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  1. #16

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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    Except that Service Loaner is going thru the tunnel wash an hour after you return it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Accumulator View Post
    I feel bad taking a rental through a carwash and would never take a Service Loaner through one as I believe the resulting damage would be inexcusable.

    or people who don`t care about their vehicle`s cosmetics they have their points. Giving the Drying Crew a spray bottle of RW and your own MFs can help a *tiny* bit and I recommend that to people who aren`t gonna do things (the Autopian version of) right.

    Note that it could only take *one* trip through such a carwash to instill marring too deep for safe removal.

    A touchless with no-touch drying can be OK, though usually hard on LSP/etc. and sometimes harsh enough to do actual (even permanent) damage. Eh, my wife runs her A8 through one now and then while traveling...OK, whatever..I do the same with some Loaners and rentals. But we always take a peek to see how the Touchless impresses us, and we`re prepared to pass if anything looks iffy.

  2. #17
    512detail's Avatar
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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    This client had a membership to the tunnel wash place...

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


    Brandt K.

  3. #18

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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    Quote Originally Posted by glfnaz View Post
    Except that Service Loaner is going thru the tunnel wash an hour after you return it.
    Yes, and/but it goes into the Tunnel of Marring without bearing any damage caused by Yours Truly. Everything I touch in this life gets treated like it`s mine. Well, except for the Driving Schools` cars

    And actually, I gotta be fair here; as best I can tell my Audi dealer does a reasonably decent job of hand-washing theirs. The last few weren`t nearly as bad as I would`ve expected.

  4. #19
    Ummm.... Ya..... TroyScherer's Avatar
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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    Quote Originally Posted by locori View Post
    Do soaps and other chemicals from automatic car wash strip off sealant and waxes that were applied by hand? I am planning to detail my daily with one coat of Klasse sealant and one coat of Collinite 845. I was wondering whether I should even bother to detail my daily if I`m going to put it through car wash through winter (maybe 10+ automatic car washes until March). If sealant and wax can somehow survive these chemicals, I might as well go ahead and detail my daily driver. I detailed my weekend car today, and while waiting for sealant and wax to cure on my weekend car, I decontaminated and "somewhat" clayed the daily driver. All I have to do is to apply the sealant and wax during next wash. Thanks in advance
    I would say that all soaps and chemicals from automatic car wash or even your own hand wash will in some ways degrade sealant and waxes. The hard part that I am not sure anyone can tell you for sure is how long it will take for an automatic car wash to strip off the protection. That really depends on what soap/chemical they are using and how strong they mix it. Truth is all car washes are setup different based on cost vs performance.

    I am of the opinion that I would prep and apply the sealant/wax and go from there. But I am here as an Autopian.... I think some protection is better than none. In this case though I wouldn`t necessarily polish since I find more marring and scratching comes from winter grit and grim than other times of the year for me.

  5. #20

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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    I bought my car in 2009. It was a 2006. Now i am a man of 80 yrs old. I am full with artritis , I have heart trouble. Since I had this car it seen only automatic car washes. I wash at least once a week , often twice a week. My car sits outside 24/7 and I demand a clean car.About every 3 weeks I use a spray wax on it When I use a spray wax on it I do not see any swirls ,or scratches. .The color is a medium blue. I can look at the hood and see a perfect refflection of my face in it. I guess you have to be careful what car was you go to. A friend of mine collect old cars and he goes to the same place I go to and I see no scratches on his cars either . All automatic car washes are not equal.

  6. #21

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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    How bad? Bad. Yikes.

    A friend borrowed my 4runner once. He ran it through a car wash before returning. FRICK. I almost lost a friend....
    Likes dgage liked this post

  7. #22
    Dan's Avatar
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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    Quote Originally Posted by hawaiidude View Post
    How bad? Bad. Yikes.

    A friend borrowed my 4runner once. He ran it through a car wash before returning. FRICK. I almost lost a friend....
    It depends on tbe wash. I remember before I knew what swirls really were we took my parents nearly new car through one of those swirl o matics with the spinning round brushes. Instant swirls bad swirls. But on the other end of the spectrum is a good laser wash. 100% touchless and does a decent job. What I have noticed is trim on regularly automated washed cars is what goes first. Paint keeps looking pretty darn good.

  8. #23

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    Re: How bad is an automatic car wash?

    Quote Originally Posted by locori View Post
    Do soaps and other chemicals from automatic car wash strip off sealant and waxes that were applied by hand? I am planning to detail my daily with one coat of Klasse sealant and one coat of Collinite 845. I was wondering whether I should even bother to detail my daily if I`m going to put it through car wash through winter (maybe 10+ automatic car washes until March). If sealant and wax can somehow survive these chemicals, I might as well go ahead and detail my daily driver. I detailed my weekend car today, and while waiting for sealant and wax to cure on my weekend car, I decontaminated and "somewhat" clayed the daily driver. All I have to do is to apply the sealant and wax during next wash. Thanks in advance
    What kind of automatic wash Touchless, chamois or those spinning brushes. Touchless is best for paint but probably uses more aggressive soaps

    Klasse and collinite are stout but you’ll see if it degrades I’d definitely do it.

    If you wanna bump protection look into CanCoat. Coatings usually have higher/lower PH tolerances.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 
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