New car... terrible NJ weather...

[Diesel917]

Hi everyone,

I`ve been trolling on here for quite a while but figured Id finally tap in and say whats up! Anyways, I just purchased a 2006 Lexus IS in Blue Onyx Pearl (Dark Blue)... Unfortunately, it seems like lately around North Jersey, it`s nice one day... wet the next. I hate seeing my dark colored car covered in water spots after every new rain but it makes no sense to me in washing it after work just so itll get rained on 24 hrs later :furious:



Sooooo... should I still wash my car once a week despite gloomy forecasts or should I simply wait for a dry spell?



Also, its about 20-something outside today... on a day like today, does it make sense to hand wash the car? I am deathly afraid of those waterless washes because Im no expert in taking car of my car and have a feeling that I would end up doing more harm than good... With temps like these do I have no other choice then but to go Touchless??? :think:

[imported_Gears]

Wash when ever you can. That will lessen your chance of getting acid rain damage.

[ntoddalbert]

Hey dont sweat it, looks like next week will have a few days above 40-45 so you should be able to get a wash in then.



Its better to wait till you can do it right rather than half a*sed and get swirls . The car wont fall apart from sitting dirty, at these temps nothing is happening, IE corrosion anyway. Its when the salt warms that you need to get rid of it. More people have damaged their paint rushing to get the salt off then waiting a few more days to do it right, I know I have been one of those people.



If you feel you just have to, bring it to a touchless if you have one nearby. They will all me packed this week.



Of course its easy for me to say, I saw this weather coming and washed and waxed (Natty`s) my BMW this past Friday. Its been glowing peacefully clean in the garage the entire weekend. While my girls Honda takes the brunt of this cold snap.



It was so cold this morning I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets, all kidding aside even after the Honda warmed up, which is really fast, getting the ice to melt off the front and rear windows took 30 minutes on the Turnpike at 70MPH to the Gym and back.



Even then the ice was really never gone. I thought my washer fluid, the deicing type had frozen since they didn`t work after 20 minutes of driving with a few uses, only to Find Honda does not give a warning light when the fluid is gone. Odd for such a well engineered car.



I can just imagine how many Dealers would tell the customer "yea you need a new washer pump for $200" when they bring it in complaining of no fluid coming out of the washer jets. I know I check the reservoir but I bet 40% of the owners wouldn`t.

[Diesel917]

I believe it FG... It was quite a cold day here in NJ... thank God for the NFL Playoffs :clap:



In regards to Touchless, have you ever gone to one? Theres one in Hackensack that I know of, but have no idea whether or not its worth a dime.

[imported_jerseyguy]

I heard the touchless car washes use very abrasive soaps to clean the car. Then again what place doesn`t.

[ntoddalbert]

There is a Touchless on RT 46 westbound side, maybe 100 yards east of Teterboro Airport. While its touchless if you watch they will use a brush from a bucket to "pre wash" your car and rims, yea the same brush... If you asked them not to they will Be Ok with it.



The same place also has a self service area, 6 or so bays. Good for when its above freezing. The landmark is the strip club right next door, same guy owns both, some dream huh?





I have been doing quite a bit of research on Touchless, thinking of maybe opening one nearby I can say they dont use abrasives. They do heat the soaps to a very high temp. The soap is rather harsh, it has to be since there is nothing but soap and pressure to do the cleaning. I have found its not very rough on my LSP, no more than any commercial car wash. The brush types are a heck of a lot worse on LSP`s and for swirls.



Best touchless in my opinion are the type that are unattended, no prewash and no towels that go from someone else`s rim to your roof/hood.... At least you can dry yourself although they do a pretty good drying with air alone.



One of the best features of most touchless places is they do a great undercarriage wash, are great for cold weather and will not scratch/swirl. Its not for everyone but it is a leap in technology compared to 20 years ago brush type places.

