I made a thread about this a week or so ago and there was great discussion on the topic. I take care of my car but it's not a show car. Heck, it looks like it now though. It's like a tune, go to a reputable place and save yourself a ton of time. I'll still hand wax her a time or two a year though. Here's the results:




Oh no!




Heart skipping beats



Please let there still be paint on the car!



Voila!



She's still my sweetheart!

 

wow and your ok too??

 

Yeah took mine through one earlier today, it's one with about 10 people working it, conveyer belt like system, then hand dried. Turned out pretty well I think. What can I say, I'm a lazy bastard!

 

What's that mark on there?

 

Too bad it pulled the rear spoiler off!

Nice color, by the way.

 

I like the touch free ones at sams club. But my fav is the one down the road. I do about 90% of my washing by hand.

 

Lol! Good one

 

Absolutely beautiful car... and you park it in the dirt. Philistine!

 

Op... Nice car and nice shine. But please note that under direct sunlight or the right lighting, swirls will show. Swirls are caused by foreign hard substances that rub against your soft clear coat. They appear as fine scratches, but altogether create an illusion of a circular "swirl".

If you must auto wash, do touchless.

Please read:

http://www.superiorcarcare.net/how-to-wash-car.html

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...s-swirl-marks/



Note reason #8 below:
http://www.teamfiat.co.in/guides-man...y-care%5D.html



http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...wirl-Marks-101


http://www.paintprotectiondirect.com...uth_swirl.html







The list of sites and resources that explain the DANGERS of swirl inducing auto car washes goes on and on and on and on. If you guys are ones who don't really care about swirls, then auto car wash away.... But for those of you who are now informed and want to reduce swirls, then consider yourself informed to make the right decision.

 

I can't stand to have one single swirl mark on my car. If it does get even one I will break out the buffer and spend four hours redoing the whole car. I have a problem lol.

 

I am not anti automatic car wash at all, but, even here, there are plenty of auto carwashes that don't touch the car, so I would not entertain the idea of using one that does. Some even have jets that clean the undercarriage that you could never do without putting the car on a lift. That is something you can't really get with a hand wash, so worth considering, especially if you drive your car in the winter.

 

Why especially if you drive your car in the winter?

 

Around here, they put a lot of salt and chemicals on the road to melt the ice. That stuff is very corrosive, so you want to get it all washed off as soon as you can. Obvoiusly not a problem for cars that spend the winter in the garage, or places that never see snow, but for the rest of us, a good wash of the undercarriage is a good idea.

 

Don't know why you guys live in such places. Lol

 

The older I get, the more often I ask myself that very question! I absolutely hate the cold.

 

Thanks man. But the water spots that are on it from me being meticulous with hand washing it for 2 years are even worse. Any swirls that may have happened are not visible at any angle or any lighting. I checked for everything yesterday after the soft cloth auto wash. I know there's the clay bar etc for water spots but it really doesn't bother me too much. It's not a show car.
I used to be one of you guys (the 2 buckets washing, not driving in rain ..........). I now like it this way and driving it more. I get as many compliments on the car as I did when I was an **** car cleaning-aholic.

 

Roger that... Np man. Your car is still purrrrddy.

 

I have been doing auto washes for over 20 yrs in fact you can count how many times I've hand washed my cars on one hand. During the fair weather months I usually Detail the car after I get home. In the winter the underbody blast is a godsend, drove my `98 Formula Daily for 13 yrs and it never had and corrosion on the underbody.
Real street machines have stone chips, if you want perfect paint wrap the car in a diaper and leave it in the garage.

 

Lol somedays I wish I did just wrap her