Automatic car washes..yes or no?

eas

hi there

recently got a new car, the paint is perfect. Up to this point I've been washing by hand, bit of a pain in the bottom.

In general, are automantic washes bad for new cars? Should I just bite the bullet and start now because I wont keep up the hand washing on a regular basis much longer...

thanks

kluivert

What colour is the car you have.

In theory the auto washers will over time strip the paint down on the car, thats why red cars will turn pink over time as the protective layer is worn away + the sun doesnt help either.

Buy yourself a power hose and get those hands dirty.

If your car is a bright colour there shouldnt be a real issue, just make sure that you wax the car anyway afterwards.

crosstownk

You could always use a self service power wash - quicker and easier than hand washing. Some poor quality roll-over washes can cause tiny marks on paintwork - more so if the paint is not polished.

sneakyST

Automatic washers are bad full stop. They will put swirls and scratches on your car and wont clean it properly anyway.

If you have a spoiler there is a chance it will be torn off.

peasant

The brushes on most self service station are usually pretty dirty and would also scratch paint.

During winter time, when the car gets really dirty, occasionally use a self service wash, but only soak the car with foam, dont rub, and hose off the worst dirt.

You won't get it clean that way, but at least avoid a real dirt coating.
Then in spring, once the waether gets better you can do hand-washs again to get it really sparkling.

TomMc

eas wrote:

hi there

recently got a new car, the paint is perfect. Up to this point I've been washing by hand, bit of a pain in the bottom.

In general, are automantic washes bad for new cars? Should I just bite the bullet and start now because I wont keep up the hand washing on a regular basis much longer...

thanks

Eas, do not bring a new car anywhere near a filling station car wash. They will destroy your paint finish with scratches, swirl marks, marring etc. soft care .. or whatever they call them ... it's all bs.

This is especially the case with dark colours as the sun will magnify these defects big time. On lighter colours like silver it's not as noticable .. but best not go there at all.

This applies to both machine washes and those hand wash / jet / powerwash operations, with their dirty sponges, floor mops etc. (usually caked with grit).

Buy yourself a quality wash mitt, not a sponge. Rinse out frequently in fresh clean water, after shampooing a panel, and before moving on to the next one.

If you are not prepared to go to this trouble, rather than going through a filling station car wash and destroying the finish, I would recommend not washing your car at all. Bring it to a skilled valetor once a year and have the paint fully decontaminated. A professional grade sealant will protect the paintwork from the worst of the elements in between.

bazz26

Usually I wash my car myself with a bucket, sponge and garden hose. Granted it takes longer but I actually like the end result after I wash it myself and don't mind the bit of elbow greace.

If it is too cold and wet at this time of year I usually bring it to my local petrol station where they have a few lads there with a powerhose. They usually do a terrific job too.

I would never recommend one of those automatic car washes and have never had any of my cars washed by them.

eas

thanks for the replies -

thought that I was being anal about the automatic car washes, apparently not...

the paint is Metallic Grey. It's my first *new* new car, so.

there arnt any self serv power washes in my area, only the drive in ones.

Guess I'll keep on hand washing, don't want them swirly marks.

eas

TomMc wrote:

Buy yourself a quality wash mitt, not a sponge. Rinse out frequently in fresh clean water, after shampooing a panel, and before moving on to the next one.

thankd Tom, that's what I'll do.

Usually I wash my car myself with a bucket, sponge and garden hose. Granted it takes longer but I actually like the end result after I wash it myself and don't mind the bit of elbow greace.

I agree, the level of satisfaction doing it yourself is worth the time...just this time of year it will need it every week...ah well.

thanks again to everyone for the advice

fletch

I have never used a filling station car wash.....I wash mine by hand with a sponge and a bucket of water every weekend.

G Luxel

I wash my car with a sponge and a bucket of water, but I do this once in the blue moon or after it is completely dirty. I find that having a dirty car does have an advantage in that light scratches (such as pulling into a ditch on a narrow road) only touches the surface of the dirt and not the paintwork.

mukki

a sponge is supposed to be bad too, it rubs grit and small stones into the paint work

you can see all the circles on a clean car on a sunny day

so a bucket and soft brush, and a hose to rinse it off (hook it up to the hot tap for best results)

TomMc

A lambswool wash mitt or a natural sea sponge are the only items you should really use to wash a car. They will absord most of the dirt and grit deep inside the pile / pores. Washed out frequently in a second bucket of clean fresh water.

A normal sponge just collects dirt and grit on the outer surface and so you end up dragging it all across paintwork. You will not see it scratching a wet surface at the time, but when a car has dried down or dried off, all is revealed.

