Moving to General Discussion so others can benefit.

This is probably heresy here but I bought a monthly membership at a car wash near where I work. People say drive-through car washes are bad for the paint, and maybe so, and I'd probably be more concerned if I'd forked over $40K for my rig like some 5th Gen owners have. But my truck is 15+ years old and paid for, so I run it through there once a week followed by Lucas Slick Mist Speed Wax. And it looks great.

I don't know about everyone else, but my 96 SR5 is already scratched to high heaven because of all the brush i've scraped by.

Only times I go to the self serve is after a trail run or 100% after i've gone and done any kind of mudding. I simply go so I can use the pressure washer and leave all my filth behind in their gutters and not my driveway lol

Otherwise I just run it through cheap automated car washes to get the bird crap n just random dirt off from time to time....My main focus is always keeping my windows (inside and out) nice n clean. I spend majority of my focus keeping the interior and windows clean rather then the exterior paint.

It makes sense there are a variety of responses to this question, just as the age of the vehicle and intended use of the vehicle vary from person to person. I'm impressed by the "just drive it" attitude of some. Unfortunately, I don't fall into that category. Mine will never experience the brush at a self-serve car wash and won't come within a country mile of a auto wash with brushes. I wash by hand at home and in the dead of winter, visit an brushless auto wash. If I have to use a self-serve bay, it's only to spray off the worst of the dirt and salt.

I’ve been using a small electric pressure washer I got from Amazon, a foam cannon and an actual drying towel, works great! I get that lots don’t have access to a driveway, so if you’re gonna use a self car-wash, take a bucket and mitt. It’s a pain in the butt trying to get swirl marks out, especially on darker colored vehicle, so avoid using the soap brush.

Your going to get a wide variety of answers here because 4Runners are used by such a diverse group of people.

1 group will use the 4Runner as a daily driver, perhaps drive a gravel road occasionally and never go offroad. This group with quite likely hand wash their vehicles the most, hand wax (or ceramic coat) and always have a spotless vehicle.

Another group will also daily the vehicle, but have modified it to take up every logging road, quad trail, back country trail and mud hole they can find (That's me). My vehicle gets washed with the self serve car wash to remove mud, a quick soap and rinse after that and has paint with many pinstrips.

a 3rd group no longer uses the 4Runner as a daily, has cut 80% of the fenders off, added 37" tires, has to trailer their rig to the trail head because its barely street legal (or at least not comfortable on highway). These people likely need to remove mud, and lots of mud from the vehicle every so often and likely don't carry provisions to wash by hand using the "2 bucket method". These people run trails with the Jeep XJ's on 40's and party hard offroad (i'm so jealous).

You'll also get a combination of any of the 3 above, or exceptions.

If your looking to keep a showroom fresh vehicle, you'll likely want to hand wash at home as much as possible.

Personally, i'm very simple as the self serve wash. I start with the soap cycle and wash everything that i feel needs to be sprayed, then I rinse it off. On my wifes vehicle, i'll hand dry it then wipe down in/out of windows with product when I get home. On my 4Runner i'll air dry it by driving it home and let the rest drip off in the driveway.

Whatever you do please dont use the brushes at the self serve. I saw a child washing the ground the other day...

When I go to a self serve car wash the main things that I will use are the spray hose and if it has the option to spray soap or wax on I’ll do that. Usually I just bring my own bucket with a microfiber brush/cloth w/ soap and some yellow shammies to dry the truck. Just try and do it real early or later so that you don’t piss off the other people waiting to wash their cars.

Wash it? You must be joking …

I live in an isolated, rural area where maintained dirt roads outnumber paved ones. My vehicle is parked outside.

That said, I do occasionally take it to a coin-op car wash. Two in town, one hand wash, one automated (brushless). I do so usually after I use my 4Runner to run my railroad rail drag around my property to knock down brush and weeds and the truck is covered in heavy dust. I also might wash it once or twice in winter, as dirt roads are sprayed with magnesium chloride. Slicker than greased snot when wet, but dries to reinforced concrete.

