would non touchless car wash ..?
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Dusts from other vehicles stay on the bristle and it will scratches your car.
My understanding is that the soft cloth car washes are more damaging. Dirt can get embedded in the cloth "temporarily" and dragged on your paint job. The nylon bristles are self cleaning and fling the dirt off your car and off the bristles. Manned car washes with an attendant that sprays your car with a pressure wand before going in the carwash will provide better results. Touchless car washes use a harsh acid like chemical. If you have a truck with a non clear coated or painted aluminum tool box, it can look dingy after a few trips through such a wash.
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I got fine scratches first time I went thru the so called touch less microfiber mop type car wash. I think they spray on some sort of glaze on the wax cycle to hide that. Also never let them towel dry at the exit.The blowers do an adequate job.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I take my car to the $3 car wash every once in a while. I mainly take it there to use their vacuums because they work great. The paint on my car is awful already so the cheapo car wash makes it look decent, or better than it did when dirty.
I strongly second the hand wash preference. I've had trouble with both the bristle style (wore off part of my painted pinstripes after a few years) and the soft cloth style (metal shaving or something caught in the cloth put a series of scratched on Z's on my roof). I am now paranoid about anything touching the car except my own clean towels.
Originally Posted By: FLauto
I strongly second the hand wash preference. I've had trouble with both the bristle style (wore off part of my painted pinstripes after a few years) and the soft cloth style (metal shaving or something caught in the cloth put a series of scratched on Z's on my roof). I am now paranoid about anything touching the car except my own clean towels.
+1
I strongly second the hand wash preference. I've had trouble with both the bristle style (wore off part of my painted pinstripes after a few years) and the soft cloth style (metal shaving or something caught in the cloth put a series of scratched on Z's on my roof). I am now paranoid about anything touching the car except my own clean towels.
+1
the real answer is it depends, just like you shouldn't say every single quicklube is going to destroy your car.
If they truly are a decent carwash and have invested in the latest technology, and their system and sequence is setup properly so the bulk of the material doesn't stay on the cloths, then it won't damage your car more than any other wash. For example, they do a foaming prewash.
Check out http://neoglide.com/advantage.html
End of the story, is you probably get what you pay for.
If some place is advertising a cheap wash, that's price is going to come out somewhere-plus all the cheapskates with really dirty cars go there.
If there's a better place that charges $5 or $10 more than the cheapo place for their wash, and you see luxury and exotic cars going there and coming out looking nice; there's probably some a good reason for that.
I would not blindy say hand wash preferred, especially if the price is low as mentioned above. These guys are paid minimum wage if not less if it's cash. Do you think they care about your car. Mitts can just as easily be caked with dirt in some big tub of dirty water, with the cheapest car wash solution, and grind swirls and scratches into your car.
At least with the machine wash, the human touch element is taken out of the equation.
All carwashes are going to result in some wear, it's a fact of life. You can't prevent it all, unless you never drive your car or personally handwash your car with utmost care.
INstead, just give in that you instead need to have some kind of sacrificial wax on your car that takes the hits, rather then trying to avoid all damage.
If they truly are a decent carwash and have invested in the latest technology, and their system and sequence is setup properly so the bulk of the material doesn't stay on the cloths, then it won't damage your car more than any other wash. For example, they do a foaming prewash.
Check out http://neoglide.com/advantage.html
End of the story, is you probably get what you pay for.
If some place is advertising a cheap wash, that's price is going to come out somewhere-plus all the cheapskates with really dirty cars go there.
If there's a better place that charges $5 or $10 more than the cheapo place for their wash, and you see luxury and exotic cars going there and coming out looking nice; there's probably some a good reason for that.
I would not blindy say hand wash preferred, especially if the price is low as mentioned above. These guys are paid minimum wage if not less if it's cash. Do you think they care about your car. Mitts can just as easily be caked with dirt in some big tub of dirty water, with the cheapest car wash solution, and grind swirls and scratches into your car.
At least with the machine wash, the human touch element is taken out of the equation.
All carwashes are going to result in some wear, it's a fact of life. You can't prevent it all, unless you never drive your car or personally handwash your car with utmost care.
INstead, just give in that you instead need to have some kind of sacrificial wax on your car that takes the hits, rather then trying to avoid all damage.
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Find one that uses closed fiber brushes, rather than plastic brushes or soft cloth, if you need an automatic. That makes a very big difference, since they cannot hold dirt.
I don't care how good or technologically advanced some of these places claim their tunnel washes are, I wouldn't even send my beater car through one. Hand wash only please.
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