Do any of you use Local Carwashes???? Or Power Spray Washes????

[raydog1]

Automatic wash for 10+ year old cars that already have faded paint. Hand wash for new cars that I actually care about. My Mustang has never been anywhere near an auto-wet-sander.

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[FirstGT]

That's kinda surprising, must be pretty narrow track.

I recently found out there's a touchless laser wash under 10 minutes from my house and have been going there. Only complaint is heavy bug splatter doesn't come off but I really wouldn't expect it to.

Before that I was hand washing in my driveway

 

[ClevelandV8]

The Worx Hydroshot WG629 has an overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars on Amazon. 29% of the reviews are one star. FYI.

 

[RaceRed5.0]

[ame]

Don't be this guy.

 

[jenksdrummer]

Don't be this guy.

Mustang GT tops out at what, 55K? Veyron is $1.5m = that's more than 27x more expensive.

Being that guy means I could buy a new mustang every other week in a year, and never touch a car wash nor spray it with water.

 

[Decosse]

I go to an automatic touchless car wash here. Most of the time, I'm only washing off dust, small amounts of splash on rocker panels, and traces of bird doo- or cat whiz- if the neighbors tom starts marking again. If its not 147 in the shade, I'll dry of what's left after the wash and blowers with a mist of Griots liquid wax and microfiber towels.


If it gets really dirty, as in the rare rain here (which brings up a combo of road tar, rubber, and oil that almost wants scaping off) I will sponge/bucket wash it using Mothers', Maguires, the like, rinse it with a tossed bucket of clean water, and go to the touchless for a spot-free rinse. Our water here is liquid rock, so handwashing even using power washing tools at home is an exercise in frustration unless you have access to a lot of R/O water. (Which mobile detailers do) Living in a condo with carports and no washing area also adds to the challenge. But the car does look good 90% of the time.

 

[ngiraldo]

Hello! Because there is no such thing as a laser car wash around home, I personally wash my car, nice soap, many microfiber towels, and a decent pressure washer. Also, I applied CarPro Hydro2 and the result shines. Every time a spot or small scratch appears (too many bikers around) a gentle scrub with Meguiars correcting compound and voila, shine is back. I do not let anybody wash my car, until this touchless wash comes around.

 

[strike-eagle]

I would never use a car wash, touchless or not. A touchless won't cause swirlies, but it also won't clean as well vs if you did it yourself.

Use the two-bucket method, get a soap with lots of suds and a quality wash mitt like ones from The Rag Company. Wash one side of the car, then rinse, do the next side, rinse, etc until the entire car is done. Then take a leaf blower and blow dry as much as you can. This helps tremendously with getting the water out the crevices so it doesn't start "crying" after you dry. Once air dried, use a quality drying towel to get the excess.


Do get quality towels, like ones from The Rag Company and wash them after every use. They make all the difference vs cheap microfiber towels that will scratch the clearcoat.

 

[torqueaddict]

When I lived in a condo and bucket washing steadily became a pain in the butt, I used those do-it-yourself, touchless and the 3-minute quick wash joints. I drove the MS3 back then and was way too busy (and lazy) to care for the paint as much as I should have.

Now that I own a house, I will never set foot into one of those places. Like someone said, it's like running your car through sand paper. I enjoy my weekend bucket wash sessions.

 

[RaceRed5.0]

Mustang GT tops out at what, 55K? Veyron is $1.5m = that's more than 27x more expensive.

Being that guy means I could buy a new mustang every other week in a year, and never touch a car wash nor spray it with water.

Yeah but the point is if you truly want to take care of your car, don't take it to a car wash. Especially with brushes like that.

 

[Bladex10]

Only car washes i go to are the self serve ones and touchless if im feeling lazy

 

[Norm Peterson]

What do you guys do?

I've never used a car wash business, ever. And the DIY power spray washes, only a handful of times in the winter rather than ice up the driveway.

For me, it's bucket and hose, though I've been known to wash cars in pouring rain showers when under drought-caused restrictions on outdoor hose usage.


Norm

 

[DropTopBob]

You get to 68 like me and just the thought of handwashing my car makes me wanna curl up and take a nap. I’ve used Planet Soft Cloth Carwash in Manassas, VA for years and my paint & soft top look perfect.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Been there, Bob. Baby class of 1947. Washing and detailing (however much of that gets done) have never been on any list of favorite tasks. But DIY'ing it still beats the alternatives and I don't have to wait in any lines to make it happen. I know I've taken a nap or two in preference.


Norm

 

[RIBS]

I can tell you that "MISTER CARWASH" will hide behind their lawyers and ignore you if their brush grabs your mirror and slams a big dent in your door.

I have not found a brushless/touchless wash that cleans anything off the paint...waste of money for me....

But it is a car...a depreciating asset that will not last forever, so I do go through auto washes not and then.

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