I have used the automated one, but it isn’t as effective cleaning the truck as good as when I get out and work it myself. I don’t wash my vehicles at home. I don’t like standing in mud and water.

At the spray wand place, I use the soap then brush. I don’t care about minor scratches as my ‘18 is already pinstriped from sagebrush, mountain mahogany and willows. Then regular rinse then spot free rinse. Then I let it dry by itself for the dozen miles home. Being silver, it looks clean for a surprisingly long time.

I’m more picky about the inside, keeping my T4R clutter free and wiped down. I shampoo the seats and carpet annually. I have OEM accessory HD floor mats and cargo mat.

I've got a question for the folks with nice rides who like to keep em clean.

Why would you bother even going to a Self Serve? Why not just spend the few extra bucks to have it detailed at one of those Hand Dried Car Wash Centers?

I take my 2019 Ford Fusion there and sure it goes through the automated wash first, but it comes out looking beautiful inside/out every time once the guys are done.

Pre-wash, wash, rinse. I've never had any issues.

I'll take it home and wipe it down with a wet microfiber and follow with a dry microfiber. But only if it needs it.

I believe most the new washes no longer scratch and damage surface. I have had 2 black vehicles and a Blue vehicle, belong to 1 of those unlimited car wash places. No scratches or swirl type marks, I apply ceramic coating every few months. My wash place sprays a foam before the roller brushes start. Went off-roading a few weeks ago and not have surface scratches from the brush

yea I spent awhile in Arizona (granted my Fusion was Silver) but I had a membership to Speedway Express i think they were called and the machines seemed very gentle, especially since I paid for the more expensive end of the menu options. Then I'd pull under the awnings and vacuum out my interior, dump my trash and use my microfiber towels to just dry up the leftover water.

Then maybe every 2-3 months I'd have a professional come to my home and detail my car in the garage which he'd spend like 2+ hours on lol

n that's in some harsh ass environment with all the dust, rocks, and extreme heat.

never use the car wash if the vehicle has good paint. if you use a bucket, never wash wheels in same bucket as the body of the car. Reco from chemical guys

I truly think the car wash thing is way overblown, we've become a society that pedals fear of everything. I'm a recovering hand wash-detail addict myself, I still enjoy doing it and can see value, but I don't fear car washes. Honestly what has done it for me is years of seeing my wife's car (which she runs through a car wash weekly for years) still have really no visible paint damage. The few times we hand wash it, and use a spray wax on it, it looks great. Does it look like a show car....no... but I guarantee no one has ever seen it in a parking lot and went "boy that ruined that car in the car wash!". If it was buffed out, which it never has been, I doubt you could see car wash damage from 10" away.

First remember that 95% of people driving around are using automated car washes, probably not even touchless. They have never hand washed a vehicle. Yet there's lots of "old" cars out there and their paint looks fine. Sure maybe if you put your nose on it (or it's black/dark) you can see some issues, but from 10' away they all look great.

As for the brush in the self-serve I'm amazed so many people worry about it being dirty. I always rinse and soap my vehicle with the wand, before using the brush, so take 10 seconds and use the pressure washer with soap on the brush first.......instant clean.

It's the same having a shop ceramic coat a vehicle, they all force you to pay $1500+ for paint correction when 99% of us are perfectly happy with the paint on a new car when it's clean/waxed and don't need or want a show car level paint job. However, that's how they force you to spend $2000 to get it done, then they charge you another $250 a year for warranty inspection. Meanwhile all most customers really want would be wash the car, maybe give it a quick buff/polish, not 15 hours of paint correction, and put the ceramic on it for protection ease of cleaning. However that isn't max profit for the shops so they won't do it.

All that said I do avoid the automated brush type car washes, because I have seen antennas, mirrors, trim etc. damage with those. I'll use touch-free and I still use a self-serve once and awhile, but mostly I don't because the ones around here won't let you bring your own stuff, and usually the wand brushes are so badly worn that they won't clean road grime off.