yur1279

My car is getting really dirty due to all this snow and I want to wash her. I would just do it at home but there pipes are all frozen so it looks like I might go to the car wash. Should I remove the antenna first or will it be ok? or should I just hold out until spring and then wash the car my self and give her a good waxing as well?

holderca1

All of your pipes are frozen? That can't be good on your plumbing. How long have you been without running water?

x-wing

I always take mine off. It only takes a second

yur1279

my bad, i ment that the pipes used to hook a hose up to outside the house are frozen, i still have water inside my house.

am1scott

Never use a car was that has brushes or any other devices that touch your car...that is if you value the finish on your car. If you must go to a car wash, go to a "touchless" car was that only uses a high pressure spray to wash the car. Another benefit of going to those types of car washes is that I have never heard of one of them damaging a factory antenna. On a side note, pretty much all car washes where I live are closed when the temperature is at or below freezing, also because of freezing pipes.

holderca1

my bad, i ment that the pipes used to hook a hose up to outside the house are frozen, i still have water inside my house.
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I think you can hook up a hose to an inside faucet, try unscrewing the bottom of the kitchen faucet and see if the threads match up with the hose, not sure if it will work or not.

I8URVTEC

If its that cold out I would not suggest washing your car at all. The water gets into every little crack and if it freezes it expands. Could cause damage to the car.

holderca1

Well, I think he needs to at least rinse it off to get the road salt off.

slavehand

I must disagree w/ you on using a "touchless" car wash. They are a total waste of $$$ IMO. I 'm speaking on personal experiences with a black "yoter" 4x4. If it raining outside, or if you're trying to clean the mud off oyour car, then yes, use a touchless.

As far as brushes, what kind? Are you referring to the "rubberized" brushes or nylon bristles? I do think the " rubberized" one are O.K. but I do reccomend waxing afterwards.

Oh, yeah! Remove the antenna

r22tech

Automatic car washes vary greatly. In Atlanta, we have the good, bad, and ugly. Personally, I believe a clean car resists scratches better than a dirty car...REGARDLESS OF HOW IT IS WASHED! This means that if you are only cleaning it yourself, you are no better off if you allow the car to get really dirty before washing. This is why I choose to use automatic car washes that use the rubberized method. My wash place has a deal where you pay $50 a month for unlimited FULL washes...I can go 10 times a day if I want! My car is ALWAYS clean and I have no reason to believe the wash method will damage my finish. If it did, the car wash's insurance would cover the damage anyway. You can argue with me until the cows come home, but I have proof you WON'T damage your finish by using a QUALITY automatic car wash facility: Follow the link to pictures of my Concours d' Elegance Porsche 911 and see what I mean...

Click on the red Porsche to enter the site and then click on the "car show" box to the left of the screen to see it. This car was treated the same as I treat the new mustang.

www.magbra.com

blackhat

Maybe your dealer can do it? They still wash/detail cars for delivery in the winter. Without getting it detailed, your service dept should be able to get your car into their wash bay and then they can wash it. Make sure they take a hose to the undercarriage to get the salt off.

slavehand

hey r22tech, which wash do you use, Carnett's?

MaverickMLFD371

took mine out in the bitter cold last night, shes all clean, but she had some frozen armor all on the tires, hehe, but i just leave my antenna on the car, if it breaks, its coverd under warranty.......

am1scott

Well, for 7 or 8 bucks, you get what you pay for. What you don't get is whatever was on the car(s) before you left in the brushes to scratch the **** out of your vehicle. Also, any brush type car wash(regardless of brush material) exert ALOT of force on your car, that's how the sensors work, eventually you end up with a badly hazed finish. and for the record, my car is midnight blue (not a GT yet) and there have only been a few instances that there has ever been any visible dirt left. The wash i use (when i don't hand wash) cost $7 and does everything. Bottom blast, wheels, 2 passes with soap, 2 passes with water, 1 pass foam "wax", 1 pass clearcoat protector, 1 pass spot free rinse and 2 passes with the dryer. 95% of the time, the car comes out looking great, maybe just a couple of token water spots, but I take care of them.
Oh, and in reply to r22tech: The brush type car washes may take a few years to haze the finish, so it would be next to impossible to prove that a certain car wash did it. Now if it did have scratches when it came out, that's a different story.

ponyboy66

I have to throw in my 2 cents here.
Anyone who cares about the finish of his or her car should never take a vehicle through a wash that is not touchless. There are tradeoffs either way you go but the key is to remove any gritty dirt before you wash it. When you go through a wash it applies the soap first and then you get bombarded by gyrating brushes moving back and forth rubbing all the salt, dirt, grime and mud into your finish. Sure it gets clean, but it also does a nice sand job. I have never used a car wash on my vehicles except my winter beater through the $4.50 quickie. My wife will use the wash on hers, but her car is white and doesn't show the scratches too bad unless you’re looking for them.

Touchless wash.
They’re ok. They get some surface dirt off and a lot of salt in the winter, but they do not clean well at all.

The best bet, and we have these every other block in Michigan are the drive in bay do it yourself places. I bring my own sponge/mitt and do it myself.
The worst part is when you use them in the winter you can't feel your hands and your hair is frozen.

barjon

The self-serve drive-in bay with my own soap, sponge and Hydra Wipe is the way to go for me

I'm just wondering how long it'll be before the temperature is above freezing again!

Quicksilver801

Touchless ones are ok but you wanna be carefull in colder weather because of water freezing and expanding. Also they wont get all the dirt off even the really really goods ones. THing i do if i dont have time to wash it by hand.I run it through a touchfree then i shammied it (I use the absorber, its at walmart for like $8). It gets all the dirt that is left by the wash and gets all that water off that pervents watermarks and icing. Yea its alil cold outside now for that but ive learned to tough it out (i was a car detailer for about a year dang)

But really the absoulte best way to get it cleaned is those places that wash it for you. It cost bout $11 most places and you can moan and groan to make your you get it right. YOu can sit in a nice warm building and watch other people freeze there butt off.

97svtgoin05gt

I use a carwash here in NJ locally that uses a spaceage material they invented and sell to other carwash companies. I've been using it a long time and I swear by them. They vacuum the inside, clean the windows, wash it and then dry it with cotton towels at the end. Never a scratch or anything. Whole thing is $10. In bad weather, I'm not doing it myself. I used to do it years ago and it's plain torchore. The number of times it actually gets done in the winter combined with the fact that I've never received a scratch to me are worth not completely freezing in winter months.

By the way, they remove the antenna each and every time you go through and replace it back on the car at the end. A great way to not worry about what's happening to your antenna.

AvtoLubitel

Could you please post or PM me the address of that car wash? I am in NJ as well, but NJ is not that small. Thanks!

97svtgoin05gt

Could you please post or PM me the address of that car wash? I am in NJ as well, but NJ is not that small. Thanks!
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The same guys own the Hamilton car wash and the Windsor car wash. Windsor is on Rt.130 south in East Windsor and the Hamilton (where I go) is on Rt.33 in Hamilton which is outside Trenton.