Automatic car washes not ALL bad

[Nick R]

Alright. It's winter, and there is now way I'm going to wash my car in the middle of winter. And even during the nice weather, sometimes I will wash my car by hand, but sometimes the 3 ultimate washes for $25 at my local Hoffmans Car wash is too enticing. It's a newer car wash, cloth brushes, forced air drying, and all that. I have a black car, and I've never seen any swirl marks after going through, and I've looked. They are quick and easy, and seem to do a really good job.

I feel that not all automatic car washes are bad. Some are, sure. But not all.

 

[91344George]

It's not that all automatic car wash places are bad the problem is that many of them DO NOT maintain and replace worn brushes and shammies,ect. If dirt gets embedded in the cleaning cloths they use you will get haze marks especially if the soap level is too low which helps to act as a lubricant on the surface of the paint.

 

[Spazdog]

I'm still not a fan. I admit to using one to get all the filth off my car after last year's week below freezing ice-storm.

I just can't see how that "soft cloth" gets adequately washed from the mud-hog in front of me.

Plus that soap that they use discolors the black trim around my doors.

And I don't like having my wipers and brakes sprayed with that "spray wax".

Plus, I see the workers going down the line taping down the rear wipers on all the SUVs and other hatchbacks. But they skip my wiper. Luckily it didn't break the wiper arm but it screwed up the wiper. They tried to tell me that they, "...weren't responsible for aftermarket equipment."
Aftermarket?
"4-doors don't come with rear wipers."
You're right, 4 doors do not. 5-doors do.
"5 doors?"
Yeah, it's a hatchback. The whole back of the car opens.
So they give me a voucher for $2.00 off my next wash.
Won't ever get used.

 

[Bill in Utah]

And quite a few of the newer ones have to recycle their water. (Most of them do) If they don't have the adjustments quite right or the filters are not maintained or something goes wrong then you get to have your vehicle washed with rubbing compound water.

I'll do the quarter car wash spray (with only water) to keep the salt down and when it becomes warm enough I'll hand wash. If that means the car does not get hand washed for 2-3 months so be it.

Everything I've owned over the decades looks fine for its age. Rocks and animals have done more lasting damage to my vehicles finish than non washing will ever do.

I've seen over the years MANY vehicles damaged due to the latest and greatest auto washes. Touch and no touch.

Pass. Glad they work out for you Nick. Hopefully we don't see a post down the road that they did not.

Take care, bill

 

[swirlparanoid]

take a halogen shop light or other powerful light and put it a few feet back from your door and look directly into the reflection and see what it looks like(look from multiple angles). ive found that car washes with hanging mitters usually keep damage to a minimum on the surfaces they touch but the spinning brushes that are spinning at 500rpm slapping against the grit then pulling it across with pressure are a whole different story.

edit: and no there is no such thing as a 100% safe touch car wash

 

[dparm]

I just use the DIY places with the power washers. So what if they recycle water. In the winter I'm more interested with just blasting the salt and dirt off than I am with getting ready for Pebble Beach.

If you get a good sealant applied before winter hits, the car will stay a bit cleaner and you'll be protected.

Plus, I can typically "fix" any sort of damage or at least minimize it come spring.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: dparm
I just use the DIY places with the power washers. So what if they recycle water. In the winter I'm more interested with just blasting the salt and dirt off than I am with getting ready for Pebble Beach.

If you get a good sealant applied before winter hits, the car will stay a bit cleaner and you'll be protected.

Plus, I can typically "fix" any sort of damage or at least minimize it come spring.


The "so what if they recycle water" comes down to how well they filter their water and how well the system is maintained. If the answer is "not well" you could be pressure washing your car with an abrasive.

It certainly comes down to what you're willing to do and deal with, but I'm with Bill on this one. Pass.

 

[swirlparanoid]

btw if the paint is a metallic black it may be hard to tell damage because of how much the flake reflects vs solid black

 

[PF52]

For my daily driver? You bet, I use the automatic car wash. For my "good" car and garage queen? No.

 

[daves87rs]

I'll use the quarter wash during the winter....though I'll try to avoid using the brush if I can.


Not a big fan of automatic car washes in general...

 

[hattaresguy]

For a daily ride they are fine, but if you want a perfect paint finish avoid them at all costs.

Depends on how OCD you are. I know Mercedes guys who tell the dealers not to wash there car before taking delivery because they are afraid of swirl marks in their new cars paint. When mine was in for service I requested it not be washed all the time, but my car was almost always perfectly clean.

 

[dparm]

You also have to learn to live with some imperfections in car paint. Vehicles will get stone chips and small flaws over their life. I used to be OCD about keeping the car immaculate but I learned it's impossible short of never driving. Once I came to that realization I was able to own and enjoy cars without getting upset every other day at a new blemish.

