OK, how about automatic car washes

[tcianci]

We see plenty of threads about oil changes, transmission flushes and other various and sundry automotive-flossing activities. How about automatic car washes? Do you use them? Why or why not.

There was an automatic wash associated with a gas station where I used to fill up and I often ran the truck through there. I had always noticed that automatic washes, in general, seemed to be less than kind to my fixed mast antenna and one day it got eaten by the car wash. I parked the truck after exiting this "gentle giant" and made my way back in to the monster.
What I found (in addition to my antenna) was a veritable parts department of nearly everything you could hope to have on the outside of a vehicle! Lenses, mirrors, tags, chrome strips and of course plenty of antennas!

While I never went through that one again with the antenna screwed on, I did continue to use it (it was free and it didn't seem to damage the paint)

Chime in!

 

[tatra]

i'll go thru the brushless one and then head into the wand wash with the sopy brush for a thorugh cleaning.........always use the power wand to clean the brush because you never know what the previous ones did with it..........

 

[Killer95Stang]

My 04 F150 FX4 gets any of the non gas station type car washes.. I washed it by hand once every two weeks at home for the first 3 years, but now I'm too busy and too tired after work to wash this beast.

My 1995 Mustang GT (heavily modified), which I bought 15 years ago, only gets a hand wash by me! I tend to wash it about once every time I drive it.

My 2011 Ford Flex is hand wash only, so only a few options around my house... Usually gets washed at my wife's work by a guy who brings a trailer to wash peoples cars while they work.

My 2000 Ford Focus commuter car gets washed by rain, hand at home, or anything with soap and water. Paid $3000.00 for it a couple years ago, and has served us well (50K miles since purchased).

 

[MarcSeattle]

I guess it depends.

Automatic car washes don't get it very clean, miss spots, and are hard on paint (harsh chemicals). On the other hand, they tend to make the vehicle more sleek by removing various protrusions.

I guess it depends on your needs. Its better than nothing, kinda like Craftsman Evolv tools.

 

[ChargedUp!]

For our dailies, we use them all the time. It's just easier especially in the winter. We can get all the salt off the underside.

 

[santagary]

I use the brushless car wash that also sprays underneath and in the wheel wells in order to remove the magnesium chloride that is sprayed on our gravel and paved roads in Colorado. It's very corrosive...works great, but costs $6 per wash.

 

[kmacht]

In the summertime, no way. I go at it with a hose and bucket. In the winter time its the only option. When it is 20 degrees out and your car is covered in dried road salt its the only option.

Keith

 

[bazzateer]

Never put my classics through one but the modern daily driver gets one as a treat once every few months.

 

[kartracer23]

There's a reason their nicknamed Swirl-o-Matics.

 

[iagsxr]

Disclaimer; I own one.

At some point every car that actually gets driven needs friction washed, i.e. w/a mit BUT

The soap/high pressure rinse water at my wash goes through a paper filter, a charcoal filter and a softener. Your garden hose probably don't.

The spot-free water goes through an additional reverse osmosis process to remove the totally disolved solids(TDS). The water in my town is pretty good, around 400ppm tds in the tap water. Last time I checked my spot-free tank it was 6ppm. We shoot for zero. The towns thirty miles down the road from me's tap water is in the 1500ppm tds range. Water like that kills paint.

Soap is a big ole can of worms. The stuff I use is awesome and doesn't hurt paint. It's also the most expensive. There's a lot of bad soap out there.

If your time is worth anything, I have a car dealership five blocks from my wash. The owner used to tell me that in nice weather they'd just wash their cars on the lot. I told him; Time your guy from when he leaves to when he's back from my wash. He wouldn't even have the hose strung out yet if he were to wash them by hand. He did that, figured out it's cheaper to run them through my place.

Just like anything there's good ones and bad ones.

 

[econoaddict]

I run the commuter car through a "touchless" wash, nothing except water/soap touches the car.
I usually go once a month after work, before heading the 1/8 mile or so to the car wash I spray the worst areas on the car with a cleaner, usually comes out pretty nice.

