Can your car survive the carwash?

[Quattro Pete]

Posting this here instead of the Detailing forum since going to a carwash is probably the last thing a true detailer would do.

Interesting how new technology can mess with an automatic carwash operation...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/can-your-car-survive-the-carwash-2014-11-17?dist=beforebell

 

[JHZR2]

Scary. Both the potential for damage and the complex steps to put cars in certain modes.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Automatic car washes

My parents' Focuscape has the keyless entry keypad. We always make sure to take the keys out when washing that.

 

[The Critic]

Yikes, and the language barrier with many car wash employees will only add to the issue.

 

[01rangerxl]

Kind of funny, until a car automatically slams on its brakes in front of you trying to avoid an accident with the brushes.

It seems like there is way too much complexity and too little consistency in overriding the nanny features. It would make sense to have a standardized way to override these features so the cars behave like, you know, a normal car in these situations. A nanny override switch or something.

I am surprised this stuff was overlooked during pre-production testing. One would logically think that a car might go through an automatic car wash at some point during its life.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
I am surprised this stuff was overlooked during pre-production testing. One would logically think that a car might go through an automatic car wash at some point during its life.


I dunno, engineers design this sort of stuff. The sort of people who probably long ago compared the cost of bucket and a Saturday afternoon vs paying someone else to do it. IOW it literally may not have crossed their mind even if you think it should have.

The consumer is always the final tester!

 

[shinyWheels]

They could make the car washes with a conveyor belt that fits the entire car or automakers could have a car wash mode that doesn't engage any of the nanny safety devices.

 

[eljefino]

The valet key could take care of all this.

I was cautioned when I changed batteries that I should either have the keys or leave the driver's window halfway down, in case the power locks or alarm went berzerk. You can't leave the window down in a car wash, of course.

Also stuff like grand marquises releasing the e-brake when you put the car in drive interferes with a state inspection, where you want to see if the brake actually holds.

Myself, I hate when the AC comes on with the defroster on a 41 degree day. It causes condensation on the outside of the windscreen when the engine, coolant, and heater core are cold. Cars with "flow through ventilation" can't really be shut off, so I default them to defrost so I don't get air in my face.

 

[Klutch9]

The article mentions some car washes make you get out of your car before it goes through the wash? I have never seen this in my life.

 

[JDW]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
The article mentions some car washes make you get out of your car before it goes through the wash? I have never seen this in my life.


Used to be common in the 60s.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I often used one like that in the 90s.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
The article mentions some car washes make you get out of your car before it goes through the wash? I have never seen this in my life.


This was VERY common all the way through the 70s and early 80s.

 

[Garak]

Although conveyer washes have been historically safer from an insurance perspective, they are becoming rarer in the world of automatics.

 

[JetStar]

Originally Posted By: JDW
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
The article mentions some car washes make you get out of your car before it goes through the wash? I have never seen this in my life.


Used to be common in the 60s.


I remember that, when they used to sweep the car out, clean the floor mats, and the inside of the windows.

 

[R2d2]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
The article mentions some car washes make you get out of your car before it goes through the wash? I have never seen this in my life.



I've rarely been to a car wash were they didn't want you to get out.

 

[01rangerxl]

There is a chain in NC called Auto Bell where you get out of the vehicle.

The car washes down here have you stay inside. They have a sign giving basic instructions (leave car running, put in neutral, hands off the wheel, foot off the brake) and someone guides you on to the track. When you get to the end, a light tells you when to shift into D and drive out. I actually prefer the ones down here because they blow dry the car (Auto Bell uses terry towels), and you can pull up to self serve vacuums afterwards that are STRONG! I used to take our grimey, nasty Colorados up there at my last job and they would come out looking pretty good.