veilsidev1

hey guys, I washed my car with nxt and it's great, but the thing is i dont always have time to wash my car completely. What do you guys think about runnning the 8 trough an automatic car wash at the gas station, will it hurt the paint?

6speed8

I would NEVER go through any kind of 'automatic' car wash. Either the brushes will scratch, or if it is really brushless, the water is being spryaed at high pressure which can also damage paint and actually cause water to wind up in places it shouldn't be.

Rob Tomlin

Hell no!

And I mean Hell no!!!!

mikeb

You have to make time to clean your ride

I would never use those auto whatever wash drive thru's

gt1

I hope I am not stealing the thread but the next logical question is, what about the DIY pressure wash places, are they safe?
I don't even own an RX-8 yet, but it will be soon, I hope, so I have to think about these things

Rob Tomlin

Not as bad as a drive through, but you need to be careful there too. If you have to use one of the DIY pressure washes, I would try to take your own sponge or wash mitt at least. This way you can be sure you wont scratch your car.

I don't like the idea of a high pressure hose blasting water on my car. When I wash my car, I always let the water just flow over it to rinse.

arattle

I don't know, I don't like doing the car washes, but I can understand. I live in the city, and unless I go to my parents' house to wash the car, I have to do the carwash. Better than tree sap and dirt eating the paint. I also noticed that a lot of people on this forum take their car *waaay* too seriously. I know this is a great and beautiful car, but come on! It's just a car. I see $50k+ cars in automatic car washes all the time. Just make sure you find a good one, and stick to it. And as far as washing by hand, you can probably get away with one sponge, one drying towel/chamois, and a little rag for the wheels.

-arattle

8's enough

i take mine through a touchless carwash evry 2 months to strip off the old wax before i'm ready to start the waxing process all over.it's been raining here alot so lately i've been going to the carwash just to hand spray it with water too keep the dirt knocked off . i can't drive a dirty car.

RX8_Buckeye

It depends on how obsessive you want to be with your car. I took my car through an automatic carwash many times last winter. To me, taking a very slight risk of minor cosmetic damage was better than washing the car by hand with temps in the single digits (how can you even do this without ice buildup anyhow?), or not washing the car at all and just letting the salt sit on the car.

Since the weather has been warm, I've washed my car by hand every time. However some days, like today, I'm tempted to use an automatic wash, because my car is filthy, we have family visiting over the weekend, and I'll have no time wash it by hand. It seems like it takes me at least an hour to thoroughly wash the car. It's such a pain doing the wheels, especially when I spray the Black Magic tire stuff and have to wipe off the excess from the wheels.

To summarize, I don't think you have too much to worry about from an automatic wash, but if you can find time to wash it by hand I'd do it that way since it is safer. People who post messages about their cars on an internet forum are more likely to be very protective of their babies, so most members will make you feel like an idiot for taking your car to an automated wash. The reality is that if automated washes were as bad as some people claim, they wouldn't be in business.

truemagellen

automatic carwash...how about you just use sandpaper...costs less and can be applied in all temps...

Warning...lots of enflaming content aho!:

listen of all the cars in the world I wanted this one, over a Ferrari, Lambo, any BMW, any Porches, NSX, WRX, anthing, period...there is a legacy behind our car that is cherished the world over by anyone who knows anything about engines...those of you who own but don't appreciate this car, I used to think you were pieces of ****, but I have changed by view on that and instead hope that by experiencing this car those who don't fully appreciate it eventually will (these statements do not apply to the Automatic since there is now way to harness the power of the rotary without a stick and the full 9k redline...and no please do not bring up a whole auto vs stick argument).

For those who aren't obessed with their car try shifting from 6 to 3 at 65 mph and instantly you are in the most amazing car in the world...I guarantee.

OK, so you bought a nice car...keep it nice forever by having it washed by hand...you yourself dooesn't necessarily have to do the actual cleaning...there are services all over just look in the phone book, especially in big cities where it is impossible to wash it yourself...some will even pick up the car for you while you are at work and bring it back looking beautiful

ezrider55

There is a post about TPMS being broken in a car wash. Just the chance of that keeps me hand washing except when HOOTERS is having a charity car wash. :D

truemagellen

Hi my name is Truemagellen and I'm addicted to my RX-8

Step 1 is complete! too bad I probably won't get to Step 2 : )