 

[Daedalus]

Iagsxr, that sounds like a quality operation you have. Nothing like that around here. I have a lot of $ invested in things solely for washing/waxing my cars...water de-ionizer, random orbital polisher, pressure washer, leaf blower, etc. I take pride in it and enjoy the time spent with my machines.

 

[Gary S]

My theory is that valuable cars get hand washed, and run of the mill cars go through the automatic wash.
If you have an old classic car, wash it by hand all the time. If you drive a new car, run it through the automatic wash and save yourself time and work. New cars are expected to die and be gone in a few years, so why work any harder than you need to?

 

[Licensed to kill]

Soap is a big ole can of worms. The stuff I use is awesome and doesn't hurt paint. It's also the most expensive. There's a lot of bad soap out there.

If you don't mind my asking, what brand soap do you use?. I have a Landa pressure washer 3000psi/3 or 4 gpm (don't recall exactly) that goes up to......well, it SAYS 310 degrees but it that be so, it would be straight steam, lets just say it gets HOT. I have the soap injection that will inject the soap at almost full pressure and am looking for a soap that will do a good job of removing road grime. The soap I'm using (don't recall the name) works OK but I'm always looking for something better.

 

[xcgates]

Only if me and my bike get exceptionally dirty, otherwise I just head out in the rain.

That said, I do need to give the Duck a good cleaning and a good, thorough waxing.

 

[Grumpy365]

My daily driver gets washed MAYBE twice a year, and then it is thru a touchless or a carwash ( if I am pressure washing a part and have an extra few minute) BUT it is a beater, and the color is awesome for hiding dirt.

 

[iagsxr]

If you don't mind my asking, what brand soap do you use?. I have a Landa pressure washer 3000psi/3 or 4 gpm (don't recall exactly) that goes up to......well, it SAYS 310 degrees but it that be so, it would be straight steam, lets just say it gets HOT. I have the soap injection that will inject the soap at almost full pressure and am looking for a soap that will do a good job of removing road grime. The soap I'm using (don't recall the name) works OK but I'm always looking for something better.

The soap I use wouldn't be suitable for your pressure washer. It's a two-part system, a powder and a liquid surfactant. They're mixed in a holding tank. Not something you could do.

It's a ***** injecting/metering soap under high pressure and that's probably more your problem. My handbays use seperate air pumps to push the high pressure soap in the line. Siphon feed won't or works sporadically.

 

[tcianci]

We have 4 DD's at my house and even though the old truck gave up its antenna to the car wash, we still use the the automatic wash (a different newer one now) It's called Dr. Detail and they do hand detailing there too. The wash consists of a hand applied wheel cleaner and a hand soaping of the glass and other areas that I guess don't get cleaned too well by the machine. From there, it's a typical "brushless" cloth wash. Two of the DD's are black SUVS so bad stuff tends to show up and they come out lookin pretty good. The 2000 Sierra is grey, when it's clean, it looks pretty good, when it's dirty it looks pretty good.

Now as far as my 40 Ford pickup, it will never see the inside of an automatic wash. Not so much for the paint, I'm just not sure if an automatic wash could deal properly with the shape of the body and I'm pretty sure the mirrors would be history too.

 

[TAftw]

My friend ran his muddy truck through a carwash before, and his paint was absolutely ruined after that. So after a day of ripping around some trails I'd hit the Jeep with my powerwasher.

 

[bdkruger1]

My own experience is that touchless is a joke, they don't work. The ones with the swinging chamois strips are the best. These seem to really get my stuff clean and usually have someone hand drying at the exit.

 

[Tommydogg]

My 1995 Mustang GT (heavily modified), which I bought 15 years ago, only gets a hand wash by me! I tend to wash it about once every time I drive it.

Lets see your Stang!

 

[meissen]

Hand wash the Camaro only - too much in the paint to have it get all scuffed up by an auto car wash. Trailblazer goes through the auto wash though.

