Car Washes - Yes or No?

Car washes? Bad for the car?

  • Yes - Avoid

    Votes: 15 71.4%
  • No - will be fine

    Votes: 6 28.6%

  • Total voters
    21

Ts99

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So my car valet bloke reckons to avoid car washes entirely...

Whats your views? With the bad weather I dont want to be washing it weekly or even paying him to come and do it, would rather pay £10 to run it through a car wash.

Is it bad to do on a new car?

He reckons it scratches it?

Surely its alright to do every now and again through winter?
 

EmilysDad

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I use them every now & then but I'm not as OCD as some ;)
 

Chrishazle

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Do NOT use the drive-through type with the tall rotating brushes, that's what will certainly cover your car in microscratches (ask me how I know!!). Basically is costs the wash owner lots of money to change the brushes, so they do it as infrequently as possible. In the meantime lots of the nylon brisltes get broken leaving sharp edges, that's what scratches your paint as they whirl around.

I now use the hand wash mob at our local Tesco - but for a start they only use Autoglym products, plus I watched them carefully before I tried them, then watched carefully the first couple of times they did the S204. I now know and trust them and allow them to wash the 968 cab as well - something I've never done before in 20 years of 968 ownership, I always washed and polished them myself!
 

Blobcat

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There’s no way that the polyethylene bristles can scratch the paint. If you get one of the bristles and whip your paint it will leave a mark, the mark will rub off as it’s the polyethylene being left on the surface of the paint.

Much research has been done in this subject and automatic tunnel car washes do no more damage than not washing at all.

If you want a show car then by all means use a detailer or the quad bucket method it whatever is recommended.

Hand car washes are generally very very bad as the hyperchlorate they use as a allow shell and traffic film remover is very very aggressive and causes lots of damage. A lot of them are also unlicensed, pay no VAT or insurance as well as no business rates or water rates.

The tunnel car washes use Kanor chemicals which if you don’t know is the industrial arm of Autoglym. All of them are no damaging to alloys or paintwork and much research is done by kanor/autoglym.

I use car washes as they get the salt and the like off for very little effort. Ive no damage from many many washes, I do have stone chips and the like none of which were caused by the car washes.

Also tunnel car washes cannot cause the swirl marks as the brushes or wash mitts don’t move against the bodywork in such a way as to cause those swirls. They spin in line with the bodywork so you would have lines going along the car.
However hand car washing can make hose marks depending upon sponge / cloth or drying leather application.
 

John Laidlaw

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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
Just gonny no dae that!:mad::shock:
 

ZZZZ

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There's an "American" car wash in Northampton, with contactless wash and dry, and hand wash prior to that (two buckets, etc).
I use them regularly, but always try to get there first thing in the morning, often being the first car in, as then I know the wash mitts weren't on the ground as yet ...

Used to cost £5 back in 2011, now it's gone up to £7

But then, my car is thirteen years old ;)
 
Last edited:

Chrishazle

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My comment about broken bristles is based on an Honest John article in late 1998. I'd just PX'd an 18 month old Rover 820 Turbo Vitesse that I'd had for less than a year, gave it a good clean before PXing it and noticed loads of small scratch marks in the paintwork. 1-2 weeks later HJ did a write-up about car washes and broken nylon bristles. I have not used that type of car wash since, and have not had microscratches on any car I've owned since then.
 

umblecumbuz

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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
Just gonny no dae that!:mad::shock:

I think that's a NO.
 

Wighty

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I'm sure it will be fine :rolleyes:
 

rf065

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I now use the hand wash mob at our local Tesco

I watched them at my local Tesco, great job with one major flaw.
After pressure washing the car, two guys take a side each and sponge over the whole car. Not once do they rinse out the sponges, so any grit is getting spread over the whole car. For that reason I declined to use them as no better than the other car washes who use a hard bristled brush over your paintwork.
 

keefysher

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A car wash was on my bucket list for a risky bunk up in my youth when I had company cars. ;);):cool::cool::cool::cool: Tick :)

Never put my own car through one.
 

CrustyClam

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I only take the wife's car through a car wash, leaves me more time to hand wash mine. (Plus it won't fit)
 

Yugguy

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Car wash every time for me. But it all depends on what floats your boat and what you choose to spend your time on, each to their own.
 

rf065

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Car wash every time for me. But it all depends on what floats your boat and what you choose to spend your time on, each to their own.

True, but only if you like to spend time looking at swirl marks on your paintwork.
 
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