pipianderi

Being that our paint is made of water color or something
is there such a thing as a safe automatic car wash for tl?

touchless= too harsh chemical
brushless= dirty clothes, harsh chemical etc...

best is still hand wash. but i would like an alternative in the winter. what is the safest auto car wash?

njtls

i ran my car through a car wash the other day for the first time...i know its bad..but its only gonna be a few times during the winter...12 bux for an interior cleaning and vacum and then haveing it hand dried after the wash doesnt see to bad to me...

dlpickering

If your car is black, no, there is no such thing as a safe car wash. If hand-washing is not an option, touchless is your best choice.

lflorack

This is a case where 'safe' is a relative term. I get a lot of snow around here and they use a lot of salt to assist with keeping the roads cleared. Is taking the car to the car wash worse than leaving the salt on? Not unless the car wash actually does more damage than leaving the salt on.

I take my car to Delta Sonic. It's a "touch-less" car wash (no spinning brushes). I try to take it whenever there's considerable salt on mt TL and when the temperature is above 32 degrees (F). To me, leaving the salt on would be much worse.

TYPE-CPD

Is it true that the touchless car washes recycle the water that's used time and time again? Rumor I heard. And another rumor is that that the chemicals in the detergent are to harsh on the paint

r10apple

There is a touchless wash here that is fine. The chemicals are not harsh at all. Heck, they pretty much almost handwash the car before sending it through...

I'd think I'd still have some good wax on the car before strictly using a touchless, but honestly, a regular and good waxing is what all cars should have no matter how they get washed...

lflorack

I've also heard that the water is recycled. It's probably true (although I don't know for sure) and would assume it's well filtered for subsequent uses.

As for harshness... I've been using the Delta-Sonic car washes on my cars for about 20 years or so without any obvious issues. In fact, my cars always look very good at trade in -- and I usually keep them 8-10 years. To me, leaving the salt on would be much, much worse.

fsttyms1

i would only use touchless washes. i would rather wash the car than let the salt sit on the car regaurdless or weather the water is recycled and the chemicals (which if they were that bad for paint they wouldnt use) if you are that worried about it just wax it before winter and right away after winter

`ill*tl

Make sure to check your rims for those of you w/stock TL-S rims after a car wash.. it'll definitely scratch them up.

groebuck1

Okay here's the deal - MOST touchless car washes use higher concentration of chemicals to remove the dirt and grime (and still usually do an "okay" job). Commercial carwashes - touchless or brush/cloth kind are basically the same thing with guys at the beginning and end who wipe down/prep your car and dry/detail at the end. The problem with that is they are not to careful in how they do it (wiping away in circles, rubbing off missed dirt, scrubbing it down with the same "mop like" thing they use on all the other cars dipped in a bucket of filthy water.

So nothing is safe - but your best bet if you really do want to protect the paint is to use the quarter eater places and bring your own bucket/soap. I know your not supposed to but if you go during odd hours it should not be a hassle. As other posters have mentioned - a couple coats of wax or sealant in the fall work wonders to protect the paint..if you have a garage your in much better shape as you can use the quarter eaters to spary off the salt and snow hunks then drive it home to the garage and follow up with a good QD and microfiber cloth...good luck!