Vital info before entering a Carwash

[malba2366]

Vital info before entering an automatic car wash - Just don't do it!

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[woody]

Car washes are much better in the 21stC. The good, modern ones (properly maintained)do not damage your paint.
That said, the primary motivation for using car washes is water conservation. They use less than one-half the water you use at home. They meet EPA and local regulations. They even shut down for periods during drought conditions.
We live in a semi-arid environment and therefor we are perhaps more interested in conservation than some other folks. We also do not wash our cars weekly (as in my youth) any longer. California dusters are very handy.
Car washes are also very welcome in winter.
Best way to protect your paint is to store it in a sealed , humidity controlled, windowless building. Do not forget the car cover. We cannot afford that, although I was considering storing my low mileage Volt at one point.
A good PPF protects against chips. Other than that most modern paint jobs are pretty durable.
Keep it clean, under cover when not in use. Have fun.
I will wave from my drivers seat as I pass by. We hope to enjoy the driving experience.

 

[Jimrpa]

The owner of the car wash I go to is a great guy. All the local dealers use him to prep their cars for delivery. I should mention that the local dealers are Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, Maserati, Volvo, Maclaren (I don’t even know how that one is spelled!), Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan (LOL!). Anyway, it turns out that he actually owns several other businesses and runs the car wash with a buddy sort of as a “hobby”. He says it’s a great way to meet new high net worth people. I asked him what he meant by “high net worth” and his response was something like “you know, anyone with $100M or more in investable assets.” I really need to ask him to take me on as a charity case ???

 

[Rocky29670]

Okay can someone please tell me what's so wrong with all of the touchless drive thru automatic car washes? I'm not talking about the ones with the big rollers and the strips of rubber that beat the crap out of you, but the ones that spray all around your car.

We have several around here and I've used them on all types of vehicles and they've done a pretty good job, never had a bad experience.

So where are the negatives?

 

[Regularmache]

Okay can someone please tell me what's so wrong with all of the touchless drive thru automatic car washes? I'm not talking about the ones with the big rollers and the strips of rubber that beat the crap out of you, but the ones that spray all around your car.

We have several around here and I've used them on all types of vehicles and they've done a pretty good job, never had a bad experience.

So where are the negatives?

I'm just trying to tell all of us who use car washes to practice the "Temporary Neutral Mode" before you go to a Car Wash. I think every dealer should demonstrate this and have the customer do it themselves before delivery. Not just your normal PRNDL Procedure.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Okay can someone please tell me what's so wrong with all of the touchless drive thru automatic car washes? I'm not talking about the ones with the big rollers and the strips of rubber that beat the crap out of you, but the ones that spray all around your car.

We have several around here and I've used them on all types of vehicles and they've done a pretty good job, never had a bad experience.

So where are the negatives?

My car often gets dirt that just can't be removed with a pressure washer without some physical interaction to remove the dirt. The touchless always leaves something behind. Like you said, the ones with the big rollers are murder. Hence the use of two-bucket, with wash mit and grit guards to protect against scratches.

Wax. The spray on wax at a wash doesn't do much to provide that lasting protection.

Another issue is the only way to remove contaminates from the clear coat is to clay the car.

 

[Rocky29670]

I'm just trying to tell all of us who use car washes to practice the "Temporary Neutral Mode" before you go to a Car Wash. I think every dealer should demonstrate this and have the customer do it themselves before delivery. Not just your normal PRNDL Procedure.

And i was just trying to get someone to tell me what the negatives of the touchless car wash were.

 

[dbsb3233]

I'm just trying to tell all of us who use car washes to practice the "Temporary Neutral Mode" before you go to a Car Wash. I think every dealer should demonstrate this and have the customer do it themselves before delivery. Not just your normal PRNDL Procedure.

So what do we think the "heavily loaded" problem is? Such a low ground clearance that a few more inches of sagging could cause it to scrape bottom?

That's a sad indictment on the ground clearance of a purported "SUV".

 

[dbsb3233]

I'm just trying to tell all of us who use car washes to practice the "Temporary Neutral Mode" before you go to a Car Wash. I think every dealer should demonstrate this and have the customer do it themselves before delivery. Not just your normal PRNDL Procedure.

Fortunately the message on the dash should be pretty clear. Just takes one more step (pressing "L"). Just have to make sure the driver/car wash attendant looks at the dash message.

 

[Regularmache]

So what do we think the "heavily loaded" problem is? Such a low ground clearance that a few more inches of sagging could cause it to scrape bottom?

That's a sad indictment on the ground clearance of a purported "SUV".

Most vehicles will have legal info such as this. Don't worry about it. If this bothers you, the part in the MachE Manual about "Damage to the Engine may occur.." will have you really looking hard for an Engine anywhere in the SUV!!!?. Not kidding, it says Engine in a couple places.

 

[dbsb3233]

Most vehicles will have legal info such as this. Don't worry about it. If this bothers you, the part in the MachE Manual about "Damage to the Engine may occur.." will have you really looking hard for an Engine anywhere in the SUV!!!?. Not kidding, it says Engine in a couple places.

Not a "bothers", just a curiosity.

If anything bothers me surrounding the issue, it's the very low ground clearance to begin with. Not a deal-breaker, but disappointing nonetheless.

 

[Illinibird]

So just to get this straight: If I stay in the car and ride through the car wash setting the transmission to "N" and leaving it on is OK? I usually ride in the car unless I pay for a premium car wash. If I let the attendant set the car (for premium wash) then they have to set it to "N" and then press "L", correct? Can they leave the car running or shut it off? I n Illinois they use a lot of salt on the roadways and one must wash it off the car (bottom of car as well) and in sub zero weather you can't hand wash the car.

 

[generaltso]

So just to get this straight: If I stay in the car and ride through the car wash setting the transmission to "N" and leaving it on is OK?

Correct. And you don’t need to turn off the ignition in an EV since there’s no engine running.

 

[MerryBrown]

car wash no thanks. The dirt and vehicles that go through there nope. sorry

We out here in drought land are told the carwashes are a better option than washing our cars at home because they can recycle the water. We are assured that the water is filtered first. I hope that's true because we get dinged for water usage in excess of a certain amount in the drought years. I hate to say it but I think we may have one coming up soon.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Fortunately the message on the dash should be pretty clear. Just takes one more step (pressing "L"). Just have to make sure the driver/car wash attendant looks at the dash message.

And can read the message.

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