Should I pass on a Lexus dealer wash??

[ac281]

Hey guys! I`m hoping some of you could share some of your wisdom. I have a new 2007 Lexus IS350 that I`m trying to take proper care of. I only hand wash and hand wax the car as I had a bad experience with getting little scratches on the car after a cheap carwash I got once. Anyway, I`m taking the car to the dealer for a service and they typically "wash" the car afterwards by running it through their machine and doing a light vacuum. Their machine does touch the car, so I`m concerned about scratches, etc. Now this is a very nice Lexus dealer and they seem to have only the highest quality equipment, so am I being too anal on this? What would you guys do?

[Grimass]

Don`t do it. Unless they are washing with proper materials / technique, you are still going to get swirled up from it, no matter how good the equipment they have. No machine will be as careful as a human.

[Bigpoppa3346]

Uhh...no.



Tell them not to wash it, and in addition to that put up "Do Not Wash" signs on the dash and steering wheel.

[e5150]

Don`t let them wash it

[absoluteczech]

dont, ive sat at dealers from BMW to VW and when i see them wash cars i want to cry, they use the same towel thats completely black from the wheels to the body

[BlackElantraGT]

If you want your car swirled, go find a high school charity car wash and get the cute, soapy and wet girls to wash your car. You`ll at least leave the place with JO material for years to cum, I mean come. If you get it washed by the dealer, you`ll just get screwed in the rear twice: once for overpaying for the repair work, and then after the wash your new car will have dealer-installed swirls. At least they won`t charge for the swirls. =)

[ac281]

LOL! Awesome responses. I think that sealed it for me, no dealer wash!



Do you guys think that an electric orbital wax buffer is worth getting? Or is that trouble too? Reason I ask is because I remember a guy back in the `90s that lived close to me and he always used one. After a couple years, you could see the circular swirls all over the car.

[imported_sonyexec]

DON"T DO IT !!! haha. I have owned lexus` since 1995 and while I have nothing but good things to say about my local dealership (only ones that work on my cars) they don`t look at a car wash the way most who post on here look at a car wash. For them it`s the final process and so long as the dirt is off the carpets, dust and bird crap off the paint then that`s all they concern themselves with.



Before they restructured the dealership their car wash area had one giant bucket with soapy water, now they used this water until it was so dirty you couldn`t see through it. Because I spoke and understood Spanish I asked the guy how many time they change the wash water, they guy said "depends on how many cars we do but maybe twice per day" I ask "how many cars do you do a day" he said "about 10-18 per day" YIKES.

[imported_sonyexec]

Pass on the orbital and save up for a PC [porter cable dual action polisher] a much better way to spend you money.

[ac281]

Man! Thanks for all the responses! You guys are helpful as hell!



I think I`ve got some shopping to do!

[Accumulator]

ac281- Welcome to Autopia!



Sounds like the others have successfully talked you out of the (bound-to-be-trouble) dealership washes...good. The problem with dealership (and other) touchless wash systems is that the don`t get all the dirt off...and then somebody tried to dry the vehicle with a towel and the drying grinds the residual dirt into the paint, marring it.



IF (big "if" IMO) they just run it through the wash and then don`t touch it (or if they use a forced-air dryer), it might not get too clean (and the strong wash solution might strip your wax), but it shouldn`t actually get damaged. Still...err on the side of caution and do all the washing yourself.



Besides the PC, you might look into two other machines that are in the same category (i.e., perfectly safe for home use by people of reasonable intelligence): the Ultimate Detail Machine ("UDM") and the Cyclo. The later is my general preference over the PC.

[imported_GregCavi]

Absolutely do not do it! My parents had their vehicle washed at a dealer a bit ago and they trashed it...



Greg

[BigJimZ28]

this is one of those questions that you knew the answer to before you asked!

[NickelPlated.45]

You know what, it all depends on the dealership. Of course my bmw dealership completely jacked up my swirl free car one week after i polished it, but for some reason my dad`s infinity dealership knows how to properly wash cars. Every time he comes back from the dealership (oil changes every 2500 or 3000 miles...blah) his car looks fantastic and extremely glossy. They are not marring up the paint like you would suspect.



Personally i would never let anyone else wash my car. If anyone is going to mess my car up its me.

[imported_RedlineIRL]

Me personally, I would not let any machine wash touch my car.