Para82

If you want to ruin your wheels then definitely go with the automatic car wash.

I wanted to ruin my wheels so I used it 6 times, the first 5 times it didn't do anything all it did was leave my 911 very clean, but the 6th time I finally got a nice curb rash around the entire left rear wheel. Looks awesome!

If you're in the city get a mobile detailer to come over and handwash/wax it. Looks nicer anyway.

alexb76

Rod's Auto Detailing, North Van. They used to be in West Van, that guy's THE BEST!

w00tPORSCHE

if you care about the finish of your car's paint and the durability of the soft top then you have to hand wash and use Raggtopp or Griot's fabric protector. There is absolutely no substitute. Period. End of debate....not that there is actually one.

acmw

after a wash how long do you usually wait to put the top down?

Edgy01

It depends. The goal is to have it throughly dry. If you put it down damp it will not help matters. If you keep a top down for a length of time that will only aggravate the situation. These things take little time to dry, particularly if they are well maintained, with the proper RaggTop amount on it to bead up water.

Petza914

Glad someone else mentioned this. If the car was has a track that moves your car through the wash cycles, the wheels are too wide and sidewalls too short to prevent the wheels from contacting the side rail of this system and it will ruin your wheels. Save the auto wash for the pickup and hand wash your 997.

BIG smoke

x 2 - no mechanical car wash.
295 tires don't like the 265 wide metal rails.
And the 30 series tires, don't do well with the 70 series tall rails.

VanSant62

Use this, one bucket, eight micro fiber towels and two waffle drying towels. You can wash it right on your garage. They make a green version with wax as well.

Philster

Car washes also use higher pressure sprayers to save even more water now, so say good bye to TPMS antennae near each wheel well.

.

Ynot

There are touchless car washes here with no rails, it's just flat concrete all the way through. Even on my 997 with 3.5" clearance, I'm fine driving in and out. The sensors will let you know when to stop. It's air dry and not towel dry. I used it twice a year in the winter, when it's too cold to washed it myself. No curb rashed and no swirls. My rear tires (325mm) is too wide to go to any carwash with rails. The water pressure is very strong, I would not recommend taking a cabriolet with a ragtop.

TankSlapper

It wasn't the water that got me, it was the air dryer.... I had one pretty much blow out the seal on the rear window on a Mustang convert.

I've also have had paint damage in a "Hand Wash Auto Spa" place where they ran my car up against a metal cart full of towels.

No more commercial car washes for me. I wash my cars by hand now or have a trusted mobile detailer do the deed.