I have been using the automatic car wash near my house for last 6 years......i sit in car.....go thru....guys then towel dry, and then i go home and wax....i have done this once a week with my 04 mach1 (yellow)....03 GT (silver)...07 Edge(black)

I have never noticed any swirl marks in any of my cars.....i know alot of you think of auto car wash is like the plague.....


Well now i have my 08 GT/CS VERT (black) and im thinking of bringin it to car wash. then take home and zaino it all day....

Just brought car home tues and havent washed it yet (going to do so tomorrow)

What do u guys think?

 

Wouldn't chance it. Take the time and give her a nice suddzy hand was mit wash. then do your Zaino thing. After a protective coat, then, and only then, would I chance an automatic car wash. And then only if no other choice.

BUT Protect it first!!

 

I wouldn't advise it...
It does, however, depend on the carwash.
A clean cloth carwash with HIGH WATERFLOW can be pretty good.
And if the car is heavily waxed before it ever hits the carwash, that helps.
I couldn't do it, but if you have a carwash that has done black before and you are okay with it...

 

see thats the thing.....ive never seen any problems in the past
and there is one thing i HATE, thats hand washing car.....i would rather wax/polish 6 diff zaino coats for 4 hours than hand wash and dry

 

I especially wouldn't on the black car. Washing and drying shouldn't take long. Are you sure the yellow and silver cars don't have microscopic swirls that you have to get close to see? And maybe the '07 black Edge hasn't been through it enough for them to show up. If that car wash doesn't eventually leave marks then it's a rare one, either that or you've got an 1/8th inch of wax on em! If you really hate washing that much though go for it, I'm just skeptical.

 

I know this is an extreme case, but...

My dad worked as an East coast sales rep who's area covered from Maine to Georgia.. he was usually gone for a week at a time and driving his 2001 Durango most of it. The vehicle was washed atleast once a week in those auto washes and he polished/waxed it (by hand) probably every other month or so... He still has that thing today and it has the worst swirl marks I have EVER SEEN! ...you can actually feel them in the paint.

I never use the auto washes unless it's the dead of winter (South Jersey) and then only if they are the touchless kind.

 

I have a 2005 Trailblazer that has been through the car wash about a dozen times in the 3 years i've had it and there are no paint issues. The Greystone Metallic paint holds up nicely with no visible swirls or scratches.

Even with that good luck, I wouln't trust it with the Mustang. An extra 30 minutes washing it by hand is better than many years of if something did happen!

 

you guys are right.....im doing it by hand....im going out today to buy the bucket...soap, and even a leaf blower.....they have good leaf blowers in home depot, or lowes?

also, does anybody know where i can find a nice lil car vaccuum?

 

No how, no way. It's touch-less or nothing. If it is filthy (which is rare) this I'll wash her down myself and then go though the touch-less. I don't even have to tell them "no brush" cause I go there so much, but I remind them anyway. I took my zinc yellow 02 Mustang through a wash that scrubbed the car, behind a filthy SUV. (Once you're in, you can't turn around or I would have.) when I got to the other side, my baby was covered in swirl marks... Maaannn.. I was out of it. Sick to my stomach. Like I told my brother who WAS gonna take his black Impala SS through that wash, it's only a matter of time or that right moment like I had: It will be "swirl free" no more. Best of luck..

 

If it's cold out when I hand wash it, I have a pair of large rubber gloves lined with wool gloves. I can be out there all day cleaning my ride. I always clean her at night so whatever slush that may be out there will freeze. Then she can stay clean for a "little" while. When I go to work, my boss always barks, "How do you keep that car so clean in this cold s***?!"

 

I go through touchless automatics quite a bit. But I had wash whenever I can. I'll take the Explorer to the touch wash, but none of the stangs.

 

2 month old Black GT at the time... the "good" wash in the area swirled it up BIG TIME. After many hours of paint correction, I won't take it anywhere but touchless. I always ended up hitting the whole car with QD after even a $25 wash, so there's no real time difference. I do hate doing the glass though.

 

I don't see a problem with the touchless ones, I use them once in a while.

 

after you wash it clay bar it then wash it again ...... then do you zaino magic.

 

ive never taken any of my cars thru those..... my father told me once while we were washing his corvette z06 think of all the people with muddy and dirt covered trucks go thru there and all those little grains of sand and dirt hitting and smacking your car its like a sand paper wash......and for touchless its a waste cause it dosent "wash" the car it just sprays water around compared to a real hand wash with love lol....... i just think washing your car by hand and enjoying it makes it that much cleaner

 

The soap at the touchless washes is supose to grab the dirt pretty good.

 

I agree, I don't even use the same towel on the bottoms were all the road grime is and on the front were the bugs are as I do on the rest of the car, I use three separate towels/wash mitts every time let alone a brush at a car wash that has cleaned 50k pos nasty, muddy, rust buckets........ I know I'm crazy!

 

I got a Black GT and if i were you, I WOULD NOT bring it through the auto car wash unless it is a brushless. Swirl marks never come out, plus they make the car look bad. There is a do-it-yourself carwash in my area that has like 6 bays where you can do your own wash, and there are 2 bays with a touchless automatic wash. I always bring my car down there to wash it. Comes out squeaky clean!! Just my 2 cents!

 

I have always hand washed my cars and I go front to back not in circles when I wash and my 2003 Black Explorer still has some fine swirl marks that Zaino Z5 is able to hide.The new Candy Red Stang Has three soon to be 6 coats of Z2 pro on it super carefull washing it.

 

Black isn't a color - it's a part time job

If you value your sanity when looking at your black car don't ever bring it to a swirl-o-matic car wash. Touchless can be fine in a pinch, use their dryer on the way out and don't touch it with anything afterwards.

Use the two bucket method and quality sheepskin wash mitts to wash, waffle weave microfiber to dry.

Wanna learn more?

http://paintcare-n-detailing.com/

Not enough info?

http://autopia.org/forum/

Leaf blower - use an electric and a GFI else darwinism will come into effect.

Hand vacuum - I like this one: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...rd=wet+and+dry