Blue Ocean

Ok, no flaming from you weekend drivers or garage queen owners.
This is directed to those of us who drive our p-car on a daily basis.

I no longer enjoy washing my car. There, I said it. I admit it.

If it only needed washing once every two weeks with a dusting in between, then maybe I would still enjoy it.
Maybe it’s because I get to drive it every day. Maybe if I could only drive it on weekends it would still be enjoyable to spend more time with the car by washing and cleaning.
But using it as a daily driver just takes so much time to keep it clean.
Peoples sprinkler overflow in the street, road dirt and dust, the car in front of you uses their windshield sprayer, brake dust, rain, etc.

When I was younger and saw a really nice car that was dirty I would always think, “Man, if I had a car like that it would always be clean”. It’s almost impossible.

So here’s the real reason for my post.

Do you use those automated car washes? I’m not talking about the drive thru at the gas station, but the professional car washes where they hand dry and further clean once it comes out of the automated washer and also offer detailing services.

I have looked at these automated washers as well as talked with some independent owners. I see very little that could damage a car or the paint. The particular one I have used does not use any high pressure water except what they call the Gatling guns which sprays the tires and wheels in a circular motion. These Gatling guns only come on twice and spray the wheels without spray the bottom side of the car.
The washing strips that move over the car are a soft material and owner of this car wash cleans them frequently.
Now obviously the owner of this facility is going to be a supporter of his car wash and say it’s safe but he also has a very nice custom truck and says he puts it thru the wash at least 2 times a week. And his truck is concours quality.

So, there it is. Let’s hear it. Your thoughts?

clangjr

Wash. By. Hand.

If it's not already, it should be in the owners manual.

beers4all

Jeff,
You're killing me with this post - the abuse!!

My advice, hire one of the local kids in the neighborhood to handwash once a week. I'm sure he/she would be thrilled.
Bob

Allen

It's strictly a matter of how picky you are about your car and how clean you want it to be. It's really not the washing part that causes problems...it's the drying part. Personally I would never use one of those places, as I don't trust them to be careful enough when towel drying the car...

I am the original owner of a daily driver '95 525i with 225,000 miles and I keep it clean by handwashing it when it gets dirty. From time to time, actually pretty rarely, it gets really dirty and I'll have to drive it few days that way. But I often gets comments about how my car always "looks so nice and clean". Bottom line is that if you want to have a clean car, it takes some work...it's just a choice.

Oh yeah...as for the 993...it's ALWAYS stays nice & clean...

obchuck

Mine's a daily driver and yes, I go to the auto wash. I paid for the yearly package (and they threw in a free $250 detail which I used on my previous car before listing for sale - sold over a weekend!) so I go about every 10 days or so. They was it "offline" which is to say by hand rather than run through the gauntlet. Many will say this is heresy but I live in a condo complex and don't have easy access to hose or area to wash (sound like an excuse?! ) Nonetheless, this is true. So I don't have the access or supplies - or inclination frankly since I feel, for an autowash, they do a nice job. As a daily driver, it needs to be taken care of on a regular basis. One important note, however, make sure you get nice coat of wax/protection/whatever to protect the car not just from daily driving but from soaps/towels that might be a little more harsh than what an individual might use to pamper his/her baby.

Sorry, but I use an autowash. Please don't blackball me!!!

BS911

Ok - I'm not too proud. I'll step up. I've taken mine through the carwash before. Mostly in the winter when it is just plain NOT car washing season. Sorry, but I'm not washing a car by hand when it is under 30 degrees and when I drive it daily in rain, sleet, snow, and yes - even salt - it is better getting clean than being automated car wash free.

Now - I do "test out" these places first with the Toureg to make sure they have nice soft cloths. My local BP station has a real nice car wash to tell the truth. It gets the car pretty clean and has never left swirl marks or other scratches. I agree with Allen though that I'd rather NOT have someone else dry my car. If I'm auto-washing it, I'lll auto-dry it when I hit about 50mph.

Another thing I'd worry about is the side rails for the tire guides in the auto washes that "pull" you through. I worry that they would catch the wheels with such low profile tires.

mborkow

my car is a daily driver (between 80 and 100 miles a day); i take my car to the drive thru car wash at the gas station (the touchless one that is pretty close to my office) about once every 2 weeks. to be honest though, after 113k miles, my paint is pretty far from pristine (black metallic shows everything) so i can't get all worked up about it, and the car looks better when it is clean.

mhm993

So, I OWNED a car wash, and never took any of my p-cars through it. Thought I regularly take my 99 bmw with a zillion miles through a tunnel wash.

ed devinney

I used to. The jets bent up my front plate & tore the aluminum low plate mount. So now I go by hand.

Flying Finn

Never through a car wash or brush when hand washing. Screws up the paint.

Plus to me, washing the car is much more about keeping it in good shape than making it look good & clean, that's why I wash door jambs, sills every time and wheel wells & bottom every now and then. You'll NEVER get those clean in car washes.

Blue Ocean

Ed, are you talking about the license plate? What is the aluminum low plate mount?


Finn, what screws up the paint? I'm not talking about those gas station plastic brush washes.

Caveman

Never apart from using a jet wash for the wheel arches.

2ndof2

I BELIEVE THAT RENNLIST SHOULD INSTITUTE A BAN ON ANY PAID OR UNPAID MEMBER WHO USES AUTOMATED OR ANY FORM OF FREE STANDING PUBLIC NON-MOBILE CARWASHES.

Actually I guess with paint colors that don't show obvious microscratches its ok. I'm sure there's probably nothing that would show from sponges etc that were just used to wash mud off an SUV and thrown back in the same bucket with all the sand and grit. And even though they use less than the softest pima cotton towels but instead use cheapie ones that accumulate all the stuff the sponge tech didn't get off the SUV I'm sure that won't harm your paint!

ed devinney

The license plate itself was folded over in one corner and the low-mount bracket I made (homepage.mac.com/ejd) was bent and torn. That bracket was made out of an old license plate, so fairly hefty. I figure that anything able to beat up something that hard shouldn't get near my car.

obchuck

FWIW 2ndof2, I think my place keeps separate the towls for "online" cars and "offline" cars.