I realize hand wash and detailing is the usual method I will use for my new car but for some of the "in between" times I was wondering, is there a drive thru system that is safe for the paint? The "Touchless" and "Cloth Barrels" are claimed by the car washes to be safe but I have read instances where each has been known to damage paint. The old handheld wand types are ok but not always convenient. I'm mainly thinking of times such as driving through roads where salt or other melt away additives have been used plus any other road film that I'd rather not leave on my car until I get detailed. Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks.

 

If you're doing it regularly, I would think touchless would be your best bet. Those are most likely to damage your paint when you have a lot of crap on it that they can push around as they're cleaning it. So if your car is relatively clean already and the wash is using clean water, there's not much there to cause scratches.

 

The only caveat to “touchless” is they use pretty harsh chemicals in the wash to get the dirt to dissolve. If you have a garage you could use a two bucket system with a product like “Optimum no rinse” right inside your garage. I have had good luck with that even when it’s cold outside, I am in southern New England. Just a thought.

 

I've been taking my cars to the self wash bays and giving them a solid spray down when the salt gets too bad. I'll hit it with a hand pump foam spray and let it sit for a while. The good thing is that no sane person is using the self wash bays when it's below freezing so I can let it sit for a bit before spraying it down

 

This, or I suffer at home with the heated tap and pressure washer and play the game of moving faster than the car freezes over lol!

 

Haha been there too. My hose bib is in an annoying place at my house so I've been using the bays. What's nice is the water from the hoses are usually heated too so at least my arms don't freeze when doing the 2 bucket method

 

below freezing? salt? what's that? (i'm in CA ).

self wash bays are good for interim cleans, especially if you have a good wax or better yet a ceramic coat so the dirt doesn't stick as easily and can rinse away quickly.

 

Thankfully my garage has two bibs inside but I can't wash in the garage for obvious reasons lol!

I'm wanting to add a 4th garage bay and when I do it will be extra tall for a lift and have a drain ring on the ground so I can wash cars inside. Issue would be running a drain since I wouldn't want to have any sort of oil runoff into that drain......power and heat are also issues but much easier to address. I want ability to weld but I'm already way too close to maxing out my house and heat would be nice so whatever car I store in there never sees freezing.

 

Assuming that your car has some kind of ceramic coating then I find that a quick rinse with a hose and wipe over with a noodle mitt and soapy bucket is enough for a winter wash. It's also worth applying ceramic coating to the wheels, as they will clean up easily with a wipe of the mitt. As for salt on the underside, then I attach a cheap lawn sprayer to the hose and give it a rinse with that. Prior to winter I also give the underside a spray of ACF 50 (rust prevention), as it only takes abot 20 mins and will last till the next winter.

 

That sounds fantastic! Place I got my R1S tinted had a great setup which sounds like what you described. Just barned size so they could work on 5 cars at once. The hanging clear plastic drapes to separate the spaces did have a murder scene vibe to it though