Should I pass on a Lexus dealer wash??

A

ac281

New member
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?
 
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.
 
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
 
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. =)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
My infiniti dealer f'd up my car so bad that I had to finally fill out one of those service surveys and describe to them how they ruined the six hours I spent perfecting the finish of a LUXURY car that SHOULD come in optimum condition when you buy it. In the spirit of kicking a dead horse, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not the complaining type but they mutilated my car (touchy subject). This is a combo BMW/Infiniti dealership so no matter how high end or quality they seem, their ultimate goal is quantity not quality. You'll derive alot more pleasure doing it yourself the right way. Enjoy.
 
Anytime that I go to the dealer I tell them no wash and I put two signs in the interior on each side, one in English and one in Spanish saying "DO NOT WASH!"
 
The last time anyone in my family let a dealer wash their car was when Acura literally blew the paint off the front bumper of my mother's TL with their pressure washer. There was a 4" x 1" strip of paint that just came right off the primer. Unbelievable!!!
 
My first "Brand New" car was a Black Lexus LX470. At 1,000 miles I was to bring it in for a complimentary service (top off fluids, brief inspection, and a wash). I was hesistant to let them wash it, but then I said to myself "this is Lexus, they are known for doing things right"...so I let them. Well needless to say BIG MISTAKE! There were scratches on EVERY single body panel. I was never abel to confirm if it was the carwash itself, or a dirty shammy etc. that may have been dropped on the ground. They first detailed it themselves, disaster. The guy left swirl marks all over the place. Then they let me hire an outside guy. He got most of the scratches and swirls out, but it still wasn't like new. After fighting with Lexus (and becoming a nightmare to them) for 8 months. I was finally awarded with a brand new car.
 
FishWagon said:
My first "Brand New" car was a Black Lexus LX470. At 1,000 miles I was to bring it in for a complimentary service (top off fluids, brief inspection, and a wash). I was hesistant to let them wash it, but then I said to myself "this is Lexus, they are known for doing things right"...so I let them. Well needless to say BIG MISTAKE! There were scratches on EVERY single body panel. I was never abel to confirm if it was the carwash itself, or a dirty shammy etc. that may have been dropped on the ground. They first detailed it themselves, disaster. The guy left swirl marks all over the place. Then they let me hire an outside guy. He got most of the scratches and swirls out, but it still wasn't like new. After fighting with Lexus (and becoming a nightmare to them) for 8 months. I was finally awarded with a brand new car.
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That's the way it should be. Sorry to hear of your problems and that it took 8 months to solve, but it's great you got a new vehicle out of it.



My parent's have a Lexus. Can't remember the model number right now, but it's the small SUV. I have argued with them til I'm blue in the face and they *still* get it washed at the dealership. My Dad wants me to do a complete detail on it. I've told him not a chance until he promises to never let the dealer wash it, or to take it to a commercial touch wash, again.



It's white pearl coat paint. And it's so swirled up from the dealer washing it that it looks completely matte.
 
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