Car Washes

L5

Would you use those big automatic car washes you see at filling stations? Someone told me they can be very harsh on a cars paintwork, any truth to that?

thanks

MercMad

Yeah..........stay away !

For proof just go to any rental car agency where you will see 6 month old cars that go throught the wash numerous times/week. You will see all the scratches and swirl marks on the finish !

Power washes are fine but use your own sponge not theirs and dont ever use a brush !

chuckles30

I've heard that too. I've used them occassionally though as they are handy. As I haven't used them that often I'm not sure about the effect on the paintwork. I would be interested to hear more though as I would like to get the car washed more often, but don't want to risk the damage to the paintwork...

Seth Brundle

I don't know the exact science why they are not good for the paintwork but the brushes are frequently left lying on the ground and pick up all kinds of crap like grit etc.

el tel

The plastic car wash bristles easily scratch paintwork. Some cars have particularly soft paint and so the damage is more pronounced.
This is the sort of damage caused by washing - pics are of a Porsche 911 front wing, before and after paint restoration:

mike65

Wash your own car to keep the paint good. Sure its a pain but hey we suffer for our cars!

Mike.

shabbyroad

... and my doctor said it was a perfectly good form of exercise though I can't see it doing much good for my middle age spread

stratos

Amen to all the above, steer clear of car wash brushes.
If it's too late for you there are many products fill swirl marks.
I have tried a good few, and Zymol gets my thumbs up.
Unfortunatly the damage is permanent, but it hides it for a while.

Esel

THe car wash in Omni Park in Santry is good - it's like a giant seaweed monster attacking the car - lots of cloth strips, no twirling action.

Seth Brundle

esel wrote:

THe car wash in Omni Park in Santry is good - it's like a giant seaweed monster attacking the car - lots of cloth strips, no twirling action.

and is it a special cloth that doesn't retain grit etc.?

johnnyrotten

kbannon wrote:

and is it a special cloth that doesn't retain grit etc.?

Yep!

Praetorian

I concur that the "american style" Santry car wash would have to be better for the paintwork than the regular Irish style swirly otto christ car washes.

MercMad

yes those are better but I'd still avoid them !

magpie

Try the Shell garage on Merrion Road, guys with power hoses and buckets/sponges. €8 (a bit steep I know) but no brushes/swirlies/damaged paint.

Shiny

I work in a Petrol Station and I completely agree with
all the above points but have more to add.

Our power wash brush always gets thrown on the
ground and picks up sand and oil.
Although giving it a going over for 20 seconds with
the power hose usually sorts that out most of the
time.

Be careful about using automatic washes in 'rough'
areas!!
A few times little scumbags attached washers, nails
and other metalic items to the bristles of the brush
wash.
Now just imagine the "whirl marks" after that!!!!

Other times scumbags wait until the brush is at the
doors and then hit the emergency stop button, then
you are stuck there and cant get out!!!


Always remove/put down your arial!! I find 2 or 3
every day that have been ripped off by the force
of the brush!!

prospect

Shiny wrote:

A few times little scumbags attached washers, nails
and other metalic items to the bristles of the brush
wash.

OMG :eek:
Wouldn't you just want to murder the little fukker that would do that......

drdre

guys when i had a polo i used to put it through the normal car wash but it scrathces the paint.
sincei got my new golf i have always got it handwashed.i know its expensive but it doesnot scratch the paint.i get a wash every monday in shankill.theres aplace called TOP NOTCH.its 10 yoyos but he does a great job with the highest quality material and also cleand the inside for me as i know him well.its a good deal.:D

SouperComputer

any reccomendations for removing such scuff marks?

elexes

im never going into one ever again . its done my paint in on my car

im not a happy camper

i always wash my car myself or go to a place that has the lances and spunges , then after i look back at my car and rember why i paid so much money for it . its at those times i dont want to sell it for a jap import

but alas the 1.4 must go in the new year

G Luxel

I found with my first car that the brushes were worn.
After too many uses of a carwash, the paintwork begins to get dull as a
result of the waxes and shampoo being used.
The corners of the bumpers suffer the most, scratched, especially coloured ones. In fact wheels were only half cleaned, the dirt still remained on the wheels after a second wash.
I was of the impression that a carwash cleaned your car. So why is there
millions of spots of tar still stuck to the paintwork and what isnt the entire
car washed, ie mud still under the arches.
Best thing to do is just use a bucket of water and a sponge.

If you are getting your car serviced at a main dealer, tell them that the
car is not to be washed under any circumstances.

Trampas

Why wash your car.

It will be dirty again a half a mile down the road

SouperComputer

Trampas wrote:

Why wash your car.

It will be dirty again a half a mile down the road

Aye, but its that half mile that counts

Seth Brundle

Trampas wrote:

Why wash your car.

It will be dirty again a half a mile down the road

I think this really is something that needs to be addressed. Why do urban roads get so filthy? Is it because there are too many lorries with loads that can escape or what?

CJhaughey

G Luxel wrote:

I
I was of the impression that a carwash cleaned your car. So why is there
millions of spots of tar still stuck to the paintwork and what isnt the entire
car washed, ie mud still under the arches.
Best thing to do is just use a bucket of water and a sponge.

Please tell me you aren't serious about the carwash removing tar.
I suppose if they filled the wash with thinners maybe your tar would be removed along with most of the paint etc!
And how do you expect a carwash to remove dirt from under the arches?
Removing tar from paintwork is a hard manual job best tackled with a pair of good solvent proof gloves and a load of rags and some solvent.

mike65

kbannon wrote:

Why do urban roads get so filthy? Is it because there are too many lorries with loads that can escape or what?

Blame the Celtic Tiger, there are so many trucks carrying various types of aggrigate and soil/earth about the place, the local authories never if think to clean up those roads where such traffic is routine. There should be a contract signed between the local authority and the contracter so the latter pays for cleaning work carried out by the former.

Mike.

prospect

I know a guy who is currently working on contract full time sweeping the roads that are being used by the works vehicles at the pipe laying project through kildare.

MercMad

The contratactors are responsible for ensuring that none of the site debris is deposited on the road. This is apparantly written in EU law but nobody enforces it. You can complain to the relevant County Council or the Dept. of the Environment and supply details of the offenders !

The only problem is the chain of calls that lead you to the correct person is rather elongated and at best they will send out a "roadsweeper" to basically wet the road and spread the mess !

You can tell I've been here before cant you !!

Still if enough complain with specific details then maybe things will change !

magpie

This is presumably why silver cars are so popular in Ireland? They hide dirt well.

G Luxel

CJhaughey wrote:

Please tell me you aren't serious about the carwash removing tar.
I suppose if they filled the wash with thinners maybe your tar would be removed along with most of the paint etc!
And how do you expect a carwash to remove dirt from under the arches?
Removing tar from paintwork is a hard manual job best tackled with a pair of good solvent proof gloves and a load of rags and some solvent.

If i were to remove all the tar from my car, i could fill a pothole. The point
im making is that tar sticks to the ground, it is supposed to, but if you own
a white car, the tar marks stand out. Looking at some second hand cars
for sale, it appears that the car valet only gives a wipe to the car,leaving
tar spots visible which would turn me off from buying the car. Looking at
the price list and costs of the car washes, numbered One to 6, I would expect
top class cleaning, ensuring that the car left the washer in exactly the condition it left the production line. Us tax payers are seeing part of the fruits of the celtic tiger firmly laid in tarmacadam, yet most of it ends up on our cars,voila la pothole. Somebody somewhere isnt doing their job right.