Being in CA I have used the self wash stations because of water concerns. No brushes, spray wash and use my own microfiber sponge and microfiber towels. Some have a blow dryer that works 80%.

I normally (99%) of the time wash by hand at home.

I am very particular about my cars.

 

Living in Florida, there's maybe only two or three weekends per year when you wouldn't want to be outside washing your car.

If I lived in the northeast, I'd have a drain installed in the middle of the garage, connected to the plumbing in the basement

 

HA! LOL, whatever works for you...

 

Not to mention the waste of $

 

I'm pretty similar to this. I'll drive it through the no-touchy pressure wash and then wipe it down with my collection of soft ex-bath towels. This gets off the remaining dirt and prevents water spots without doing the brushes' violence to the entire car. I feel the undercarriage spray that the commercial wash provides is the most important part of the whole process for the preservation of the car, but no brushes, not ever.

Waxes, I'm getting pretty slobby in my old age and will give it a real wax only once or at most twice a year, with lazy man's spritz wax the rest of the time. And yes, it's as much exercise as I'll ever get.

 

Usually hand spray it at the car wash bay and hand dry off. My car never gets dirty enough to require any thing stronger. If so, the touchless car wash, used on an occasional basis, seems to be a reasonable alternative.

 

I never used them until we moved to Utah. I still hand wash the vehicles outside of winter but It's really hard to keep vehicles clean in the winter. However, with the new ES, I'm taking it to the spray wand wash to get the bulk of the grime off, then I go home and use ONR. It works wonderfully!

 

Yes

have used on all my cars.
porper wax and sealant goes a long way.
and choosing the right car wash

 

Unless you tell them not to, I bet all of y'all Lexus get washed at the dealer when you bring it for servicing, guess what they use to wash your Lexus LOL

 

That's why I tell them not to.

 

I run mine through the beater a couple times a week (mechanized wash tunnel with cloth that touches the car). I drive all over town for work and park outside a lot, neighborhoods with trees will get it dirty fast plus spring is coming soon with the Texas pollen. I’ve had mostly white cars so luckily swirl is less of an issue and my last pearl white Lexus was still gleaming when I traded it in just under 100k miles. Had a black Acura RL I only hand washed or touch less automatic washes, swirl city by 50k miles but I’m convinced Honda paint is soft also. Same for a dark blue Jag XJ8. My silver cars fared well in Texas however. Daughter has a black Camry hybrid that’s murder to keep looking good and the paint was never that great to begin with on that car anyways.

The car wash I go to is a monthly subscription (only $16 for unlimited basic wash with high velocity air dry) and I usually hand dry it with microfiber most times afterwards at the vacuum station. The ES definitely has some sexy curves and nice paint, only car I enjoyed washing more was an RX7 I had years ago.

When I was younger I’d never run my car through the beater, but it sure is nice to have a clean car every day for $16 a month.

 

I'm in the same boat here. My wife's RX is black and I don't take it through the "beater" lol. Paint looked pretty good when we bought it, only lightly swirled that could only be seen up close. But I still spent two days correcting that and applied two coats of ceramic. My ES, on the other hand, Atomic Silver is excellent at hiding blemishes like swirls.
But the debate continues for me - yes that color is more forgiving, but that doesn't mean the swirls aren't there. So, I dunno
As the current coat of wax starts to fade I'll likely go the ceramic route on the ES also.

 

Granted, but does that mean an owner shouldn't care about how it looks or take care to maintain a nice, new finish? I don't live in a mansion but I still keep my house and surroundings just as well maintained, "daily liver" or not. It's not "pampering" to do so anymore than I'm not pampering myself to take a shower and shampoo my hair. Silly.

 

And to add to that, your car is an investment - an expensive investment - second only to your home and should be regarded as that...

 

Putting your car through an automatic wash doesn’t mean a person doesn’t care about how it looks, not remotely.

And my pearl white looked incredible when I traded it in just under 100k miles.