What are your opinions on some of the nicer carwashes. Would you send your Stang through them? When I'm there with my other car, I see many nice, expensive cars go through them. Any thoughts before I take mine to one of those washes???
Thanks

 

Personally I like washing my car. I hate drying it though~

 

Not mine. I am just not crazy about them. Alot who have the nice , expensive cars that use a carwash probably have so much money they don't care what happens to thier car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GRAYPNY @ February 18, 2006, 4:07 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Personally I like washing my car. I hate drying it though~
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I dry mine with a powerful electric leaf blower....cuts dry time in half and no leftover lint from a towel.

 

last week a buddy at work and I were talking about pressure washing...he called a friend who owns a 'touchfree' wash to check pressures- supposedly robotic wands are 800 psi, prewash or manual bays about 1200. factory paint is supposed to be required to withstand 3000 psi' is what the guy said roughly quoted...I have no idea.

personally I think its better to low pressure /hand wash a car than blast stuff with that kind of pressure, but heck...as long as it gets salt/dirt off it should be good for the car- high pressure though can damage things too...debateable.

any old school washes(if any left) with rotating brushes are a bad idea, as they can really scratch things up if some mud gets on them from a prior car, or one runs dry for any reason- quick clean up for worktruck, sure, but I wouldnt take anything that you hope to keep nice thru one.

keeping chassis clean is very important- most folks wont crawl under, so imagine a chassis bath is generally lesser of two evils...but it can still blast water thru seals not intended to see pressure.

one stonechip can let pressure get under paint, and pop off large chunks, pressure directly on weatherstripping could probably cut into it, Ive often wondered how often they replace hoses too- should one ever burst/handle come off it would beat your car to death in a hurry.

if it werent for road salt and friggin cold weather, I would ALWAYS wash my cars(and work vehicles) at home...lots of low pressure water, just a dab of armorallcarwash and clean cloths...I like the leaf blower idea to dry...never tried it yet, but this summer I will [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

 

Sure, you will see some expensive cars going through a car wash, but those people really don't care about there cars. I see BMW's and Jag's going through the car washes around here all the time. When I worked at a BMW/Jag dealer years ago polishing cars it was the same old thing. Guys bringing in cars all scratched up and wondering why. We would explain it was due to going through a car wash that uses brushes and they said the same thing everytime "I can't be bothered washing it by hand" and in most cases the cars were being leased anyway.

Look at it this way. My brother worked at one of those car washes. An older beater goes through. The cloth material pulls off a piece of rust that gets stuck to the cloth. Next car comes through and that piece of metal is hitting the car over and over again. If you ever get a chance, go to a car wash when they are not busy and see if an employee will let you look at the cloths that are used to beat the car to a pulp. You will see so much metal in them that you will cringe.

As for touchless car washes, they really don't do that great of a job. Quite often there is still residue on the car. However, I still bring mine through one once a month just to get the undercarriage cleaned up a bit.

Nothing beats handwashing.

 

I take mine to the car wash once a week! I was all pumped up at first about washing it and swore I would never take it through the car wash but after the third week of washing it I said what the heck and went for it. It has been about a year now a not one scratch!!

 

Thanks Adam,
I want to hear from more people that have been through carwashes. Any scratches??? I'm hoping for more strories like Adam's.
Matt

 

If it's way too cold out to wash I always take mine to this place where there's two employee's in front who prep your car to be washed. They use pressure sprayers to soak your car and take off any big chunks of whatever the heck you got on there, then they scrub your wheels and rocker panels, then you go through the cycles (the little "chain" type thing pulls your car forward) and it even applies the Black Magic Tire Shine stuff which is REALLY nice.

The only scratches I've gotten where from my own ignorance, sadly. I dried off my car with this microfiber wannabee type cloth they sell at the car wash. It was meant only for chrome or rough surfaces so I got those spiderweb scratches all on my car...I'm HOPING a good waxing will fix it though.

 

Like fordv mentioned about the pressure, I do get concerned somewhat. And the spinning brushes are a big NONO.

Those fancy ones where they dry your car at the end is scary too. Who knows whats in those towels!

Detail shops tend to use the same water over and over again, another nono in my book.

Comes down to it, do it yourself. Nothing will be better, safer.
Im lucky I have access to a hoist. After every snow I lift it up and spray the underside.

I only used the manual ones once only because we went to dinner and I parked where I thought was a safe place to park to avoid the door dings. next to to a large pole on one side, and I was in the last spot. I thought I was safe. Only to come out to easily 30 LARGE bird turds ALL over the car! I was almost in tears, lol. I look up and I parked under a billboard. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/banghead.gif[/img]

 

My parents get their cars washed at the "Touchless" car wash/gas station down the street. Afterwards they dry your car with towels, reused over and over again. I see small scratches all over their Crown Vic, I will never bring my car to a car wash, they don't treat your car like you will. Plus in the long run its cheaper. Everytime I go there to pump gas, they ask me if I want a car wash and I politely say no.

 

For all of you who hate drying your car after handwashing it, go out and get that Mr Clean Autodry setup from the store...it works great. You dont have to use the whole package that they give you, just hand wash your car normally and rinse it off, then take the the MR Clean Autodry and wet the car down with it and let it dry...no watermarks or anything.