Help me not succumb to temptation

[Don]

They recently installed a brand new touchless car wash less than a mile from my house. Temps here have been in the low 40`s and too cold for this old man to wash his car ... even when using a bucket of hot soapy water. The result is a filthy, daily driven Camaro that is just horrendous to look at.

Part of me is saying, "Just leave it alone, it may be dirty, but you won`t put swirls in it and the Ult Fast Finish will last longer not being exposed to the strong soaps of a touchless." The other part of me is saying, "IT`S DIRTY, USE THE TOUCHLESS, IT WON`T SWIRL THE PAINT .... you can use D115 on it after and add a little bit of protection."

Oh, the horror! I know it`s WAY too cold to use ANY form of wax or sealant on it and I have no heated area to re-wax the car after going through the touchless.

What do I do!

[Stokdgs]

Don !
I know the feeling with my black Grand Cherokee..
I still go out there and wash it, as you do, with a bucket of hot water from the heater, and try not to get frostbite..
When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I really DID have to stop occasionally and go inside and thaw out my frozen fingers, before going back out and finishing the work..

If all else is not possible, you can probably every now and then use that touchless thing and go home and spray this on the paint and wipe the remaining water
spots off, or however you do that part.. https://www.autopia-carcare.com/opti-seal.html#.WiG76VV5X3g

This Optimum product is one of my favorites for making paint look great and have a little protection that lasts for awhile..

Good luck, Amigo, we BCOA (Black Car Owners of America) members are all pulling for you, as you do for us ! :)
Dan F

[Don]

Well, I did it. Lots of suds & foam, lots of high pressure water (my car bounced around like a pinball) and high velocity air drying. All in all, not a bad job, it left a light film that can only be removed by "touching" the car, but nothing I would feel uncomfortable about using a Waterless Wash (and WW scare me).

[DetailZeus]

Let us know how the ult fast finish holds up. Thinking about that a combo of that with D166 for the next lease.

I`ll usually hit a touch-less when temps creep above freezing but leave the "film" until I can do a proper 2 bucket wash.

[Don]

Let us know how the ult fast finish holds up. Thinking about that a combo of that with D166 for the next lease.

I`ll usually hit a touch-less when temps creep above freezing but leave the "film" until I can do a proper 2 bucket wash.

To be honest, I just now cheated. To get the film off, I did a one (oops) bucket wash with hot water. The heavy spray areas of the car (lower sides/behind the wheels) sheeted water quite well, while the horizontals (hood, roof, trunk) beaded really well during the rinse.

[titsataki]

you have to do what you have to do :)
I drove my car to TN from MA and it was all salt and all dirty and grimy..
No manual auto washes were open as they was a cold spell in TN
I put it though the drive though and th car looked great afterwards..
I did some minor buffing over the summer when it came back to MA.

on the cold hands part yes warm water helps for sure but i have a couple pairs of diver gloves that i use and they make a world of a difference in the winter.

Stay warm.

Nick

[Ancient_1]

Here is what I did tue on my way to the VA,

https://youtu.be/SWbHl4Wo7OE

And a picture after I got to the hospital.

http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/u450/Ancient_11/Uber/2018-01-09%2009.34.54.jpg~original

[Desertnate]

Black car owner here whose vehicle is now an odd shade of battleship gray after yesterday`s snow.

It might not be very Autopian, but I simply let the car get dirty and go through a touchless wash when the temps get above freezing. I tried the touchless wash followed by a waterless wash and it was a disaster. I ended up with lots of marring from the residual salt left by the touchless wash, and the cold temps made the waterless wash a royal pain to use.

These days, I just get my car, "clean enough" at a local touchless and dream of the time I can get it truly clean with a safe bucket wash. Good sealants or coatings will hold up to the detergents in the waterless washes, so it becomes an endurance game waiting for the weather to warm up.

[mobiledynamics]

Ug, err, I thought the touchless got the film down to spit shine clean ?
Are ya`ll saying even the touchless leaves some level of something .
I suppose they are using recycled water so maybe even the final rinse has some salty water to it..

