Automatic Car Washes - Definitely Not?

[dml]

Got mine washed in the ARC yesterday as I wanted to get the salt off but didn't have much time to wait for a proper wash

They are advertising some new polymer coat thing that protects your car from EVERYTHING for only £10!!

I didn't get that... Just got the standard wash and now my car smells lovely like candy bananas!

 

[television]

Got mine washed in the ARC yesterday as I wanted to get the salt off but didn't have much time to wait for a proper wash

They are advertising some new polymer coat thing that protects your car from EVERYTHING for only £10!!

I didn't get that... Just got the standard wash and now my car smells lovely like candy bananas!

Have you ever washed it by hand

 

[whitenemesis]

Got mine washed in the ARC yesterday as I wanted to get the salt off but didn't have much time to wait for a proper wash

They are advertising some new polymer coat thing that protects your car from EVERYTHING for only £10!!

I didn't get that... Just got the standard wash and now my car smells lovely like candy bananas!

Did they advertise the "No scratch foam" technology? My local ARC are making a big thing about it, not sure exactly what it is though..

Also do they still do the pressure wash for the underneath of the car?

 

[television]

Did they advertise the "No scratch foam" technology? My local ARC are making a big thing about it, not sure exactly what it is though..

Also do they still do the pressure wash for the underneath of the car?

That could be a bad thing,,,if the car is hot,,,it killed the SAMs in my 230

 

[Rotorhead500]

Im with you on this one Fleetwood

I'll second that!

Watched a guy have a little trouble with bird-deposit (that we had to point out) on the windscreen of my gf's car..... His solution? Keep getting closer & closer with the pressure washer lance until it actually scraped the cack off..... and was promptly washed away by 1500psi!

Never again.

 

[s500colin]

Had my S500 cleaned by a eastern European outfit

Step1 Pre jet wash
step 2 Hand pad wash the whole car
step 3 Rinse
Step 4 sprayed again and rinsed off
Step 5 dried off with new clean cloths (binned ater each car)
Step 6 Hoovered and throughly cleaned inside including leather seats

£15 and a stunning result, cleaned in 10 minutes involving 10 members of staff

I do enjoy cleaning the car myself but sometimes its not easy to find the time to do a proper job

 

[dml]

I'll second that!

Watched a guy have a little trouble with bird-deposit (that we had to point out) on the windscreen of my gf's car..... His solution? Keep getting closer & closer with the pressure washer lance until it actually scraped the cack off..... and was promptly washed away by 1500psi!

Never again.

... Seems logical and that's what I would do. Guess that's why I'm not a professional washer of cars!

 

[television]

... Seems logical and that's what I would do. Guess that's why I'm not a professional washer of cars!

Part time job

 

[2010golfnut]

Usually wash mine when it's raining, takes care of the rinse and I don't have to dry it.

 

[television]

Usually wash mine when it's raining, takes care of the rinse and I don't have to dry it.

I agree and that is the hand wash that I use

 

[Tazz666]

I always Hand wash my cars, I dont trust anyone else to wash my cars, and I enjoy the whole proscess of making her clean and shiny

 

[maska]

We get ours cleaned and valeted by Eastern Europeans too. I think it costs £10 but they do a very good job

The Only Problem With The Eastern Europeans Is ; That they Tend To Lose ! your Car !! That Occasionly Ends Up In Romainia !! :wink::wink:

 

[maska]

Had my S500 cleaned by a eastern European outfit

Step1 Pre jet wash
step 2 Hand pad wash the whole car
step 3 Rinse
Step 4 sprayed again and rinsed off
Step 5 dried off with new clean cloths (binned ater each car)
Step 6 Hoovered and throughly cleaned inside including leather seats

£15 and a stunning result, cleaned in 10 minutes involving 10 members of staff

I do enjoy cleaning the car myself but sometimes its not easy to find the time to do a proper job

And Was Never Seen Again ! :lol:

 

[Rotorhead500]

... Seems logical and that's what I would do. Guess that's why I'm not a professional washer of cars!

I should've said..... he kept the trigger depressed the whole time...... I could feel seals dying as he did it.

 

[S.Speed]

And I have always used drive thru auto car washes and never had a problem..
YES EVEN ON THE SL500) I had.
Sometimes I hand wash but I would say 70% of the time I use a drive thru.

Lifes too short to be a bucket slave !

 

[Disillusioned]

Wesumat washes!

Having owned and operated Auto car washes for a number of years we learned that damage to vehicles cost us a lot! Wilcomatic (Italian manufacture) blown out.

Enter Wesumat (German engineering). No problems whatsoever on 3 wash sites, in fact my local MB dealer has one. Careful hand washing will always be superior (and any minor chips spotted can be remedied before they develop), but suspect most cannot be bothered.

If you use choose to use auto washes, pick the German model. (Makes sense, doesn't it!)

 

[mxs]

The Only Problem With The Eastern Europeans Is ; That they Tend To Lose ! your Car !! That Occasionly Ends Up In Romainia !! :wink::wink:

Slightly racist comment

 

[maska]

But True !

 

[paul hayward]

dont ever use the automatic machines...well last time was 20 years ago when it tried its best to rip off the engine lid off the VW Beetle:evil:

we jet rinse them off , then a shampoo rinse, then sponge, rinse off and leave it to smear:lol:

washed the 211 2 weeks ago as it was honestly filthy did a great job but after only managing 2 of the wheels my back locked up and had to get Kat to finish the rest off:Oops::lol:...im ok as long as my back is in standing up mode..any more than a min or 2 and it starts to hurt like hell

 

[rich599]

Like so many of you i have always washed my car as i am not a fan of car washes and have never trusted the eastern european hand car wash mainly because they used to use very strong TFR leaving paint work to go dull,
bit due to all the bad weather i have been unable to clean the car myself,
so today i went to the local hand car wash (eastern europeans )and i must admit i was very pleased with the results they used soft mittens and what looked to be a nice soapy wash and wax shampoo then wiped all the door sills and checks,and all for £4 and the must have rinsed it with some sort of wax as the water slid off the car like water off a ducks back,now the car shines like i have spent all morning polishing it,and all done in under 5 mins, so no prizes for guessing who will be washing my car next week