[Diesel917]

So touchless washes don`t swirl the paint??? The one in Hackensack is completely unattended so I guess thats a great start. The high-pressure won`t do damage at all to the paint job? Im afraid that the strong blasts of water might push the salt and dirt into the paint rather than gently off the side.

[ntoddalbert]

In my experience they dont, its no replacement for a double bucket wash with a wool mitt but for when that`s not possible its a better alternative than the typical car wash. You can always use a self service bay to get the majority of the crud off before going through the touchless. That is why the one I mentioned is a good choice, it has self service bays.



My only complaint, the non attended ones do not require the tunnel where your car is carried along a rail, the one on RT 46 is a tunnel. My car has very low profile rims and I dont like the idea of the rail damaging the rims. You mentioned you know an unattented touchless, I would go for that.



No matter what, hand wash, touch free, your going to get swirls in the winter, you can limit them but you wont eliminate them. Come spring you can polish them out, its a ritual we all have to do. Keeping them minor is the trick......



I say go for it, or wait till Friday, its going to be 50F



On another note my drivers door linkage from the handle to the linkage that unlocks the door snapped today trapping me in my car, oh Joy. Im gonna get raped on this I know.... On top of that the dealer cant even look at it till the 31st, hope I dont carsh and find myself unable to climb out the passenger side before then. BMW service, never fails to lower my expectations.

[ramp]

Try the QEW. You`ll be amazed how well it works, and it does no damage to car finish--especially if it has clearcoat, as most cars in recent years do. When my car gets really dirty from salt, sand, snow, mud, etc., I take a spray bottle w/ warm water and QEW w/ me to a brushless car was, and spray the lower half before going through. Car comes out looking like new. Even looks waxed. I have owned the car for nearly six years and have never hand-washed it, and the finish is as good as new.

[Diesel917]

Try the QEW. You`ll be amazed how well it works, and it does no damage to car finish--especially if it has clearcoat, as most cars in recent years do. When my car gets really dirty from salt, sand, snow, mud, etc., I take a spray bottle w/ warm water and QEW w/ me to a brushless car was, and spray the lower half before going through. Car comes out looking like new. Even looks waxed. I have owned the car for nearly six years and have never hand-washed it, and the finish is as good as new.





Do you mean touchless?

How often do you detail your car then to keep it looking so good???

[ramp]

Do you mean touchless?

How often do you detail your car then to keep it looking so good???

...touchless, brushless... What`s the difference?



I have never had my car professionally detailed. I had it "detailed" two or three times at a "full service car wash," but that is it. I have always just gone through the touchless car wash when it gets dirty; and after 8 or 10 of those washes, when a thin layer of dirt still remains, I go through the full service (w/ brushes) car wash to get it real clean. That is all I have ever done until recently, when I started reading this site; and now I do the QEW in a spray bottle thing, and have started using QD to keep it really sharp. I just got AIO and actually put on a thin layer last week--I`d hardly call it a detail. I also just found a pro-detailer on this site who goes to school here, and he is going to do a real detail for me when the weather warms up. The first real deal! I can hardly wait.



I uploaded some car pics in case you want to see: http://autopia.org/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=24195

[Diesel917]

Nice ramp, your car looks great... paint looks smooth and clean... but do you have any swirls? its hard to tell with silver.

[ramp]

Nice ramp, your car looks great... paint looks smooth and clean... but do you have any swirls? its hard to tell with silver.

Thanks! No swirls at all.



I think swirls come from detailing, don`t they? (Or maybe too much detailing.) Since I haven`t had a real detail I think I have also avoided swirls in the finish.

[petp]

ive had my black car for 7 months now and have yet to bring it to a car wash...touchless or not, i still wont risk it. i put on my second coat of 845iw last weekend and this weekend got caught in the crazy storm over the weekend....im sure hoping the collinite holds up cause my black car is pretty much white at this point. im hoping for a warm spell this weekend so i can take off all the salt.