I`ve never had any issues with any of my car going through touchless car washes. They are a lifesaver in the winter when it`s too cold to wash off the road salt yourself. They don`t get a car totally clean, but in the depths of winter, they are good enough. The underbody spray is a nice bonus.
The ones in my area are normally unattended so there is no worries about someone hitting the car with a wash brush or a dirty drying towel before going through. One on my way home occasionally will have someone on each lane (typically a highschool age boy/girl) working for tips and they`ll swipe your card for you on the automated payment machine (it isn`t easy to reach) and then spray off your car with a pressure washer before going through. They don`t get close enough to be a threat and the water pressure isn`t that strong.
The machines themselves really don`t seem that powerful. Certainly not enough to do any damage. Are the soaps/chemicals strong? Maybe, but I didn`t notice any real degradation of my sealants when I used them, and the coatings I use now don`t seem to be bothered at all. Trim and other plastic bits don`t seem to show any adverse effects either.
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I`ve posted before about how my experiences mirror those of Desertnate- no problems from the Touchless washes. BUT...the compromised aluminum bits on the A8 did get "foggier" from the chemicals, like "a year`s neglect"-type foggier.
IF the chemicals are mixed wrong, things like that could happen in a genuinely serious way. Likely? Who knows?!? How lucky to you feel I myself don`t worry about it and would run most vehicles through a Touchless, but 1) I`d expect to have to reLSP and 2) "Touchless" shouldn`t require scare-quotes, it needs to be a 100% touchLESS process, nothing/nobody touching it period since before/during/after.
I’ve found that with a very well LSPed car that is very lightly dirty I can get away with simply foaming it with a foam gun, letting it dwell, and then rinsing it It renders it completely clean. That’s my version of touchless although the great majority of time I do have to use mitts.
Treat it like it`s the only one in the world.
Given the right stuff, a Home Touchless can indeed work fine for light soiling. I let mine get dirtier than Bill does and can still get away with it fairly often what with the Lonn Cleaning Gun and the Tornador Black (but don`t expect miracles...!as seen on the Internet!... from that thing). Gotta have a decent compressor for those though, well..at least for the Lonn (Tornador seems happiest at only around 90psi).
No obvious issues with the touchless around here. I’ll use it to remove the salt/brine build-up. Salt or chemicals. The touchless seems to be the lesser of the two evils.
Are you able to do that indoors in the winter, or are you just a lot tougher than I am? When winter hits I don`t bother even trying to wash on my own unless the temps are in the 50`s and I have enough daylight to get the job done. Neither of which happen very often between December and March.
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I moved away from winter to Florida. Yes, it’s an advantage to be able to wash alll year long ( although I still wash in the garage) but living here is not without its disadvantages too.
Treat it like it`s the only one in the world.
Thank God I don`t drive long enough to get the car that bad but yes, love bugs are only one of several disadvantages of living here.
Treat it like it`s the only one in the world.
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