911boy

If you're only using pressure washer for foam cannon why not save your dough and use a hose? Thats what I do. I use chemical guys foam gun and soap, a regular hose and get tons of foam.

CaymanSinAR

For me the pressure washer has three important functions:

1. Bug removal
2. Brake dust removal
3. Superb foaming

Mine is not ceramic coated so I can't speak to that.

Of course you can use it for pollen removal as well, but in my experience a foam gun is just as good for pollen removal on a clean car.

no-subt2

I recently had PPF installed to part of the car, and had ceramic coating to the entire car, including the rims. I have been told that the less one touches the car, then the less scratches will be imparted on the car. Therefore, I want to see what just using a foam cannon will do for most of the exterior cleaning and dirt removal with the water pressurized from the pressure washer. Then I will use the air from my Master Blaster (which I had only used on my motorcycles) to remove move most of the water from the car. If more exterior cleaning is indeed needed on the car's exterior, then I will use the 2-3 bucket washing method with microfiber towels for drying. So my goal was to get the car as clean as possible without touching it, especially in light that I had PPF and ceramic coating applied. I had been hand washing and hand drying my nice cars (which did not have ceramic coating) before. It is an experiment, and hopefully it will work out to my liking.

CaymanSinAR

If the hype behind ceramic is to be believed, that should pretty much do it.

TimboCarrera

From everything I've read and experienced these units reduce greatly the damage that occurs during washing. I have no blemishs from washing by presoaking and power washing prior to the hand wash. These remove imo about 90% of contaminates before the hand wash. I'm interested in the filtered units. My neighbors though I was crazy (and I am) for always washing in the rain or right before. The rain rinse prevents spots and eliminates the need to towel dry. A filtered power washer would accomplish it all. For a quickee sometimes I just power wash and blow dry with an electric leaf blower. Touchless quickee. Rhodium does not show the dirt too bad. Agate was great at hiding. dirt. And for my black truck, gotta go now and wash it, again...

CaymanSinAR

I'd like to know why my cars are so *not* prone to water spots. Don't know if it is the water, soap, or paint sealant I use religiously.

911boy

Black IS brutal. Its a great way to tell what harm/good you are doing on your other cars. For those that pressure wash only, have a look at the corner of the windshield that the wipers dont' touch and see if there is any dirt/grime remaining.

ragabnh

I have the PowerStroke with Subaru gas engine. Bought at Costco 3 years ago for $300. It is noisy and should be maintained like all gas engines. I used quite a bit to wash the car using low pressure nozzle, do the glass patio slider doors, windows and concrete patio. It's highest pressure rating is 3500 psi and it will etch concrete. It is noisy so I use after 9:00 am so as not to disturb the neighbors too much. I never had a problem and I love this thing, foam guns are a cake walk.

Bxstr

I don't have Matt's unit, I had used a Home Depot (some random brand) pressure washer for about a year. I enjoyed the additional cleaning power, mostly for brake dust and for the heavier dirt on the lower parts of the car.

I stopped using my pressure washer simply because the headache to take it out, unscrew things, switching one wand to another, without quick disconnects, was just not fun. Then on top of that, the hose length was only like 25 feet long.

These are very easily fixable things if you have the time and patience to build out a unit. But, if I am going to spend hundreds on adapting it to my needs, I would rather just buy Matt's solution which is why I recommend it. I also wash at like 6am often, and I dont want to wake up my neighbors. So the Kranzle is supposed to be quieter.

I had the intention to buy his unit, but when it came down to it, I would want the CR Spotless too, so I would be in at $2k, which is a lot of money when I only wash my 911 10x a year, and my S4 maybe 6-10x a year, although I am not as particular about washing it as I am the 911, at least not anymore. I will eventually purchase one, just going to wait a bit before I do it.

bkrantz

For me, more important is cleaning and flushing the underside and various mechanical bits--you know, the parts that get really dirty. Or do you guys only drive indoors?

Ohio Performance

Have them same one here and I use it for everything around the house from cleaning the concrete to cleaning the lawnmower deck. Plus it makes washing the car so much easier.

WhipE350

Lex - This is my experience.

- Daily driver Red GTS Cayenne. Really nice to get rid of all the crud before touching the car to clean. Two weeks of every other day fall rain here in NC leaves the car a mess. In the summer when it is dry season I just wash the GTS without power washing.
- Black cars. If daily driver or after rainy mountain run with garage queen, never wash/touch without decontaminating it first with pressure washer. I had a black Diesel Cayenne for three years and 28k miles, pre-cleaned it every time and never had to paint correct...well until one day right before I sold it I let the dealer washed it. Took seven hours of paint correction to meet my standards before a sale. I will say since I had a big gas washer it was a pain to setup each time, but boy did it pay off in keeping the paint perfect.

LexVan

Thanks guys for your great posts. I'll consider getting the power washer again this spring, to be ready for a new driving season.

Keep the feedback coming, Rennlisters.

BIG smoke

X2- pay attention to GPM or gallons per minute. 1500 psi at 0.9 gpm, and 1500psi at 3.0 gpm are two different machines. I had owned, broken. smashed, worn out half a dozen.
Washing a car, squirting foamy soap. Electric, 1500-2000 psi 1-1.5gpm is fine. Cost should be 50-200 dollars.
I need to scrub my stone back deck, driveway and tennis court. 3600 psi @ 4.0gpm. I need a big FAN, to get all that square footage done.

For those in the cold. Don't let you pressure washer freeze. It will go B00M. My brother inlaw buys one every year. He insists that his garage does not freeze. One of us is right, one of us still has money in his pocket.

dbbarron

I should add that I have modified my lower cost gas generac pressure washer to use all quick disconnect fittings, swappable wands, swivel connections, etc. Definitely worth the upgrades!