Would you take your car to one of those soft towel car washes? Or would you just go out in the cold and wash it your self.

 

Put on a sweater and do it yourself. Those guys that dry the car will scratch it with their belt buckles!

 

Note to self: take off belt when washing car.

 

Years ago I had a 1994 Honda Civic EX. I worked at an Andretti Soft Cloth carwash. I would get free washes so I washed that car at least once and sometime 2 times a week. I was pretty concerned about my paint job and cared if my car looked good and quite frankly I did not see a problem with washing it with a machine wash. The paint looked great upto around 150,000 miles when I stopped washing the car.

Now with my 2000 TL, I take it to a bay wash with the high pressure hose and use a wash mitt. Automatic car washes are surprisingly sparse around here, and I don't do the touchless wash because it doesn't get the dirt off.
I also use the "Wax as You Dry" stuff every time I wash the car. I am pretty skeptical when it comes to stuff like this, I was thinking it would be like that garbage that car washes spray on your car (worthless) .
As long as you use it everytime it works well. The car looks great after using this stuff, it actually gives the car a nice 'wet' look. Rain runs off the car very well also. The only reason I would wax/polish my car now maybe would be once a year after winter to 'cut' the surface of the paint so I can start 'fresh.'

 

I would try to find a brushless carwash. They work really well. Just make sure your wheels don't get scratched up with the guide rails.

 

If you do it at home.. get thee a bottle of Macguiars Gold Class soap. My lord is that stuff good. Suds for days, and washes like nobody's business, and really really extends your times between waxing.

I honestly have neglected my Accord, but only use the Gold Class soap, and it still beads quite nicely and still shines, where it should be pretty nasty with other soaps.

It's the only thing I ever used on my 00 TL when I had it.. kept it like new from day one.

Worth Every Penny.

 

Find a good touchless in the mid west (cold) they are very common. Note not all are good. shop around.

 

I used the Zaino stuff on my last car, but its been raining too often for me to use that, and now its so cold outside. Neway I guess I will just put the sweater on and wash it my self. Thanks for the warning about the wheels, I didn't even think about that.

 

I'll be Zaino'ing the TL this weekend if this weather holds. Err... when I go to my parents' house in Houston that is. It's a pain washing a car when you live in an apartment complex!

 

I can't wait to see what the nbp Tl looks like after a good coat of Z. If u get yours done post pics.

 

Can't agree with you more!!!!!!!

Meguiar's is the $H!T

 

don't even use the touchless car washes, they can ruin your paint

 

Really? Why?

With my lude in the winter I'd go to this one touchless car wash. I tried it once before but since it was so low I had problems with the rails and my OEM skirts.

Then one day they got rid of the rails! Just drive in and drive out, I plan on using that in the winter for my TL as well. I live in a condo so I can't go out to the driveway to wash my car.

 

Well for one thing they spray high pressure water on your car. This causes any dirt and debris to push into the car's surface and scratch the clear coat, which causes those swirl marks on darker cars. This is better prevented if the wash "hoses" down your car first, freeing loosened debris.

Most, if not all, use recycled water, and from my experience poorly filtered water (assuming it's filtered at all). Last winter, before I knew better, I took my car through a touchless car wash to get rid of all the salt/snow/grime and my car came out much dirtier. Everyone else's crap was sprayed and embedded onto my car. It was really disgusting, this white caked layer

 

I never had probs with the touchless here...

1st thing it does is clean the belly (bottom).

Then it puts a coat of soap on FIRST before it even does water at all.. so it gets the dirt right off... and the jets are constantly moving around so it isnt concentrating on one place.

Also no rail.. you drive in, sit there and the machine moves around and does the rest.

This is at a Mobil station.

Mike

 

All of the touchless I've used in past have had rails. I also always have had trouble with those rails, VSA never liked one wheel going into the guide. How do those activate and know the car is in the proper position if there are no rails? I agree with the point that they dont wash the car and they use recycled water.

 

I actually got "sapped" on by some fall trees a week ago and had to go to the nearest car wash which was one of those with rails on the left.

I had no problems the VSA didnt care, probably because I was sitting in neutral. Does the VSA operate in neutral?

The ones I normally use with no rails, the car goes over a little hump and sits sort of in a thing that keeps the wheel in place.. there must be a sensor that says the car is sitting there that activates the wash. The machine moves, The car sits there. When it is over, you just drive out over the humps.

 

Okay, you can't just say that without backing it up. Why do you think it ruins the paint? How does it happen?

 

im not fan of touchless car washes. first off when u decide u want to get the bottom cleaned as well, u have to drive in and they shoot jets at the underside of ur car. That area is where all the crap from all the other cars is sitting around. All they do is shoot dirt/debris from other cars around and around, hence more scratch possibilities. U spent the money on a great car i would reccomend u find urself a good bay car wash or do what i do. I go to Auto Deatils in Edmonton. They are exclusive to the porsche dealer here, and i knw the owner so i get a great deal.

Just my 2 cents

NAV DHANJU

 

With all due repect, I cannot for the life of me see how spraying the underside of the vehicle with "CLEAN" water will scratch up your car, unless your worried about scratching the underneath of the vehicle. Most carwashs with brushes/rag will spray the underneath also. Also, if you notice, the sprayers that spray underneath the car are not submerged in dirty water. How else are you going to clean the underside of your car?

 

I remember reading at least one study done by some university or another (probably financed the by the Brushless Car Wash Society of America) that hi pressure washes are the only way to go. According to the article Hi pressure washes remove the grit and dirt cleanly. If you even hand wash at home, without a high pressure spray first, all you do is rub the grit either into your car or over your paint, thereby scratching it. Cited case studies to support this.

Makes some sense. Blasting the grit away before rubbing it in. A normal hose will not remove much of this stuff. My guess is, though, that it will depend on the particular particle of grit, the force of the water and the angle at which it is applied whether it will remove the grit cleanly, push it further in, or just leave it there anyway.

The rails do worry me. There are no automatic washers around me without rails. Anyone know if our stock wheels will be damaged by standard rails?

 

Sherlock,

Do you mean Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner ??

One of my buddies swears by that stuff...I need order some.

 

My understanding is that there are car enthusiasts in Germany that will take long road trips so they may bathe their cars in the spring water of the hinterlands. I guess the folks in Maine could drive up to Poland Spring and do the same thing.

I wash my car with a power sprayer at my local car wash, then I dry it by hand. After our streets get sprayed with rock salt and the weather is cold I use a "brushless" car wash.

I am interested to learn more about the Zaino prducts that many speak about. Which of their products do you recommend? They have a huge line up.

 

Apparently you need three to five of those products to do a good job. I didn't do much reading on the subject but there are people in the Toronto Prelude Club who are pretty much experts on the subject.

www.hondaprelude.to

 

Zaino has a full range of care products. You need at least 3 to do a good job. The car wash liquid, either (z1 or zfx)<~~ activate the polish, and Z6 thats the gloss spray. They have leather, glass, tire and plastic trim pruducts. You get almost a glass like shine when your done. I will post a pic later of my results. You can go to www.zaino.com to see for your self

 

Here is a sample of zaino

 

Check out the reflection in this baby

 

I never use a car wash for anything- even my truck. They recycle the water with filtering but anything short of distilation is not going to take the salt out since it is a solution not a suspension so you end up giving your car a high pressure salt bath (want to guess how they test metal in the lab for corrosion?). I like the Blue Coral touchless car wash but I can't seem to find it anymore. The wash water just sheets off with it. Mequires Glod Class is also very good - I use a lot of their products.

 

Whats this? Its a mirrior.... oh, its just my car:p