I do what I can to minimize damage but in the end the small flaws are a sign that I was out enjoying the car.

 

[Sayjac]

I use the self service hand washes quite regularly for my vehicles. There is a particularly excellent/well maintained chain of them nearby. The owner only uses the boars/hogs hair brushes, and I do use the brushes.

I always spray the brush first with the high power spray from the wand and allow the soap to flow well before using. I know the purists will say that should not be done, but it's been ok for me. That said, I would never use the nylon brushes, sometimes blue in color. The boars hair brushes must be replaced more often, and this chain replaces them when it is needed.

However depending how dirty the car is, sometimes I just use the low power pre treat soap, then power soap, rinse, wax, rinse and last spotfree rinse.

I've found the high power spray a great way to remove the bugs from the front facing parts of the vehicle, and I like the spot free rinse.

I have visited this particular chain often enough over the years that I now know the owner fairly well. He a very detail oriented guy (no pun intended), perhaps why I go a bit out of my way to go there. It's now up to $1.25 for 3 and 1/2 mins., but most times I can finish for $3-4.

 

[KrisZ]

I use the coin operated washes, but I never use the brush. High pressure soap followed by rinse is all I need to get rid of salt and dirt. I also use the touch less wash few times during winter to get the undercarriage washed as well.

 

[Stewart Fan]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
For a daily ride they are fine, but if you want a perfect paint finish avoid them at all costs.

Depends on how OCD you are. I know Mercedes guys who tell the dealers not to wash there car before taking delivery because they are afraid of swirl marks in their new cars paint. When mine was in for service I requested it not be washed all the time, but my car was almost always perfectly clean.


I had to argue with the Subaru dealer when I asked them not to wash the car the day we purchased it. There was road construction going on in front of the dealership,and all the cars had a healthy layer of dust on them. I knew the 16 year old lot attendent didn't give a rip about the paint on my charcoal colored car,and it would have a million swirl marks if I let them wash it.

I typically get the same response when I tell a dealer not to wash it, if its in for service. I've even shown the service manager at the Chevy dealership the brushes laying on the ground,bristle down,collecting all sorts of stuff I don't want rubbed into my paint.

 

[GMFan]

I worked with a guy once whose company rented him a new ~2010 Infiniti G3x from Hertz. He took it to the car wash every week since it was driven on a dirty/dusty/muddy construction site. Apparently this guy had money and wanted his car to look clean. Anyway, he took it to an automatic car wash and it apparently had some dirt or rock embedded in something and he had a few scratches running from the hood to the trunk along the car. It even scratched the windshield!

I only wash my car by hand and wax before winter. During the winter I will only "spray" down the car with water and also spray under-neath the car to remove salt buildup.

 

[addyguy]

I buy used cars, and do lots of highway driving, so my cars always have some degree of scratching on the paint. I usually use the coin-op hand wash near my house, and just spray the vehicle down once a every week or two to reduce salt-build-up. If I feel like 'splurging' i take the car through an automatic car wash with the wax, undercoating..etc...

 

[ahoier]

I love the coin operator drive through car washes....make good for the undercarriage spray downs.....IF they have treated water....I've been through some, that smelled like lake water after I took the car though......almost as if perhaps they had their pumps hooked up to the river a block away, and using that "water" for their washes!

Other than that, I haven't had bad luck with the drive up/through car washes......There's only one car wash locally I know of that still uses the spinning bristles, and shammy looking mops, to scrub down the car.....and yea, that just screams disaster to me....particularly if the owner isn't cleaning/washing or even "REPLACING" the mechanisms on a routine basis.....

They do also have a drive up detail service, and have been through that, they did a good job for $8 - about 6 guys/girls jump right up, scrub down the wheels/tires with polish of some sort, spray down the windows, inside and out....and you're off. All done by hand. But yea, they don't touch the body at all. Just windows and tires. But they do a good job for what they do

One thing I always avoid though, is that spot-free rinse...I've heard reports (believe it may have been these forums....) that they put some sort of chemical in the "spot free rinse" that actually "attracts" dirt to the car.....I guess to keep you coming back....? haha.....

 

[rslifkin]

Up in Rochester, I'll use the touchless laserwash to get the salt off. It doesn't get the thing completely clean, but it at least rinses the salt off well, and has a good underbody spray. At home, they don't have those, so any time it's warm enough not to ice over the driveway, it gets hand washed, or at least a good spray down to de-salt it.

 

[Joe72Mart]

Do the car washes that recycle water filter out the salt from previous cycles? I'd hate to give my frame's nooks and crannies more salt.

Joe