Not for long if the owner keeps running it through that mix master!

 

I take mine to car wash when it is cold, BUT I pay for Handwash only. Most of time i do it but in the cold I pay someone to handwash mine.

 

I,m suprised to see no mention of damaged cause by getting hung up. That happens frequently..At your own risk the sign says,and it is.

 

Car washes must suck in the rest of the country. Here we have a place called Sonny's car wash. They are the best automatic carwash I have ever been to.

Lets just put it this way, come over and see the Vette anytime you like and see if it has any paint damage.

Even more, come see my Trailblazer, that has seen the same car wash about 200 or more times since we have owned it in the past 27 months.

 

 

Took mine to the car wash for the first time today but I paid for the hand wash.Doesn't cost that much more.The little bit of money you can save by using the automatic wash just isn't worth the risk to me.You never know if the car in front of you had alot of dirt and some stuck to the brushes.

 

When I had my '95....I went through a car wash once (was going to a wedding in the winter, thus had to). Got home later and noticed one wheel lip was marred about 2 inches.....NEVER AGAIN!

 

My Arab car wash is the best----"the works" they call it (everything but a body wax and a leather wax)---all by hand, just $16, and 30 minutes. For $45, they get two mexicans and wax the h*ll out of it.

When she comes out, she looks like a queen. People think I just "zaino'd".

Everyone who touches the car gets a 2$ tip shoved into their pocket for a beer. They know me well here.

 

I agree with Jack....one of the big issues is the track that drags the car through the torture chamber, the wide wheels and tires, not to mention the swirls on black paint (in my case).

The reality is if you want to take your car through a car wash - go right ahead. I won't think badly of you, not my problem.

And yes.....I do plan on keeping my car - for more than 20 years!

 

Sorry to pop your balloon, but the hand wash or touchless car washes can be dangerous too. I used to take my 98 Mustang Cobra, which was my pride and joy, to a very reputable car wash that did hand wash until the day I watched one of their workers wipe my wheel and tire with a rag and then go immediately to my hood. This was while they were drying my car. I ran over and shouted for him to stop as quickly as I could, but it was too late. They had scratched the hood with every wipe of the rag he used with something he picked up off of my wheel while wiping it down. I realize he didn't do it on purpose, but I had to take it to a body shop to have the hood professionally repaired at about $750. Of course the car wash was not willing to do anything about it except try to buff it out, which didn't work. It would have cost far more to take them to court then it did to just have it fixed.

That is the last time I have ever gone to a car wash of any kind. No matter how good they say they are, they cannot control the thoughtless actions of employees that don't care about my car at all. I certainly will never take my Z06 to one. I wash it and if I damage it I can at least blame myself!

Hands Free = No Guarantee!!

Sorry for the bad news, but I know I am not the only one on this forum who has had this kind of problem.

 

 

MY DD gets washed once a week, in a car wash.

 

NO brushes for me either. Plus, I've see instances in which there were problems with the profile of a particular car jumping the rails as it goes through. Too many things could go wrong. It is a CAR...thats true, but I want to keep mine as prestine as possible for as long as possible....

 

Started out washing the vette myself. Then went the hand wash thing only to bring it home and clean the spots they missed. Will be washing her myself probably most of the time now. Plus i can use the money saved to go for the purchase of my new headers some day. Let's see $25 a pop for hand wash (tip included) done once a week, would total $1300.00 for the year. Should be able to have those Kooks under the tree next year!

 

That's a scary story, but luckily I don't need to worry about that with the place I use. They never use the same towel on the rims that they use on the paint, and they always use freshly cleaned towels when they start the drying process. In fact they usually go through a few towels on each car, as they don't like to keep using the same towel over and over again. They know how particular their customers can be. In fact one of the customers who has an AMG SL55 Mercedes has actually brought in his own microfibre towels, and they use only those towels on his car. When I was in there yesterday they used them on my car.

It pays off for them too, the guy with the Mercedes tipped one guy there $50 for Christmas! I gave the same kid a $20 tip yesterday.

So the moral of the story is, if you find a good detail shop, you can find that these guys are just as careful with your car (or even more careful!) as you are.

For those in the Toronto area, the shop I use is the Fine Details location in Mississauga near the 403 on Dundas.

 

I use them too here in Richmond Hill

 

 

I bought a torch red 97 coupe in summer last year and then (after it was totaled) a torch red 01 coupe in spring this year. Both cars had swirl marks when I bought them. I figured out that - unless one is extremely careful - a hand wash is prone to generate swirl marks when the dirt is not completely washed off before applying a towel.

Instead, I go to a local automatic car wash which uses soft foam brushes. Up to now I did not notice any linear scratches that these brushes might have created as they are surely unable to create swirl marks. Since my car is rejex'ed, I don't have to wash it too often. Usually, using a California duster is sufficient.

 

I never take it to a carwash with any sort of brushes, but I DO take it to the automatics that are "no touch" or water pressure only. They work great and it is the only real option when it is 20 degrees out.

Hand washing is best, but that is not always possible...especially in KANSAS

 

No car wash for me either, of any kind. Nobody can give it the TLC like I can at home.