Johnhav430

on my wife's car, it's $20/mo., so after the 3rd wash, max 1 per day, the 4th is break even. Cake walk in the winter, I think. But you gotta be able to get there 8-5.

They have the same thing about 6 miles from my office, so I'll get it tomorrow for the LS, which, btw is covered in salt and sand. My buddy said I used to have a LSpurrfection, now it's LSdeterioration, and he may be right in those rivet holes. It's $18/mo. there, again the 4th goes beyond break even.

Well, I have never believed in automatic car washes, and would never ever run my beautiful garage queen through one (though the dealer does and ignores my requests not to so I gave up, but that rust thread really has me buggin'. I know there's a tendency to say hey, if I have to pay $8 for a wash, I'll be looking at the report, it's Sun, but it's gonna rain Tue., so I'll wait. Now, we'll be able to get the salt off asap, and not worry since we can go 1/day if we really wanted to (what's the point though if the car is clean).

With my wife's car being cleaned today, noticed a new ding on the wheel well. Ah.....the life of a soccer mom's car, I guess it's made to be used. I know she tries not to park in tight spots, but she isn't always like me, insisting upon curbing the car....

jackies

iTrader: (5)

I practically quit washing my car after I noticed the lines on wheels and fenders from automatic wash brushes. Still can't bring myself to wash it by hand though. Especially in this weather....

Johnhav430

I hear you.....my uncle sets them up for a living, and he told us, never take a car that you like to a automatic car wash, hand spray only. He says it's not the "cloth" brushes that cause swirls, but maladjustment of the equipment. I haven't seen anything yet, and I just gotta get that salt off, again, I know how we've done this in the past....yes the car is dirty, but it's gonna snow again in 2 days, and 5 days, and 8 days, etc., and now the salt stays on for 1-2 wks....

campisi

I'm glad I live in a place that doesn't need to sand or salt the roads. Hand wash only. And I think probably no more than 4 to 5 times a year. Paint still looks great. I bet it would really look great with a professional detail - but I ain't shelling out for that on this daily driver.

Johnhav430

My buddy is making me feel guilty, yes, I have never, ever, run my garage queen through an automatic car wash. I know the dealer has, as they always wash cars when in for service. I used to ask them not to, and it would be 50/50, so I gave up. My wife's car has gone through automatic car washes for 5 1/2 years, I don't see any problems. Plus it's a full sized suv so it's not practical to hand/spray wash, it was a b**** to clay it this fall! Anyway, my friend had a moonlight pearl LS and he says it deserves to be covered and hand washed, in winter! lol

I just think that a monthly will mean the most salt removed, the most frequently, for the least cost...this is from just yesterday

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I've had no issues with the automatic car wash I visit. During the winter months I make sure to run it through with the underbody wash once a week. Swirls are much easier to buff out vs rusting from the salt.

Johnhav430

signed up, was a little more painful than yesterday as this one was all manually entered...the rfid is a bit crooked, I hate that!! But it is so small I don't see it, the one in my wife's is large

As I was going through, and this is my first time doing the automatic thing in the LS, I was trying to envision, what could be getting damaged. I also looked out the window at the tunnel, when doing the paperwork, and watched other cars going through, quite a few higher end cars. I dunno, anything can happen, but I just don't see the cloth driving debris further into peoples' paint? My park sensors did go crazy and the triangle lit up on the dash. Oh well, such is life, I want the salt off asap and often...so this is my plan, and that's that...I'll try not to overdo washings, but will go right after each storm

2KHarrier

There's a new carwash joint near my home in Milwaukee and they're offering the same $20.00/month unlimited washes. I really should sign up for it as I spend probably 3 times that lately.

One thing I noticed, at the end of the wash, there are rollers that apply Armor All to the tires, as you roll through the driers... Pretty cool.

Johnhav430

Again, I was truly thinking to myself as I watched from the tunnel, and from inside my car, about how the cars are being damaged because they're not being hand washed. There were brand new higher end cars passing through.

This was encouraging, although to keep things in check, they sell car wash systems! I mean a purist even would not blast a car with wand in a self serve, there is an elaborate bucket process....

http://tommycarwash.com/blog/swirl-marks/

Tom57

Rust around the door trim, wheel opening moldings and trunk trim over the license plate tend to be areas that are prone to rust in the "rust belt" states - confirmed by a Lexus parts mgr. Fine dirt/dust and salt mix and collect in the door chrome trims, wheel opening moldings and trunk moldings, creating a dirt/salt paste that doesn't dry out - a perfect environment to eat away at any weakness in the paint/body. I periodically use a high pressure water sprayer to remove dirt under all moldings, as well as undercarriage and wheel wells.

Salt alone doesn't cause rust. Salt + water = perfect environment for rust. NaCL, CaCL2 or MgCl2 (salt) + H2O (water) = HCL (hydrochloric acid). If you don't clear out the dirt under the moldings, your regular car washes are actually keeping the dirt under the moldings moist which promotes rust.

Johnhav430

I'm going to try it when its warm, and the car has been auto washed, if I blast the car with pressure, the car should be dirty, as salt is going to come out. I guess at the end of the day, without overthinking things, the mfg. is the one who should design the vehicle to resist corrosion. If that weren't true, then we'd be right back in the days when rustproofing were sold (before my time but I have definitely heard the name Ziebart).....my folks had a 2000 Hyundai, actually 2 of them. Both were junked maybe 2 years ago, still ran, not worth fixing. They never bothered washing them, and neither had any rust. I have always heard Hyundai steel is cheap. These two cheap cars easily went 10+ years....

BradTank

The only time I would really be hesitant to use automatic car washes is if I had like a classic car that had been repainted with a high dollar paint job. That's asking for trouble.

On a newish car with factory paint, I just don't care enough to go through the trouble of hand washing and the finish seems to hold up fine. I've been using them for a while now and I haven't really seen any damage. If I lived in an area that salted roads, I would definitely rather take my chances in an auto car wash than with salt.

I will say though that the side mirrors are the one thing that seems to get knocked around a lot in there, and since mine are one step from needing replacement, I cringe going through the car wash with those.

Being able to garage a car is where I see the biggest difference in how the paint looks long term. I pretty much dismiss a used car immediately when it's clear to me it has spent its life outside.

Johnhav430

That's how my uncle kind of explained it to me....it would drive me crazy to see a brand new 7 series or S550 or the like, be along side of it on a bright sunny day, and see that ripply finish indicating it's been hit. I also notice that repaired areas seem to dent/ding easily as well, and they show. I would say I can't understand this, a car that nice and they don't fix it well, I could never live with that. A used LS was like that at a Lexus dealer that I was considering. The uncle would say this isn't like Graveyard Carz where you're doing $200k restorations, so that's how it is. And I've often thought about it, body shops are backed up. The more time spent on a job, the more backed up, and the more $$$$ not being made. So there is zero incentive to do a good job, except, you don't want the customer coming back and having to redo something.

My car has two dings, some scrapes, and it was made 10/05. I'm ok with going through the car wash, as my objective is to get the salt off asap, and as frequently as possible...if that's making matters worse, then I guess that's how it has to be. It's not realistic to hand spray at 14F, although with the BMW, I admit, it's the only way. But the LS was purchased so the BMW can remain in the garage when it snows...

blueNblack

Those automatic carwashes are great if you don't care about the finish of your car...

Riz1

automatic car washes are very bad for your paint. Just imagine if a dirty truck/car that hasn't been washed in months is in front of you. That dirty bits of dirt is on the brushes. That dirt ends up washing your paint of your car.