Originally Posted By: NoNameJoe
Sorry, the name of the game at these places is to do is fast, not necessarily do it well or taking care of your finish. It's no surprise you got scratches.
The idea of going to a self-wash and doing a regular car wash there doesn't work either, they want you in and out of the bay...fast.
These places wash hundreds of cars, in my area they employ what looks to be off the books, illegal immigrant labor just like every other business in my area to do the final clean up. Do I think they can afford to use new clean materials or even clean what they have? Not really. I'm going to bet they're using the same dirty materials.
It's a trade-off. I'd rather do it myself and slow rather than have someone else do it fast and risk my finish.
Well said. I've yet to find any of these drive-thru or similar automatic washes that don't do it as cheaply and quickly as possible.
..and, as the saying goes:
1) Do it fast
2) Do it cheap
3) Do it right
--> Pick 2 span>
In this case, "do it right" means do a good job of cleaning the car without instilling damage/scratches/swirls.. I've never found any auto wash that can do this. For me, doing it at home, myself, is the only sure way.