Automated Car Wash - Destroyed Rubber Seal Along Panoramic Glass

[tucsondivots]

2024 Premium Mach E, 8,800 miles, 10 months old. I have always hand washed but got lazy and took it through a new auto car wash. After reading the tips on the forum, I used blue painters tape on the charge door. The good news is the charge door stayed closed, but the tape was gone and the wash did not damage any of the paint (scratches or swirls). But, when I started the finishing detail I noticed little pieces of the rubber seal between the panoramic glass and roof sticking up. Apparently the car wash brushes snagged onto the seal and pulled pieces up. So now the seal (about 1/8th wide) is torn in spots. I pushed the lifted ends back into the channel best I could.

Anyone else have this issue? I notice this seal is very flimsy. The car is always garaged so no excess sun damage.

Sponsored

 

[d_k_g]

What kind of car wash was it?

I have been taking mine to a “no touch” car wash since I got it a year ago and have had no issues with the charge door or anything else

 

[RickMachE]

Hopefully you showed the damage to the carwash personnel.

 

[kamorela]

What kind of car wash was it?

I have been taking mine to a “no touch” car wash since I got it a year ago and have had no issues with the charge door or anything else

What is a 'no touch' car wash....hand wash? Or is it like a spray wash? I'm curious and interested.

 

[kamorela]

Unfortunately, yes, I had/have that same issue on the driver side. I posted about it here:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/roof-rubber-weather-strip-torn.44568/#post-946374

Also unfortunately, I broke the promise I made in that post to not take my car through the auto car wash again. But I did and...guess what?...now I have the same issue on the passenger side.

My car is now in the same shop for repairs following an accident. I showed them the torn weather strip on the passenger side and they will replace it under warranty, but separately from accident damage of course. They didn't mention that it was inspected at the time of the driver side weather strip replacement and found to be 'normal', i.e. undamaged.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Don’t use a car washes unless they’re touchless.

 

[SummerlinBob]

Has Ford taken a position or provided advice on using an automated car wash? It seems ridiculous that after five model years the best that has been suggested is painter's tape. and now there's the rubber gasket issue. I tried a 'standard' car wash, and it opened the charge door when I had my 2021. Since I got the 2023, I have avoided using one and have hand washed. However, in as much as I am no longer able to handwash, the vehicle is looking shabby.
It seems beyond the pale, that Ford designed a vehicle that cannot be washed by anything other than a difficult to locate and expensive "touchless" machine. The carwash chain in my area provides a monthly subscription for unlimited washes for $20 and the touchless is $20 per wash.
My son's and daughter's Tesla's have a 'carwash' mode that automatically folds the mirrors locks the charge door.

 

[RickMachE]

What is a 'no touch' car wash....hand wash? Or is it like a spray wash? I'm curious and interested.

Google answers that. Usually called "Touchless".

 

[RickMachE]

Has Ford taken a position or provided advice on using an automated car wash? It seems ridiculous that after five model years the best that has been suggested is painter's tape. and now there's the rubber gasket issue. I tried a 'standard' car wash, and it opened the charge door when I had my 2021. Since I got the 2023, I have avoided using one and have hand washed. However, in as much as I am no longer able to handwash, the vehicle is looking shabby.
It seems beyond the pale, that Ford designed a vehicle that cannot be washed by anything other than a difficult to locate and expensive "touchless" machine. The carwash chain in my area provides a monthly subscription for unlimited washes for $20 and the touchless is $20 per wash.
My son's and daughter's Tesla's have a 'carwash' mode that automatically folds the mirrors locks the charge door.

There is no rubber gasket issue, except with the OP's car at a particular carwash. Hundreds of thousands of Mach-Es on the road, many take them to carwashes.

Ford did not design a vehicle that can't go in a carwash.

Fuel doors that open like the Mach-Es are on many vehicles. A simple piece of painter's tape, on a touchless wash, works fine. Anyone taking their vehicle into a carwash with giant rotating brushes and expecting no damage is kidding themselves. You're destroying the paint to begin with.

 

[raijinmach]

I never understood why people use car washes that aren't touchless. You can tell that the whipping that the spinners do is rather violent.

 

[SummerlinBob]

There is no rubber gasket issue, except with the OP's car at a particular carwash. Hundreds of thousands of Mach-Es on the road, many take them to carwashes.

Ford did not design a vehicle that can't go in a carwash.

Fuel doors that open like the Mach-Es are on many vehicles. A simple piece of painter's tape, on a touchless wash, works fine. Anyone taking their vehicle into a carwash with giant rotating brushes and expecting no damage is kidding themselves. You're destroying the paint to begin with.

Clarification, the carwash that I used had the dangling cloth strips and not rotating brushes. I'll give it another try but I still believe that the charge door design 'sucks' requiring painters tape as a solution is "asinine" If there's a repeat I'll opt for the type where the vehicle is driven to a stop (no track rollers) and remains stationary. The carwash uses high pressure water on a moving mechanism that passes over the stationary vehicle and nothing (other than water and blowers) come in contact with the paint.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Why is the inclination to blame Ford instead of blaming the car wash?

Once you look into this, you’ll find that a lot of car washes have their equipment set up wrong and apply too much pressure. The brush material is also important. The older style with thin nylon or polyethylene bristles are more likely get stuck in cracks and cause damage. Cloth can also attract sand+grit and scratch your paint. Newer washes use brushes made from EVA foam, these are better and cause less damage, but can still mar the clearcoat when there is too much pressure.

Personally I only use touchless, but if I had to use brush car wash, I would only use one with EVA foam brushes, and only after taking an older car through to verify the brush pressures were not excessive (only the outside inch of the brush should be touching the car).

 

[areacode413]

If you want to force water into places it was not ment to to, roll through a car wash where the water pressure is too high. Caused issues with a wiring harness on our bronco sport. The tech said water escaped from a harness when it was inspected. I only wash by hand now. Bobs your uncle.

 

[vikingman]

I have same issue: Car was delivered in January and now the rubber seals on both sides of the glass roof are cracked, worst on the driver’s side - I noticed when I saw a part of the seal hanging down the side of the car. The dealer first tried to blame me, but now seems to realize that I did nothing wrong. Car was produced in March 2024, so it was in storage for a while- wonder if that had an effect but I don’t believe so. I’m personally suspecting a bad batch of seals, Only issue with it so far.

 

[tucsondivots]

Hopefully you showed the damage to the carwash personnel.

Not the fault of the car wash.

Sponsored