[pwaug]

I suppose they are using recycled water so maybe even the final rinse has some salty water to it..

I`m sure some do use recycled water, but if you have "Laser Washes" in your area they use only fresh water and do a decent job in a pinch.

[BudgetPlan1]

Black car owner here whose vehicle is now an odd shade of battleship gray after yesterday`s snow.

It might not be very Autopian, but I simply let the car get dirty and go through a touchless wash when the temps get above freezing.

...

These days, I just get my car, "clean enough" at a local touchless and dream of the time I can get it truly clean with a safe bucket wash. Good sealants or coatings will hold up to the detergents in the waterless washes, so it becomes an endurance game waiting for the weather to warm up.

Perzactly; have faith in your prep and protection and let it ride until the rare warm day. Sometimes (especially with black) doing nothing is better than doing something.

[Lonnie]

Don:
Just do it and wash your vehicle in a touchless tunnel car wash. I would find out if they use recycled rinse water, though. I doubt it, since you live in Ohio (no useage water restrictions). And ask the owner/operator/manager who makes the car wash equipment. Why?? Research that manufacturer and find out what makes that equipment wash so well.
If it comes from PDQ Manufacturing or Wash-World, Inc., you are supporting one of the two car wash manufacturers in my local area (DePere, WI).

Not to sound sarcastic or judgmental, but isn`t a rear-wheel drive car like a Camaro a little dicey to drive in the winter? Do you have winter-rated tires for driving that you change to, or are you driving on all-season-rated tires year-round? I see a few sports or muscle cars driven here in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin) and those are the individuals who HAVE to drive 20 MPH on the highway in a light snowfall. God forbid you get behind them on hill or slight incline at a stop sign or traffic light when it`s snowing!!! Not saying you are like that nor do I know what your winter-driving skills are like or the particular geographic terrain that you drive in is like.
(Yes, they LAUGH at my (very) slow, non-drag-strip or non-slalom-course Subaru Outback in summer, but it`s "see-yah" during white-knuckle winter snow driving. Or as my dad said, "He who laughs last did not get the joke until it was explained to them!"... Wait! What?...)

[MattPersman]

Car wash = clean car compared to others around makes you feel good

Probably going to have to do light correction at some point anyways. We are talking about daily drivers here life happens


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Desertnate]

Ug, err, I thought the touchless got the film down to spit shine clean ?
Are ya`ll saying even the touchless leaves some level of something .
I suppose they are using recycled water so maybe even the final rinse has some salty water to it..

Not even close to being "spit shine clean" in my experience. It is quite noticeable on a black car this time of year.

I can take my salt encrusted car into one of several quality touchless car washes in my area and when I am done and everything dries you can still see a thin film of salt/road grime on the paint. One place I stop on the way home hires local kids to take a pressure washer to your car as a pre-soak before going through the touchless and the results are better, but no where near hand wash cleanliness.

It isn`t a matter of recycled water, at least in my area, as they don`t recycle water at the car washes. The problem is even the best high pressure Laser Wash touchless won`t have the same cleaning ability as you get when laying hands on a vehicle and doing a bucket/rinseless/waterless wash. Oldy enough one of the Laser Wash places I use occasionally even has a big sign by the entrance letting people know not to expect results equal to a hand wash.

[Desertnate]

Not to sound sarcastic or judgmental, but isn`t a rear-wheel drive car like a Camaro a little dicey to drive in the winter? Do you have winter-rated tires for driving that you change to, or are you driving on all-season-rated tires year-round? I see a few sports or muscle cars driven here in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin) and those are the individuals who HAVE to drive 20 MPH on the highway in a light snowfall. God forbid you get behind them on hill or slight incline at a stop sign or traffic light when it`s snowing!!! Not saying you are like that nor do I know what your winter-driving skills are like or the particular geographic terrain that you drive in is like.

Not to wander off topic, but I actually prefer driving a RWD car in slick conditions when equiped with the proper tires. I owned a RWD, manual transmission BMW for eight years in areas which frequently see snow and ice and never had issues. It`s actually much easier to control than FWD.