had a problem going thru a car wash? I can't believe that everyone in this forum has the time to hand wash their car constantly. If these car washes were always scratching up cars like everyone here says they do, wouldn't they just be shut down by now?

Everyone has me freaked out that these car washes are just full of rusty nails. lol.

I just need one person who likes these car washes to give me hope again. I know you're out there.

 

Well, I put my '01 CL through a car wash (the kind with hand dry by a bunch of guys with dirty towels) once a month or so for three years, in addition to professional detailing twice a year. It looked brand new when I traded it in.

But...the TL's rims are evidently vulnerable, and that's enough to keep me away from the mechanical car washes, period. At least while I drive THIS car.

 

We have a great car wash in Pittsburgh--Mr. Magic. It is the only one I use. my last car, a 10 year old Honda Accord, only saw this car wash, and maybe I washed it by hand a few times (with Dawn detergent, no doubt, but i was young and foolish in those days ). After 10 years the paint looked great, relatively speaking. I think that there are probably some poor car washes out there, but I have to think that the majority of them are ok. Are you going to make your TL a show car? Then wash by hand. But if you are like me and just want a sweet ride, just wash by hand when convenient (I enjoy it) but have no fear when taking it through the auto wash. I think that the average member here is just a bit more anal retentive than the average guy off of the street when it comes to the care of their car--it is natural to take one's hobby seriously.

 

I have taken my SSM TL to my local automatic ("soft cloth") car wash about 5 times since I bought the car about a month and a half ago........paint and wheels are fine so far. (That's one great thing about SSM: the paint can take a beating and hides flaws extremely well).

 

During the cold Winter months I had my car washed automatically about 5-6 times. There are a couple of swirl marks and a couple of small scratches. It's difficult to say when this happened. I'l be "Zanoing" soon and all will be well again.

 

carwash??? if the redsox win the worldseries i will........uhhhh carwash seems good, i do it all the time and dont carry a magnifying glass otherwise i would see scratches too.( NO flames) All the yankees fans sofar redsox 3 games to yankees 1 hopefully in october i can say Sox 2 WS to Yankees 46

 

For me, car washes with rails that you have to put the right front tire and wheel into are best avoided unless you take your sweet time negotiating the wheel to the right of the rail, if the left side touches you,ll scratch up your wheel pretty bad. There are several better car washes available that don't have the rails... those are better and I would only do the touchless kind... good luck

 

Car wash, what's a car wash? New Car = NO car wash. Only by hand. Car washes hunger for new virgin paint and rims...no, no, no.