First wash since October
- Thread starter Barkleymut
- Start date
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
Yes the weather has been nice here in VA. Is that your truck next to it too? I love Ford stuff lol just worked on a 1965 Mustang today.
Yes that is my f150 next to it. She has only been driven about 400 miles in the last year
Yesterday(high 40s* F) I was able to get our cars chassis blasted, the vehicles washed and applied some qd product on the paint, r-x on the glass and some gloss on the tires.
I took advantage of the mid 40's yesterday and gave the Liberty a quick once over. It included the undercarriage with the wand I made to wash it a few years ago.
Just got the DD washed again. There was a line six deep at the $4 place that does an OK job. About 1/2 a mile away I sprung for the $8 fancy wash and drove right through. 
Yes. Same here in NJ. Weather warm, car washes busy as heck. I’m gonna roll out a hose and give the Versa a howdy do.
I don't think that there is an automatic car wash in my area that has anything as inexpensive as $8 even for their cheapest "drive through/nuttin' special wash"! I mean there may be but, I'm not aware of any.Just got the DD washed again. There was a line six deep at the $4 place that does an OK job. About 1/2 a mile away I sprung for the $8 fancy wash and drove right through.
Good on you! I haven’t been to an automatic car wash in years. Those are murder on your paint. My boss just purchased a 2021 Ford Super Duty. Last week he went through a well known high traffic tunnel wash and received multiple DEEP scratches down the side of his brand new truck. The rascal at the car wash tried to get out of it but no such luck for them. He took it to a well known body shop in our area and they told him they receive on average 6 claims a month just from that car wash.
It's been cold and snowy for the most part here, but did hit the high 40's a few times lately I went to the car wash yesterday as it had been a while. Decided to use some Nu Finish polish I had on the shelf on my truck this morning to clean it up a bit.
manicrodder
$50 site donor 2022
I typically take ours through the touchless washes but a coworker takes hers through a "soft touch" with the foam strands. Her paint looks good so I tried it. 300 was great but the H3 ended up with a bent antenna and license plate. Hummers are a pain due to their blocky shape. It is the hardest vehicle to detail I have ever owned. It will be back to the laser type washes for certain.
Any car wash that touches the car, with anything, will induce swirls/scratches. If you don't think it does, you are just not looking hard enough or in the right light. Doesn't matter if they use microfiber or whatever else, they are absolutely the worst thing you could ever do to your cars finish. I shudder when I drive past our local fancy "big" car wash and see really nice vehicles going through it, especially if they are black. Coworker has a huge new black Dodge Ram that he takes through it every other day and the paint looks horrendous... He is so proud he gets it washed every other day and it looks 'nice', but all I see is the damage he has caused to the clearcoat on the thing. Haha
The only 'safe' car wash is touchless, or you do it yourself properly. But not everyone cares as much about maintaining the finish as much, so obviously it comes down to each person and the level of care you want to put into it.
I will take my beater/dog car through a car wash as I don't care about it, but my other two cars get washed by me only or laser wash if need be (usually not, unless winter to get salt off). I recently got a snow-foam tool for my power washer and such, so I will be using that in winter now for quick, touchless washes to get the salt off when weather permits.
At the end of the day, if you want to baby the paint, you need to do it yourself or go touchless. No other options!
The only 'safe' car wash is touchless, or you do it yourself properly. But not everyone cares as much about maintaining the finish as much, so obviously it comes down to each person and the level of care you want to put into it.
I will take my beater/dog car through a car wash as I don't care about it, but my other two cars get washed by me only or laser wash if need be (usually not, unless winter to get salt off). I recently got a snow-foam tool for my power washer and such, so I will be using that in winter now for quick, touchless washes to get the salt off when weather permits.
At the end of the day, if you want to baby the paint, you need to do it yourself or go touchless. No other options!
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