching bay washes. Really avoid attended washes of any kind. Those rags make me cringe.

Dealer's wash is touching and the one time I forgot to leave a note not to wash, it bent up my front license and frame. Also sure it swirled up paint.

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

I used to drive my car through the wash bay when I worked at the dealership when I was in between needing to wax it. But now that I no longer work at the dealership I hand wash my car every week. I don't trust anyone else to drive my car through a wash bay, and I never let anyone else do so, and I only did it because it was free while I worked there. You really risk damaging your clear coat though and I would never pay for that chance of damage, especially with all of the care, time, and money I take to insure the paint stays in tip top condition, seems silly to risk throwing that all away.

jacobjohn

The Lexus Dealership here in Georgia (Hennessy Lexus in Gwinnett) updated their car wash to a complete touchless system. Its either that or hand wash for me!

bnizzle87

My car never sees those automated car washes, those 100% hand wash locations, or the dealer car washes. Obsidian is such a pain to maintain, but I take pride in keeping it as close to swirl free as possible. I like doing the work myself, and though time consuming, it pays off. The compliments, the reflective shine, and the mere fact that I've temporarily won the battle against swirls makes it all worthwhile....until I have to do it all over again.

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

ONLY hand wash, by myself. Two bucket method

BertL

I have not been to an automated car wash since I learned better in the early '90s, and post-delivery, my Lexus have only been washed a couple of times by the dealer when I forgot to tell them not to. Otherwise, like most others chiming in here, I'm a 2-bucket hand wash sorta guy -- with any eventual flaws introduced into my finish because of my own doing.

streetx

iTrader: (4)

always handwash

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Besides the fact that a hand wash is far safer than any auto or tunnel type wash, it will also remove MUCH MORE dirt from the surface of your car.

The touchless washes rely on harsh chemicals to "attack" the dirt that is on your car... well guess what... it also is attacking your paint. If you wax your car regularly, chances are the chemicals used in the auto wash have stripped your protection in just a matter of a few washes.

To show you what those auto washes leave behind, check out this picture of my rinse bucket after I did a hand wash on a M3 that had gone through a touchless wash only minutes before being dropped off at my place. TONS OF DIRT LEFT!

User 41924

I always said I would never admit it, but here goes. In the summer, I only hand wash with 2 buckets. I keep a good coat of sealer on it, and do my best to keep it as clean as possible in between washes. However, winter is a different story. I admit it. I use a car wash! It's just too cold to hand wash, and it has to be done often enough to keep the magnesium chloride from consuming the entire car. Also, I like the fact that the car wash I use really sprays down the undercarriage.

The thing is, I know it will introduce swirls, and remove the sealer. So I use spray on sealer after every wash (especially on the chrome bits), to put back as much protection as I can, and to clean off the chemical residue. Then I just plan on doing a really good spring detail to get out the swirls. I guess I figure the mag chloride is worse than the swirls.

BertL

Woodrow, you're forgiven, at least by me. I'm such a wimp living in Southern California, I could never take having to be in cold wintery weather for too long ...and if I did, well, I'd end up doing what you do to keep my ride clean (which is a must!), and just know I'm in for a major DA session each spring when things start to thaw out.

TOO FUNNY! I'm still grinning.