PolishPete

Well the title states the question. I have free car washs from the dealer, but it's not touch free...is it really as bad as people say??

Nandito28

Everytime I take my car to the dealer for service...They offer me the automatic car wash for free...I always decline it.

the last time I picked the car up from getting the rotors replace and new brake pads....it had bird shit on the trunk...the advisor said I declined the car wash (which I did) and than stated he didn't blame me for it because it was an autmatic car wash...He would of done the same!

ml3456

I always used touch free, but haven't on my new TL yet. Worried about curbing the wheel on the tire guides. Has this been a problem or should I stay out.

Thanks, Mark

RhythmAddict

Forgive my ignorance here...but what the hell is an automatic car wash? I mean, what are the options here?

Fabvsix

ALL drive in car washes are BAD ! Whether they say "touchless" they touch it when they pull it out to D R Y it with lovely cheap towels with god knows whats on them.....Also the people drying your car are NOT there to pamper your car but to get a pay check and clock out by 5 p.m.
If you can "hand" wash and "hand" wax your car at your house or apartment, your better off. NEVER let the dealership wash your car also, as they are UNDER THE GUN to get rid of you as quickly as possible !
When I buy a new car, I demand it be delivered to me plastic wrapped from the factory to my garage. Then I fully ZAINO it from top to bottom, front to back, inside and out ! Both my 2005 MDX and 2004 RL have NEVER seen a car wash of any kind. They are both hand washed and waxed by me 100% at my house !

leedogg

OCD much? Something like this is going to happen to you, just wait:

Ouch

special-ed

If you look hard enough, there are some touchless drive thru car washes that don't have the wheel guide rails. There's a few gas stations around my area that I use and haven't had any issues. Some stations also have the ability to offer you either a touchless or a regular wash (brush touches the car). I just choose the high-powered water jet touchless option.

Also, these places will typically have some blowers to dry out the car so no need to worry about towel drying or whatever the other car washers use. Just gotta look around then again being in california where the weather is nice, there are more people who go to car washes, so there is more justification for gas stations and such to spend the money to upgrade to nicer/better car washing equipment.

WdnUlik2no

If you like swirl marks and scratches then by all means take the dealer up on their free wash offer So many contaminents in those towels that they use, you are just begging for swirls and scratches. Plus if they drop the towel on the ground, will they use a new one?? I think not.

I always decline the free washes. I wash my car myself noone will respect your car as much as you do.

Donte99TL

I drive my car through the touch free ones all the time. I live in Southern Cal. so I just get dust on my car. Last couple of days it has been ash from the fires we are having here right now.

But I would never drive through the non-touch free ones. Those will but scratches on your car like a mutha F@#$

NFLblitze1

LOL! there was a thread awhile back about this exact car....it was some jealous ex-husband or something and hey keyed the car to shit and dumped all the paint inside....that must have sucked balls majorly

dalieu

what i do is take it to a touchless car wash, then dry it off while im there, by my own hands with my own towels.

Adobeman

I seem to remember a thread saying that the touch-less ones use very aggressive additives to the water. I have also seen where people have claimed to rash the rims on the conveyor guides. So tough or touch-less auto washes...no gonna do it. Not me. Even in CT in the winter you can usally get out there with a bucket often enough.

bluenoise

Swirl marks, scratches, damaged mirrors from aggressive brushes, etc. Occasionally may not be a problem, but it only takes one bad pass through one to mess things up.

Some believe "touchless" are OK, but I saw something bad happen in one I was about to use. I was waiting my turn while a Lexus was getting washed in front of me. This car wash used high-pressure nozzles to blast the car. While blasting away, one of the brass nozzles shot off and hit the back window of the car loudly enough for me to hear the "crack!" sound. It didn't appear to break the glass, but it certainly would've dented the sheet metal if it had hit it. After that, the resulting jet of water made the sheet metal roar. I backed out and went into the office to get a refund since I wasn't going to put my car in there. The guy behind the counter just said, "Yeah, that happens sometimes."

(I copy-pasted this from the last time I participated in a car wash thread here. )

Nandito28

I should of done that too!

subinf

i wash and wax my own cars as well, but when the dealer offers a free wash i take it. ive stood and watched them was the cars, they arent under any time limit and they do actually treat the customers well. while I am only there for warranty work i've never been unhappy about the job they have done.

bluenoise

I let my dealer do it, too. Maybe if I had a black TL, I'd feel differently about swirls and cobwebs, but they sure don't show on my SSM. Besides, $150+ for a B service, I want all the "added value" I can get!

varanelli

Amen!

shaker31280

Do the guides that take your front Drivers tire mess up your rims?

I know our rims don't have a lip on them and the rim sticks out further on the tire. Will that scratch up my rim when it grabs it?

I have an 06 stock TL

JetJock

I'll NEVER let either the dealer nor any automatic car wash near my TL. If you're lazy and don't mind swirl marks, go ahead. Just the soap they use will strip any wax or polymer off your car. I'll do it myself. btw.....when I purchased my '04TL...I did the same thing that Fabvsix did.....I didn't want the dealer to even "touch" my new car. 2 years later...I still don't have even one scratch or swirl mark on my car. I use Zaino...it rocks, but needs several layers to work it's magic. After 1 coat, it looks good, but nothing special....you'll need at least 3 coats to see what it's capable of doing to paint. Everyone who sees my car asks if it's a "special" paint job. When I purchased the car, Anthracite btw....it looked dull and really didn't look that great...now...it's amazing what the Zaino did. The color looks deeper, darker, and shines like NBP without the hassle of a black car. I've had NBP on my 2002TLS, but it was too difficult to keep clean, although it was beautifull when clean.

WdnUlik2no

I keep hearing about Zaino. What exactly is it? a wax? It seems that many people are happy with it, but I have never even seen it in the stores I go to. Where do I get it from and how much is it?

chfields

What about using a hand buffing machine?

whatwasthat

i love the touchless ones where just pull in and the high power sprays go around the car and washes it. THESE are the true toucless ones!

plus, they do have the blowers to dry your car - this beats other places b/c unlike the automatic ones where they pull you in, it pulls you out too quickly when drying. with the touchless ones, you usually have 60secs to drive slowly out, or do what i do, drive in and out, in and out. use up the 60secs.


i'll try to post a vid of a touchless car wash. someone people get confused with the signs that says "touchless" but really isn't.

it'd be cool if someone did a vid of a car wash..!

Ka0tik

haha you guys have shitty ass dealers

i brought my tl to Tustin acura to get the plastic on the back of the passenger seat put back in (i guess the clips had to be replaced) and they gave me a free hand carwash

i know it was a hand wash because i saw the guy washing my car while i was having a complementary coke... and all of this was for the high price gas to get me to the dealer

it sure beats the hell out of washing your own car (jp, im lazy, i actually dont mind washing my own car)

WdnUlik2no

Well shit, all the acura dealers give us here is bottled water. The infiniti up the road was the only dealer that gives out anything other than water. soda, juice, you name it. They even gave me a boxed lunch just for looking at their cars.

Ka0tik

lol the box lunch happened with me at a cadillac dealer, it was pretty cool, i was just looking at cars too

my dad has a mercedes, and at the mercedes dealership every saturday there are free hand car washes. you wait inside during the car wash and you get to eat dohnuts and bagels; drink coffee, gatorade, juice, etc. and watch a like 80inch plasma. but it takes like an hour to get your car wash, i mean Newport Beach is the mercedes capital of the world.....

neuronbob

You can continue posting about this, and get professional answers in Wash and Wax.