A high foaming car wash shampoo should be sprayed on the surface from the outset (without any rubbing involved). This will soften and lift much of the dirt and grime off the surface, before it is rinsed away with a garden hose or power wash - on its lowest setting. Then and only then, should a wash mitt be used along with a second shampooing application.

Touchless washing should be the ideal. Let the chemicals in the shampoo do most of the hard work, not elbow grease !

Red05

TomMc wrote:

A lambswool wash mitt or a natural sea sponge are the only items you should really use to wash a car. They will absord most of the dirt and grit deep inside the pile / pores. Washed out frequently in a second bucket of clean fresh water.

A normal sponge just collects dirt and grit on the outer surface and so you end up dragging it all across paintwork. You will not see it scratching a wet surface at the time, but when a car has dried down or dried off, all is revealed.

A high foaming car wash shampoo should be sprayed on the surface from the outset (without any rubbing involved). This will soften and lift much of the dirt and grime off the surface, before it is rinsed away with a garden hose or power wash - on its lowest setting. Then and only then, should a wash mitt be used along with a second shampooing application.

Touchless washing should be the ideal. Let the chemicals in the shampoo do most of the hard work, not elbow grease !

Where can you pick them up?

redman

Try Halfords

TomMc

Yes Halfords or here

Volvoboy

Hmm i alway bring the car down to the carwash its the californian style (it pulls the car allong) and never had a problem also my da who has a S500 and brings it through the same wash and never had a problem, i do agree that over time it will mark the laquer but as long as you give the car a polish every 3-4 weeks you should'nt have a problem, they do an excelent job, i'd be more concerned with the power washers. they can strip the paint if you spray too close.



-VB-

ninty9er

I put mine through one the other day, pointless this weather but brown isn't my car's natural colour. I wouldn't do it with a new car, but mine has swirls like raspberry in vanilla ice-cream

TomMc

Volvoboy wrote:

Hmm i alway bring the car down to the carwash its the californian style (it pulls the car allong) and never had a problem also my da who has a S500 and brings it through the same wash and never had a problem, i do agree that over time it will mark the laquer but as long as you give the car a polish every 3-4 weeks you should'nt have a problem, they do an excelent job, i'd be more concerned with the power washers. they can strip the paint if you spray too close.



-VB-

Have a look at the car under fluorescent or halogen lighting - You will not polish out those swirl marks by hand. The 05/06 on mercs have a new scratch resistant (not scratch proof) harder clear coat - but once they are marked by those automatic car washes, they are much more difficult to polish out.

Volvoboy

his was the 99 one of the newer models,



-VB-

sk8board

got one of those Karcher Pressure Washers a few weeks back (a medium-big one); haven't actually tried it on the car yet (mother-in-law stole it to clean her pavements!), but I've heard that they are the way to go, if you get a good brush for the tough bits, but that you need to use it regularily, as it seems to leave a film on the car if you leave it too long between washes. Using detergent would help I guess; but not sure I could be bothered.

E@gle.

i wouldn't reccommend using one if you have a spolier or any kind of extras on car such as body kit etc. just go to the attented jet wash much better. a power
hose can get rid of mud under mudguards and the hard to reach places.

TomMc

sk8board wrote:

got one of those Karcher Pressure Washers a few weeks back (a medium-big one); haven't actually tried it on the car yet (mother-in-law stole it to clean her pavements!), but I've heard that they are the way to go, if you get a good brush for the tough bits, but that you need to use it regularily, as it seems to leave a film on the car if you leave it too long between washes. Using detergent would help I guess; but not sure I could be bothered.

If you really must go this route, use it on its lowest setting. Do you really want to be power washing dirt & grit into paintwork ?

A high foaming shampoo will loosen & lift the dirt / road grime first of all. It also acts as a lubricant, so it is easier to rinse away same, minimising the risks of scratching.

Be careful not to knock off wheel weights, disconnect brake hoses/pipes and so on, when power washing wheel arches, alloy wheels etc.

sk8board

TomMc wrote:

If you really must go this route, use it on its lowest setting. Do you really want to be power washing dirt & grit into paintwork ?

A high foaming shampoo will loosen & lift the dirt / road grime first of all. It also acts as a lubricant, so it is easier to rinse away same, minimising the risks of scratching.

Be careful not to knock off wheel weights, disconnect brake hoses/pipes and so on, when power washing wheel arches, alloy wheels etc.

I think I might just stick to writing my name in the dirty driveway!

p.s. don't use these on the engine bay either! for the same reasons as above.