Saturday I took the car to a self wash service place. It was my first time self wash other then my driveway. Got there and read the instructions.. No bucket wash and No hand wash. Hmm... OK... I then follow their instruction began the wash. (Soap, foam brush, rinse.... etc.) After coin deposit few times, took the car out on the side to dry it out and soon found out a 2.5 inches thin deep scratch on the hood. OMG!!! I immediately inspected the whole car and found out more scratches (deep) on the fender, passanger side doors, rear bumper and driver side rear door. Holy sh!t!!!! :wow:

I tried to cover those scratches up as possible as I can. (3M rubbing compound then 3M swirl remover for darker color cars and followed by Zymol wax.) They cover them up a little but still be able to see it if look closely. Well... before wash no scratch; after wash scratches everywhere. I should not use their brush at the first place; don't know wtf I was thinking.

Sorry guys for this long and stupid story; but I can't help it. My baby got hurt!!!

 

Damn...sorry to hear that. I made that same mistake before, but it was on my old truck. I learned my lesson and vowed never to do that again to any car, especially my TL. I only hand wash or use touchless car washes now.

 

brushes = BAD!!

I even hesitate using the high pressure hoses, but some places are OK.

Good luck trying to get the rest of those marks out.

 

Sorry to hear about your car wash dilemna. I know it's way to late for this, but you are absolutely right about those brushes. They tend to be very dirty and just scratch the hell out of your car.

My suggestion for next time is go really early in the morning or late at night. Bring your own bucket and wash mitt. No one will bother you at those hours.

Sorry dude.

 

Damn kchao2000, I feel for you man. Yet another example of not using public brushes on our finish . Always go to touchless or wash at home. Apparently, you didn't check the brush before putting it on your car. Next time, take a look. One time I found some damn aluminum wires embedded in there. Sorry to hear about the scratches. Try the Zaino claybar, I heard it does wonders on scratches.

axleback

 

Another good thing to do is to use the pressure hose on the brush before you start...in some cases that won't matter though, because a lot of these places just recycle the water, so unless they have a good filtering system, there is always a danger.

 

:wow: recycle the water? You gotta be kidding me. Don't scare me like that man. This has got to be somewhere where water is a premium. We here in the mid-west has the almighty Lake Michigan to back us up. I don't think they do that here...or am I wrong?

axleback

 

Axleback,

Lots of car wash places use recycle water. That's why I went to that self wash service to wash the car. NJ is currently under drought; we can't wash cars unless go to commercial car wash places 'cuz they use recycle water.

Well... I'll try Zaino clay next time when wash it again. Right now the car looks OK but you still be able to see them when stand look closely.

I probably just be more careful from now on and keep driving it for another few (4 - 5) years. Then I'll go repaint the whole car if I want to keep it longer.

Thank guys for your support!

 

Crazy

You never use brushes on a car, those brushes at the car wash are meant for really dirty areas like under your car.

I can picture it now, a bad ass TL, but upon closer inspection scratches here, scratches there, scratches every where.

Sorry to flame, but you did do a very dumb thing. I mean look at the bristles of the brush, their not even suitable for a tiled floor.

 

Those scratches are not going to come off. No matter not much goo you put on it, all those scratches will still be there.

 

Clay will do nothing for scratches. Clay will remove contaminents in you paint/clear, but has not effect on on scratches.

3M has some other products for deeper scratches. If your fingernail gets caught in the scratch, it's not looking good.

 

Sorry, but that was really, really dumb.

What happen to those cotton towels, mitts, or chamois?
a brush?

Think man....

 

Exactly! Never use those brushes!!!

 

I know that was stupid. I did brought cotton towels, mitt and chamois. But they don't allow me to use it. (No hand wash) I had this car for more than a year now, no scratches and dings.. but now is totaly changed.

 

no hand wash.... what kind of self car wash place is this. All the car wash places I been to would allow you to "hand wash" I mean, what are you suppose to do? spray and watch the soap drip....

A car wash place should be a place to put quaters in to use thier soap and water, while you "hand wash" your car.

 

NSXNEXT, I recently started using clay bars everytime before I wax, and I really love them, because, as you know, when you wax after you clay, the paint feels so damn smooth . Just one question though... are clay bars known to make swirl marks? I was really skeptical when I used it for the first time, but after close examination, I didn't find any swirls on any surface and was 100% satisfied with the results. Thanks in advance.

John

 

well.......that sucks........i feel u man...
when i got my car washed at a place here in atlanta, they put my car in the machine and u see the brushes go accross your car......when my car came out, i later noticed a long scratch on my hood.....when i confronted the manager about this, he said it couldnt have been the machine......this is BS because the scratch goes straight up my hood (the same motion as the machine's wipers) and i never went back to that place......now i have to pay about 170 to paint my hood

 

Well... that's where "foam brush" sh!t comes in. They don't allow you bucket wash or hand wash. You rinse, soap, foam brush, rinse again; that's their procedures.

 

The other option is to spend the $125 - 150 for a good detail shop to buff out the exterior. I just did it to get rid of swirls and scratches that 9 coats of Z-5 wouldn't hide. I thing they must have washed it with 80 grit mits when they took it off the truck.

Now it looks sweet, 1 coat of Z-5 and 3 of Z-2....I'll be callin' out NSXNEXT if I get pictures...

 

Unless Hell froze over and no H20 was coming out of any of my faucets, I'd never go to one of those places, but if I had to, I'd bring my bucket, mitts, and dont forget your wax friendly soap with me. The only time I see anyone hastling you is if there are people waiting on you to finish your car, so they can do theirs. Go at times when that wouldnt be an issue and you should be fine.

 

So you said a detail job will help?! How bad is your scratch? I'm thinking to get a detail job done sometime next month or so.