I know this is a very touchy subject. I live in a Loft in Atlanta and don't have access to a hose.

Has anyone taken their Boxster through a car wash? I am thinking of going through one at a gas station that is just high powered water and nothing actually touches the car.

Does the top leak in those?

 

Those high pressure touchless systems do nothing. I tried those back in law school and all they do is just wash off light surface dirt but the car is still dirty to the touch. You are better off finding one of those places that just has those bays where you self wash. My friends and I used to do that when we lived in apartments with no hoses. Just do not use the brushes they provide as people put them on the ground with sand and dirt and you will scratch your paint. We used to pay to wet the whole car down for like 3 minutes of water. Then we'd use a bucket of our own soapy water and clean the car and wheels, etc. Then we'd pay again to totally rinse off the soap. Once you do it once or twice it becomes second nature.

I wouldn't run any convertible even a hard top through a car wash as the windows being frame-less may leak a bit. My 2009 and 2007 SL550's both leaked a tad even from hand washes.

Good luck.

 

My 2009 Boxster gets washed about once every two weeks in the drive thru car wash that uses the brushes.

 

Porsche owner's manual recommends owner to hand wash their Porsche and to NOT use car wash. This is Boxster owner's manual.

 

what about using the 2 bucket method?

 

Never done this. They look harmless but I co-worker drove his Corvette into one somewhere in eastern Utah off of I-70 and the car got hung up on the rails. The thing was built for vehicles with the clearance of an earthmover.

He managed to get the car off without any damage but it was touch and go.

I have used a drive in and wash it yourself car wash about a zillion times. I haven't had a place to wash my cars for a long time.

What I do is use the wand soapy water setting to get the big dirt off, and use this setting to clean the brush, then switch to the brush soap setting and 'scrub' the car. I'm gentle with the brush and try to avoid circular motions with the brush plus I start with the cleaner areas of the car and work my way down.

I rinse the car thoroughly using the rinse setting then again with the no-spot rinse setting.

Wipe the car down and it looks pretty good. Once in a while after the car is good an dry I'll go over the car with a detail cleaner which makes the car look even better. Then about every year I'll wax the car.

Avoid using the wax setting at the carwash. This is a hard wax.

Oh, if you drive the car in bad weather every once in a while treat the underside of the car to a good soap spray down and rinse to remove the road grime that accumulates under the car.

Next, if the radiator ducts are clean of trash you can rinse these out to flush out the dust/dirt that collects in them.

But if they're full of trash getting this trash wet can lead to corrosion of the A/C condensor and radiators. Not good.

Be sure when you leave the car wash you 'dry' the brakes using them enough to heat them up to dry all the water. If you don't do this and park the car up the brakes will rust, particularly between the pads and rotors and this can lead to uneven braking if this rust is not removed the 'right' way when you drive the car again.

Dry the brakes before you put the car away after washing the car.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Thanks for the replies, I can't seem to find the wash it yourself places near me. That is why I am thinking about the automated ones. If I have the option I would use the wash it yourself places.

I just ordered the rinseless car wash stuff to see how that works.

 

Why not take it to a car wash and get them to manually wash it? They are all over the buckhead area. Doesn't mean you need them to detail it...just a wash and towel dry. Get it waxed every couple of months.

Then go buy some of the "quick detailer" from McGuire's (or other waterless car wash) and spray the car when you need to. Get some good microfiber towels (and don't use fabric softner with them) for the in between washings.

Another thing, a lot of parking garage's in the downtown/midtown office buildings have a resident car cleaner. You could take your car there and let them wash it.

 

66,

The rinseless car washes work fine, and believe it or not don't scratch. Just keep rising out your wash rag.

Try to find a detailer that will apply either C-Quartz or Opti-Coat. You can then watch the dirt just jump off when you rinse it -no soap needed.

BD

 

PM me if you need Cquartz applied.

Thanks,
Bryan Burnworth