Auto Car Wash pointers

GSS138

This is sort of a reply to the other car wash thread from mike below. Just wanted to share some thoughts and info for people. I worked at what was generally considered one of the best car washes in the country(based on revenue) while I was in college. We were in a higher end neighborhood and from 8AM to close I can tell you that place was busy 7 days a week except when it rained.

Take it from a guy that worked at a car wash for 4 years through college. Car washes are not all the same. In fact it's almost impossible to tell without working there how much maintenance they do on their equipment. Some auto washes are "safe" and some are just junk that rob you of 10 bucks.


Some things to look for:



1. Never use one of the auto machines that are at a gas station and are not run by an actual person/people. They are all terrible. A car wash that is a business on its own that is staffed by employees can be a great experience and give you a quality wash.

2. First thing that happens in any car wash is the tires sprayed down and scrubbed. Despite people being morbidly afraid of those spinning tire brushed-they are perfectly safe on your wheels. If you still don't agree with me and don't want them, ask the operator to hold them back for your car. I did this all the time.

3. before your car is run, some sort of degreaser should be sprayed and super dirty areas will scrubbed with a bug sponge. This type of service should not be at an additional charge-it should be done as needed to remove tar and bugs.

4. Car entirely sprayed down and then coated with soap suds-excessively.

5.The next thing you want to see is the big blue octopus machine. It should go over the top of the car first, before the side spinner thingies. This helps dirt get pushed from top to bottom.

6. After the big blue octopus thing, there should be another round of water jets to rinse any dirt released by mr octopus. THEN the side spinner things should do the sides.

7. Stay away from spray on carnaubas-they are junk and not worth paying for imo.

8. There should always be a hand towel dry-in addition to the air dry machine at the end. A good car wash will use about 4-6 towels on the outside of your car and will do the door jams. Make sure you never see an employee drop a towel and pick it up-as terrible as this sounds, some car washes do it. It's a sign that their drying towels are not clean in general.

9. look for their washing machines. They should have at least one probably two washing/spin dry machines on site. if they don't then you know damn well that their drying towels are not clean.

10. Also, never pay for that cheap spray on tire gloss. It looks terrible and just ends up leaving goop on your tires. A good car wash will use a high end flat finish tire dressing and will generally charge 3-5.00 for the service. If they are using the shiny goopy stuff, stay away.

Also it is worth asking the manager/owner how often they inspect their equipment/ do routine maintenance recommended by the manufacturer that sold them the equipment. Any good car wash will have the owner present regularly, since he cares about his business he should be involved. He will be more than happy to tell you how often or show you maintenance records. He should be nothing less than thrilled to show you this information, otherwise he isn't doing it.

And just keep in mind, despite all of this, the truth is a machine or an oil line can break at any time. I didn't see it happen much, but it happens. You are always putting some risk in the equation by going there, but not much. For the 10's of thousands of cars I saw go through, I can count on one hand the number of times I saw anything go wrong.

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XiP

Good information

Automatic car washes still scare the **** out of me though and I would never take my 370Z through one, my dirty SUV on the other hand...

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Apoc370z

Good info, but it actually makes auto car washes sound worse when you describe the brushes as "mr octopus" or side spinners.

I will just spend 2 hours a week washing the car myself

Bucketlist2012

Pointers ? If your car is Black, wash it yourself....

And touchless Car wash if you must...

Those autowashes with side brushes ? Oh man, never, ever, ever...

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2xtreme1

I've seen a 2013 pearl white Z going into those gas stations auto washers ...
I wanted to cry ...so sad .
My Z being black will never be washed except by me.

UNKNOWN_370

Long story short... I hand wash my car i clay bar, polish paste wax, quik detail and buff my car every 3 months. It usually takes 5 hours or so outside. 3 hours inside... handwash and quick wax, quik detail and buff it every 10 days. I use meguiars products, microfibers and detail cloths.

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kenchan

great advise.


also try waterless carwashes. they do not swirl paint if used correctly.
i use the Griot's one, but there are others out there.

Tazicon

I will not go into a car wash that touches the car with any kind of brushes.............unless it is my Jeep.

Bking

I only wash my car through a car wash, and not the touchless ones because they don't clean well. Guess I'm really lazy...

grant

Ever since those side thingies ripped off my driver side mirror on my 240Z, I wash it myself

UNKNOWN_370

I second waterless washes. I was using meguiar's ultimate waterless wash product, but they pulled them off the shelves in my area. so the last 2 months been handwashing with water.

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Favorite Quote.
"I'm not gonna kill you... I'm just gonna Bash Your Face In" Jack Nicholson-"The Shining". 1980

w0rM

I've had my Z for a little over a year and it's never been washed. I quick detail it and dust it as needed. If you stay on top of if, and you're not driving in the rain/muddy roads a lot, you should never need a wash.

Even the best car washes will scratch your clear coat. This has been pretty well documented by some of the detailing websites out there. One run though isn't going to ruin your paint but doing it regularly will start to degrade the depth of your shine.

Excessive washing or wiping can cause micro scratches that will dim the shine of your paint over time. The clear coat on most cars scratches very easily. Even wiping dirt away with a clean microfiber towel can cause tiny scratches.

As a rule of thumb, don't touch your paint if you don't have to. If you do have to, be gentle and always dust with a California Duster before you wipe.

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white_wolf

Too lazy to write everything out... but basically what he said.

I don't recommend using auto car washes... it WILL scratch/mar your paint. I can't comment on touch less car washes because I don't think we have them here on Oahu.

I detail cars on the side; trust me, good hand washing technique is the way to go. I myself use a foam lance on my car.

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2006 Infiniti M35 S - Sold (not missed...at all)
2010 Nissan 370z - Current

tWeEzY

only thing i'd have to disagree it is hand drying the vehicle. Past experiences has taught me unless you hand wash to never hand dry after an auto wash because it never really cleans the car well and you end up with swirl marks. What i dont get is most car dealerships use the brush washes so how do they keep the cars on the lot looking so good?

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08 350z enthusiast <sold>

white_wolf

Dealerships sometimes outsource detailers to detail their cars.

The dealerships that doesn't hire a detailer will have swirls marring on their cars. One of two things happen at dealerships like these:

1)they use a glaze/wax with a high filler content (fillers will mask swirls/marring for a few washes)

2) they do nothing... because most people don't/can't see swirls/marring..all they see is a shiny new car.

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1998 Honda Prelude - Sold (and is sometimes missed)
2006 Infiniti M35 S - Sold (not missed...at all)
2010 Nissan 370z - Current