automatic car wash
 

i did a search on this but didnt come up with anything so here goes...

ive read in quite a few posts that automatic car washes are more or less the equivalent of satan spawn. i can see why washes that use brushes or cloth that touch the paint would be bad, but what about brushless autos? are they taboo as well?


-project

Auto car washes use cloth instead of brush these days. It's more gentle on the paint. If you can wash it yourself or can afford to have it hand washed, do it. If not, run it through the cloth drive through. Keeping the paint clean is better than not.

thanks for the reply although i think i should clarify. the wash near my house is completely brush/clothless. its basically a rack of sprayers and nothing but water ever touches the car. in my mind it doesnt seem like it would be any different than using the hand sprayer, but since all posts about automatic washes basically said dont use them i wanted to see if there was something i was missing before i took my car over there.

and i defintately agree with you on washing it myself, its just been too cold the last few days. im trying to find a temporary solution to last till spring (or at least the rare warm weekend).


-project

Wow, I didn't think water pressure alone can make a car truely clean. It's been a couple of years since my last auto wash.

The problem with using the sprayers is that there will be dirt left on your vehicle. And then when you dry it, the dirt will scratch your clearcoat.

Slavearm

The 'brushless' car wash systems do not really clean the car that well, and the water comes out HOT and under high pressure, both no-no's for washing a car. As for 'cloth' car washes, I wouldn't use them either. While it's true that cloth is easier on the paint than nylon bristles, if the car (or cars) ahead of you had a lot of dirt on them, that grit can (and does) get transferred to the cloth. This is the same cloth that will be slapping across your car's paint (just like sand paper) and leaving swirls and scratches.

The problem I have with that automatic car washes is they scratch the heck our of your wheels with low profile tires...happened to my S4 so the 8 gets handwashed only

I had two parallel scratches about 3 inches long on the back bumper of my old car that I traded in for the 8...I'm pretty sure the car wash did it.

My 8 will never see a car wash.

i would rather handwash my car anyday but being december it is a tad cold in central indiana....so mikes express car wash has to be done to get off all that roadsalt.

thanks for all the replies. this was exactly the kind of info i was looking for. sounds like im going to stick to the hand pressure washer. at least i can control the pressure that way. during the summer it will definately be hand wash only, but right now im just looking for salt removal. the zaino wash and polish is going to have to wait till march.


-project

Brushless wash use harsh chemicals and anything brushing will scratch the clearcoat. So why?

How much is hand car wash in US? In Melbourne Australia, it is extremely popular and for A$14 you have a basic outside wash. $25 with inner cleaning and $40 get you a polish as well.

I don't even go to that and I wash the car at self serve car wash with bucket, sponge and the spray gun.

It is water restriction that I can't use garden hose to clean the car. But if I am lazy I will go to the hand car wash.

Brush/Cloth CarWash = Scratch up your Paint and Rims

Touchless CarWash = Scratch up just your Rims.