 

[SuperSocket]

Hand wash, can't fit my car in any automatic wash that I am aware of (C6 Z06), it's too low and wide.

I'd run my cheaper cars through the automatic wash, but when it comes to my favorite toys, it gets personal.

 

[Licensed to kill]

The soap I use wouldn't be suitable for your pressure washer. It's a two-part system, a powder and a liquid surfactant. They're mixed in a holding tank. Not something you could do.

Actually, that's pretty much exactly how i do it. I premix my soap in a 40 gallon barrel. I prefer powdered soaps and I like the fact that it uses a surfactant.

 

[Scotto]

Every automatic car wash I've been through strips the wax right off the car. The soaps are just so damn strong - at least the ones I've been to. Just not worth the hassle of rewaxing the car again.

 

[Licensed to kill]

Every automatic car wash I've been through strips the wax right off the car.

Is that a bad thing?

 

[rickycobra]

I wash my car whenever I can sometimes not for weeks because of rainstorms coming and going.

 

[Boiler]

I use a touchless often during the winter to get the salt off, and about every other month in the summer to get the undercarriage clean.

I hand wash about once every few weeks from april to october and during the first and last hand washes I wash with Dawn to strip the "wax" and then I apply new. I use zaino which is a synthetic sealant which is supposed to last up to 6 months. Normal waxes last about 3-8 weeks and I don't have time for that.

Touchless doesn't get it beautiful, it just knocks down the dirt and I mainly want the underbody washed. If you care enough about your paint, you won't use a contact type carwash. Every time you scrub it with anything you drag the dirt around, even if it is a chamois. Whats worse, you push around the last guys dirt.

For hand wash I use a cleaned mitt and the 2 bucket system and even that is going to have a little dirt in the mitt. Use a really foamy soap too and keep it very wet.

 

[T1320T]

From my past experience, 5 minutes spent going through an auto wash=5 hours of buffing to fix the scratches.

 

[Sterff]

The only time I will use a car wash is during the winter to knock the salt off. Even then I just use one of the normal bays and spray it down myself. I tend to wash mine once a week by hand. Plus I don't know if my 250 would fit in an automatic bay.

 

[wafrederick]

Can do damages to vehicles.One customer I know very well had the top damaged on a classic Chevy pickup he has including the lights on top.The place ended up paying for the repairs done

 

[Scotto]

Is that a bad thing?

It is when it causes you to devote another few hours waxing your car again.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Lets see your Stang!

These were taken about 4 years ago, but the car looks pretty much the same from the outside...

 

[johnny]

I agree, 1 X thru an automatic car was and all wax has been removed.

Every automatic car wash I've been through strips the wax right off the car. The soaps are just so damn strong - at least the ones I've been to. Just not worth the hassle of rewaxing the car again.

 

[tcianci]

I agree, 1 X thru an automatic car was and all wax has been removed.

I would be interested in seeing any actual way of proving that an automatic car wash removes car wax?

That statement illustrates the Achilles heel of Garage Journal namely, armchair "experts" spouting stuff that they have absolutely no technical way to back up. It gets posted and miraculously, it becomes scientific fact. The aforementioned "fact" is then acted upon by someone even dumber than the guy who first legitimized it and the snowball of mis-information grows and grows.

An automatic car was may in fact remove wax...back it up. If someone is going to make that statement, there must be a way to prove it.

I am by no means an expert on anything and have nothing to offer but information gained by education and experience. That said, I feel I need to be prepared to back up, clarify, prove or otherwise explain any information I provide here. Every day people come here and ask reasonably important questions, the responses to will have an impact on someones finances, health, safety and sometimes staying out of jail (or at least divorce court)
In short, the responsibility for the things we post follows them out onto the web and into the plans of others who look to sites like GJ for help and solid information.

 

[mercury26]

Late Spring/Summer/Early Fall - Hand Wash only, polish/sealant at the start and end of the seasons

Late Fall/Winter/Early Spring - One of two Karcher (German auto wash manufacturer) Touchless Car Washes

Cheers,

Chuck

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Don't use them if I can avoid it.

