To qualify myself to you guys I am retired from GM and ran the paint shop equipment at a assembly plant (not Bowling Green) there is no difference between the paint on a Vette or a Cobalt. PPG supplies it. Yes I like to keep my Vettes looking good and even with my C4 I did it by hand most of the time. I do not disagree with a lot of what has been posted but remember it is just a car 4 wheels,an engine and a body. It isn't like these cars are or may ever gain value just too many out there and by the time they get as old as some of the C1&2's that are now collectible very few people will be able to afford the gas to even run them on the road. Also by then the electrical systems in these cars will probably be toast an unobtainable. The early year cars had practically no electronics in them thus can be kept running easier. I have seen the issues C4's are going through with discontinued parts some only found now in bone yards. The C5 is just starting to run into this. Sooo.... Keep 'em clean run the snot out of them and enjoy them they won't last forever. Unless you have 001 Z06 it ain't gonna be a collector. Sure to us they are special and a lot of non owners like them too but don't lose sleep over how it gets clean in the scheme of things it doesn't matter much. And no I am not a moron for asking you guys opinion of car washes just seeing what I would get and I got what I figured I would the majority say no way some do occasionally, others more often. Enjoy your cars guys that is what they are for.

 

I like to pay the little kids doing it for charity. They get a kick out of cleaning a Vette.

 

My vette only gets washed by girls in bikinis...except here in colorado thats few and far between!

 

Another "hand washer" here on all our vehicles. Good exercise, excellent results, and good feeling of accomplishment.

 

I tend to agree with you about not babying these things. But, I no longer will run the Vette thru a car wash based on what happened (slowly) to the '94 I had bought in '05. Black (which as we all know shows everything) with 85K on it. Paint had its share of imperfections but was surprisingly smooth and glossy for its age and miles. I claybarred and Zaino'd it shortly after the purchase, and kept it in the garage when I was home. Now, it was a DD so I got in the habit of running it thru the local soft-brush wash during the winter months. Maybe every 2-3 weeks or so over the 3 coldest months. Sure cleaned up nice. Well, after about 2 years of this, I redid the Zaino work and noticed major finish deterioration -- very persistent swirls and light scratches over the entire surface. Pretty clear to me what caused it. At that point, I continued to run it thru the carwash periodically in the winter (clean and swirly being better than the alternative), but vowed not to do it on any other car.

My current Vette is silver, which really hides swirls and scratches, but I will never run it, or any other car with a decent finish on it, thru the car wash. I'd rather wait for the rare nice day and do it by hand.

 

The wife doesn't like that too much. If I was single they would wash my car and ride in it afterwards

 

Ever since I bought my C3 and got to work on it, my neighbor would always ask me why I hand wash the car in early December, and why I didn't just take it to a car wash. I just said I think the car was would be way too rough on it, not to mention water leaks at the windows. I say this out of a friends experience with his going to a drive-thru and all the problems that started to crop up after a few washes. No, if you care about your corvette, leave the dirt on till you can have a detail shop or you have time (Weather permitting) time to do this one job yourself.

 

C5 in a car wash???

Sell it and buy a Mustang. Enough said!

 

From the time I first got my C5 in 03, I have taken it to car washes. Only the kind where the car sits still and the mechanism moves. Those kind do not have the guide rails like the ones that the car moves thru the wash.

I have the car detailed once a year. It still looks like the day I drove it off the dealers lot.

I have added a black C6 Grand Sport, and I take that to the car wash when it needs it also.

I don't do it as much anymore, because we have found a guy that will come out to my shop and hand wash it for $15.00.

 

I've only hand washed mine so far, but that's twice in 6,000 miles. I hand wash because I'm cheap, and it does a much better job. I didn't know that I could use a car wash with guide rails, I figured it'd hit the guide bars or scratch the wheels.

 

That is the only kind I used also soft cloth and never noticed any issues. After going through the electrical sticky in tech I guess is better to error on the side of safety. Don't know how many of those gremlins were caused by carwashes but it is best to not give them water.

 

yeah, neither does mine, but what she doesnt know...

i'm all talk...I hand wash mine with Optimum No rinse...she's only been washed with a hose maybe twice since i've had her

 

There are times here between the pollen and salt that I take mine to the car wash and the two things I would suggest keeping an eye on is the inside guard for the little tire pulley thing can get kinda close. Mine is stock height and it will push the air dam up and gets pretty close to the bumper. The other is the length of the brushes that hang down, I went to a place once and theirs didn't even reach half of the hood.
I don't go much but thats more because I'm cheap and the cute girl quit (I had nothing to do with it, I swear).

 

I've never washed my car.

 

In my driveway with my hose, sponges, soap, bucket and elbow grease ONLY. Have never used carwash for any of my nice cars. Maybe my truck.

 

I also use a Shamwow

 

I've heard that the brushes in those automatic car washes will make the windows in a C5 melt and the headlights fall off. Rumor is that they can also cause gout, shingles and erectile dysfunction.

Seriously, I prefer to hand wash my C5 in the driveway but have washed it at self service (wand type) car washes on many occasions with no problems.

One thing I haven't done yet but am considering, in order to clean the undercarriage, is to run it through a brushless carwash (where the car remains stationary). I live at the beach and think it would be good to pressure clean the undercarriage occasionally.

 

btw, if looking for an indoor washing solution check out optimum no rinse from autogeek... use it with a porous artificial sponge.

 

We have one of those touchless car washes in town. I took my dually thru ot one time. It sprayed some kind of harsh chemical on it ( apparently necessary to loosen dirt) and it spotted my polished Alcoa wheels so bad I had to repolish them. I can't imagine what that stuff does to clearcoat.

 

The acid rain everywhere along with the air polution coming over from china as well as volcanic ash does more damage than a car wash chemical.