Car Washes: Is touch less really that big of a deal?

mdrudy

mdrudy

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It seems that the general board consensus is that non-touch less car washes are bad for your paint. Is that really true though? People seem to say that swirls are produced by the foam pieces rotating around etc. What do you all think?

I personally try to avoid non-touch less washes but a brand new car wash just went in close to me and they have cheap monthly unlimited wash packages. I like a clean ride. It just drives better...haha
 
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Honestly I try to wash by hand whenever I can to avoid this. I've seen arguments on both sides and never really developed a solid opinion. I would think the foam has a greater chance to pick up silt and other debris throughout the course of the day that gets swashed around on the vehicles afterwards. Never had a noticeable experience either way.

Know how it is though wanting to keep a clean ride. If you're open to suggestions, check out Ultima Waterless car wash online. My buddy from the Subrau crowd turned me onto this, and after some hesitation I now use this exclusively, especially with the drought here in CA. If you have a few minutes a day, all you need is the spray bottle and microfiber, and you can give it a quick detail a few times a week to every day and keep that thing clean 24/7. My buddy keeps it in his car and spends 5 minutes on his lunch just doing a once over - always shiny!
 
Commercial touch-less drive through car washes use high pressure water that is very hot plus a lot of soap to clean the vehicle.
Downside ---> It removes your wax coating if you have any one there at all. I've seen this happen firsthand.

Touch car washes are pretty similar except they use spinning brushes and sponges.
Downside ---> debri gets caught in the system and scratches your paint. This DOES happen.

So unless you want this to be you .... wash it yourself at home or your local self-wash establishment.

But in all seriousness just Google Images: car wash paint damage

:bat:
 

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Hey Brian-- I hear ya. Good point about the wax removal. Never considered that.

And great image on the car wash!!
 
I have to wonder how often our dealership's washer foam/fabric parts get cleaned off... thankfully my 4Runner is pinstriped and such already so I am not as paranoid about using it.
 
When you stop and really think about it, a touch-less car wash isn't any different than the automatic dishwasher in your kitchen. I'm guessing the person who first developed the touch-less wash was probably sitting around the kitchen table one day thinking... "hmmm, if I could just get my car in there... wait a minute, honey, call the patent lawyer, I've got an idea!!!" The rest is history.

If you can find a touch-less operator that doesn't skimp on the wash chemicals and waxes, and keeps it in good working order, the results are usually pretty good. But obviously, there's a lot variables... and as we know, a lot of wash operators DO skimp on the chemicals, and don't maintain them very well. YMMV.

Good luck finding a good wash. If you find one, let them know you appreciate their good upkeep.
 
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It depends on what type of car wash. I worked at a car wash for five years. We did loads of maintenance to keep the wash from damaging or scratching cars. It was very rare that a car got scratched, it would something like a nail or fish hook being forced through the cloth to scratch paint.
What you have to look out for is the automatic car washes that are unmanned, usually at gas stations. They use tougher brushes and bristles that last longer and require less maintenance, but will hold particulates that scratch your paint.
 
I have been using a foam spinner type car wash for several years; over the last year or so they went to 19.99 or 29.99 per month for as many times as you want to drive through...I have never driven through more than twice in a month, so don't know if they would sever your per month for abusing service.

I have never...2 mustangs, 1 370Z, now this T4R...had any damage done to my vehicle. On busy days they don't always do a good job with the initial brushing of bugs off the bumper or the human drying at the end...but it usually is acceptable. If I want it really clean, after I go through, I pull over to the vacuum area (free vacuums BTW and FTW), and finish drying with my own cloths so I can also clean up the door frames and stuff. Still better than a complete wash, dry, wax in my driveway which can take up to 2 hours if I do it right. I am getting just a tad old to be doing that.

As a final note, I can say the hot wax and lock shine keeps the finish looking great over years in the hot Texas sun. I have ALWAYS gotten high blue book when trading with a dealer! (Well, except when trading the Z for this 4R...Toyota dealer seemed to think I should just give them the Z...but the paint wasn't the sticking point...they just didn't like the fact I got true car pricing before I went in and tried to make it up on my trade).
 
A couple of personal observations:

I've always tried to get back in line at the brushed auto washes. I think there's enough water/surfactant in the brushes to keep the dirt washed out.

I take my super white Tundra through regularly. I WILL NOT take my wife's Naut Blue through however. The swirls will be awful, caused by the spinning tentacles I think. Not the residual dirt. And the darker color shows that worse than my lighter color.

Beware terry cloth drying towels too. microfiber!
 
No question that the touch car washes damage paint. I would rather not wash the car than take it through one of those.

I try to wash my vehicles by hand every few weeks, though that is easier said than done. Otherwise, I will just go over them with a pressure washer followed by spray wax.
 
[MENTION=8329]MillerPKA[/MENTION]
I got some of the Ultima wash that you mentioned. Seems like pretty good stuff. One issue I have though is a huge nasty tree that drops all kind of crap on my truck. I almost need water to get all the gunk off.
 
If you use "touch" washes, you will have swirls on your paint. No way around it. They aren't scratches all the way through the paint and lots of people won't notice. So swirls don't matter to some. But I can't stand them. It makes me cringe when I see one of those mobile trailer wash guys just scrubbing the hell out of a car with a large brush on the end of a long handle. The off-roading I do in West TX and New Mexico doesn't require me to slide through thick, heavy brush. So no swirls from that, either.

Hand washing and microfibers are the only way to be sure you don't have paint swirls/spider-webbing. But again, I'm crazy OCD about it.
 
13 years of ownership and my 4Runner has never been through a touch car wash.

I don't have any swirls and ive only ever had it buffed twice.
 
I just go to the industrial pressure wash bays a couple times a year and hose everything down, 6$ gets me enough time to do the body and undercarriage and it actually yields pretty good results.
 
Well after this past weekends Appalachian Toyota Roundup I've got so many pin stripes it's not even funny. I really like wheeling but this is also my daily driver and I like to keep it nice. Oh well, I guess some polishing is in my future. Anybody got any good tips? I've got a random orbital 6" and the smaller one as well.

If I can't fix the stripes, I guess it doesn't matter what type of car wash I go to [emoji13]
 
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