Expensive now AND they don't clean your car all that well anyway....never mind the damage to your paint

 

[johnny]

Do you wax your car? Do you use an automatic car wash?

I would be interested in seeing any actual way of proving that an automatic car wash removes car wax?

That statement illustrates the Achilles heel of Garage Journal namely, armchair "experts" spouting stuff that they have absolutely no technical way to back up. It gets posted and miraculously, it becomes scientific fact. The aforementioned "fact" is then acted upon by someone even dumber than the guy who first legitimized it and the snowball of mis-information grows and grows.

An automatic car was may in fact remove wax...back it up. If someone is going to make that statement, there must be a way to prove it.

I am by no means an expert on anything and have nothing to offer but information gained by education and experience. That said, I feel I need to be prepared to back up, clarify, prove or otherwise explain any information I provide here. Every day people come here and ask reasonably important questions, the responses to will have an impact on someones finances, health, safety and sometimes staying out of jail (or at least divorce court)
In short, the responsibility for the things we post follows them out onto the web and into the plans of others who look to sites like GJ for help and solid information.

 

[Scotto]

I would be interested in seeing any actual way of proving that an automatic car wash removes car wax?

That statement illustrates the Achilles heel of Garage Journal namely, armchair "experts" spouting stuff that they have absolutely no technical way to back up. It gets posted and miraculously, it becomes scientific fact. The aforementioned "fact" is then acted upon by someone even dumber than the guy who first legitimized it and the snowball of mis-information grows and grows.

An automatic car was may in fact remove wax...back it up. If someone is going to make that statement, there must be a way to prove it.

I am by no means an expert on anything and have nothing to offer but information gained by education and experience. That said, I feel I need to be prepared to back up, clarify, prove or otherwise explain any information I provide here. Every day people come here and ask reasonably important questions, the responses to will have an impact on someones finances, health, safety and sometimes staying out of jail (or at least divorce court)
In short, the responsibility for the things we post follows them out onto the web and into the plans of others who look to sites like GJ for help and solid information.

It's pretty easy to see if the wax was removed on a car. Water doesn't bead off and the surface no longer feels slippery.

I've had it happen on a faded, red car like below with no clear coat. You polish up the car and throw on a coat of wax and it looks great. Usually lasts for 10 hand car washes until you wax it again. I've gone through car washes and it's back to looking like **** immediately because it strips everything off. That's enough proof for me.

 

[MeentSS02]

I somehow doubt that I've found the holy grail of automatic car washes here in Dayton of all places (there have to be more out there just like this), but the one I use for my truck and my wife's car is touchless, has absolutely nothing on the floor after you drive over the underbody spray bar (meaning the above user's C6 ZO6 would even go in there), and applies enough wax during its wash process that water beads VERY well after having gone through it. Now, there are drawbacks, mainly:

1. It doesn't get the car completely clean, but it does an average job, and keeps salt buildup at bay during the winter months when it is just too damn cold to wash something in my driveway
2. It costs $9.00 to run it through the best wash it offers

For our daily drivers, it works great. Nothing beats a hand washing for really getting it clean, and I use other chemicals to clean the tires (Amazing Roll-Off is the best thing I've EVER found) and wheels (not sure what kind it is, but it gets brake dust off in a hurry, and doesn't etch polished aluminum) where the touchless car wash tends to come up short, but still...

Now, for my black Camaro (heavily modified), I'm way more ****, including removing the license plate, front grill, putting it up on jack stands, removing the wheels, and covering the brake rotors and calipers with trash bags to keep rust from forming on the rotors that later gets slinged on the barrels of my polished aluminum rims, etc...I keep it close to show car condition because it only gets driven in nice weather, so it is much easier to maintain that level of cleanliness.

For a daily driver though...find a touchless car wash like I've found and don't even think twice about it. I've been able to find at least two now that don't leave your car unprotected, don't damage the paint, and don't damage things under the car.