RalAegidius

Ah, okay. I usually keep the hose on the car while claying it, for lubrication, since I do it right after I wash the car. I dropped one of my clay bars the other day. Luckily I had a spare so I used a new one. My boss asked me the other day if I washed my car every day or something because it always looks nice. I told him that taking some extra care of the exterior of a car will keep it looking good for a long time between washes.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Soft or not it'll scratch on the microscopic levels. Thats going a bit OCD about it though

As long as you don't have any huge contaminants in it, you should be fine. Oh, and this is only for FINE grade clay. Medium and Aggressive versions increase the risk of visual scratches due to them being formulated differently

lipappy

I agree that it must be you who are causing the scratches by your washing technique. Pebble debris does not cause scratches as you describe. Try a two bucket method - fill up two buckets of soapy water. Rinse your sponge in each bucket before reapplying to increase the chances of thoroughly rinsing your sponge before reapplying to car.

scotish1

Well,
I have brought it to two body shops and one high end car detailer and they all seem to be in agreement, guys that know how I treat a car, and they say something is wrong,told them the scratches started after a small snow we had in March 2012, that led them to believe it is a paint issue not a washing issue
went to a dealers lot that had the three cars the same color as mine two looked just like mine, with the scratches!!! all over and one look fine but it was a SUV
This is fighting a losing battle I will tade it in next week and get another car!!!!

garsarno

Maybe the dealers cleaning crew is damaging their cars (and yours).

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

I always tell my service advisor I do not want the car washed.

LexBob2

Same here. There are a couple of times that I forgot to tell the SA I didn't want the car washed. There was never a problem but I prefer not to have it done.

SW17LS

15 years of detailing experience, I can tell you its your washing regimen, or as someone else said the dealer is doing it, etc. In order for something to scratch something has to touch the paint. A small snow doesn't cause scratching, unless someone or something is touching the paint. No matter "how well you care for cars" if your washing regimen is poor, towels are poor, sponges are poor...washing more often can actually cause more problems. We've asked you to share your washing regimen with us but you haven't done so.

Have a professional machine polish the paint, get someone good...go on www.autopia.org and get a well respected person on there, way more hacks out there than good. Thats going to be way cheaper than trading the car in.

Like I said, i've got the same color with no scratching, I've got a coworker with the same car as mine and color, no scratching. Paint doesn't just "scratch".

sydtoosic

have you ever seen how they wash the cars on the lot? i'm not surprised you saw scratches on those new cars. i watched the people they hire to come wash the cars (at my dealership),,, and i must say i almost threw up. i couldn't believe it. i even brought it to the attention of the GM. to the OP, those scratches were there when you bought the car,,, atleast some of them. before you took delivery they sent it to their detailer to cover up most of the scratches. when i buy a car i tell them not to touch it,,, i'll take it as is, and you should see the strange looks i get. i take it home and detail it myself. invest in some detailing supplies. in the end it will be worth it. i agree with eyezack87,,, have the car professionally detailed if you're not comfortable doing it. get out as many if not all the scratches that you can, don't forget your wheels, exhaust tips etc. then OPTI-COAT 2.0 on your whole car,,, even your wheels. Lexus is not going to do anything for you,,,, fighting a losing battle. do it yourself and then keep it maintained,,, the right way.

RalAegidius

I wash cars for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and I can personally say that I'm much more careful than that. We don't have the ability to do a touchless wash, but I keep our handled brushes as clean as I can, and we use one of those silicone "blades" with the non-scratch handle on it. Unfortunately I only work part-time, but I bring a lot of my own detailing stuff with me (it would disappear otherwise), including a chamois and some upholstery cleaner.

So I can feel good knowing that a customer who gets a car that I worked on is getting a car that is actually clean and not just one that looks clean (black interiors hide a multitude of sins) I know they're only rental cars, but I take pride in my ability to do my job well, and they look so pretty when they're clean.

Too bad some of our customers don't take care of them as well as I do.

SW17LS

I saw a dealer guy washing a car one time with one of those like 3 foot wide push brooms for big floor areas. Kid you not.

When I detailed professionally I was paid to correct paint on brand new cars all the time.

garsarno

Avis in PA uses a 12" version of the brush.

smarty666

Hi All,

I saw this thread and thought I would chime in. I'm actually glad I saw this as I have begun having some concerns as well. I have a 1 year old 2011 ES350 with the Truffle Mica Exterior paint.

Just to give some quick background, I've had cars from Nissan, Infiniti, Acura, Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Mercedes over the years and have never seen such problems, with a car only 1 year old with paint chips, scratches, and nicks on the front end of my car like I do on my 2011 ES. I take fastidious care of my cars, no matter what make it is. During this time of the year, I bug and tar the whole front end at least twice a month. But everytime I get it wash and examine the front end it just gets worse and worse. It is getting to the point now that your able to start noticing some of the nicks and scratches out of the front end from a distance.

I'm concerned if the car looks this bad at only 1 year old, what the hell is it going to look like at 5, 6, and 7 years old?

What I wanted to know was, has any ES350 owners paid to have that Lexus front end paint protection film put on? If so, have you noticed a difference in it helping to keep down the amount of scratches and nicks on your front end from rock chips, etc? I want to here from practical experience so I don't flush my money down the toilet on something. Also, if you have had the paint protection film on the car, how does that work exactly when it comes time to wash and wax the car yourself? Does it collect any dirt or wax under it? Does that section protected by the film not fade as quickly as the rest of the car?

Thanks in Advance!

RalAegidius

Um, that's horrifying. And it would be difficult, too, with a brush that wide. The brushes I use are not for floor sweeping (although they are about the same general shape). I believe they're those Carrand Nylex brushes, and I hose the bristles out regularly.

If my employer tried to get me to use something like a floor broom to wash a car, I would refuse. I mean, I know it's only a Mitsubishi Galant, but I have standards. And it's in a rental company's best interest to put at least a little effort into taking proper care of the cars. They are a primary capital investment, and we also sell them when they are rotated out of the fleet. It's a lot easier to sell a car that doesn't have the paint all messed up.

smarty666

Yes, I stopped going to the car washes where there was any human involvement b/c I could hear them nicking my car with those dawn wash brushes with the wooden support.

Ideally, I would love to go to a touchless car wash but there are none around where I live that I can find. I had to compromise and go to one that is fully automated but the wash inside does have the things that touch your car.