Best places to take my car for a wash
 

I live in an apartment that doesnt allow you to wash or work on your own car in the parking lot. I also dont have a lot of time and I dont mind paying for car washes.

Now I cant find a 100% car wash (unless it's a detail) within 40 miles of where I live. There are places that run it through a machine then hand dry it which has relatively good reviews. Is it safe for me to bring my car to these places?

I could always drive my car 45 minutes every couple weeks to go to a real car wash... or getting it subtly detailed which will cost me $70 or so.

If you can find a touchless power car wash, that'd do the job just fine. You can probably find one at pretty much any gas station. Just make sure it's a touchless one and not those felt soft cloth spinny thing ones. The cloth stuff on those can be covered with small bits of dirt and they would spin and scratch your paint. Your car is going to come out looking like it was keyed by some nugget. So yeah, touchless.

I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but this thread might work out somehow... drive your car off the apartment lot and find somewhere you can do it?

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32123

Are machine washes with hand dry really that damaging? Usually the best ratings I see on yelp are from those washse

I saw this on youtube a few weeks ago... I've been tempted to try it.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8q2PiuwNqo"]How to wash a car without using water - YouTube[/ame]

It does a decent job with enough water spray, but there's no guarantee you won't rub some of the dirt back into the car without enough rinsing. They're in colorado and the valley, where there's laws and ordinances mandating when and how you can use water, so that's a good product to use over there.

Best place to do a hand wash is in a coin-operated booth. Bring your own bucket and wash soap, materials. you don't want to use their crappy brush or soap that smells like a toilet. California booth sprayers have a cutoff valve which saves water, using the machines can use a lot of money though so bring lots of quarters or use a debit card which can cost you $10-15.

depends on what kind of machine wash. The most common ones with huge spinning towels and brushes can be rough on the paint if grit from a previous car is still stuck on it. Personally, if I'm not washing my car with the two bucket method, I'll take it to a touchless car wash. Hand drying isn't damaging if you're using the right materials and (obviously) you washed your car beforehand.

Essentially, once you wipe dirt off the car, it should be rinsed and removed from the glove/brush/towel so that it will have no chance of scuffing your paint as you continue washing.

The video above is similar to the Garry Dean Method, but the GDM has some better principles to adhere to to avoid any paint marring. One thing the video above doesn't mention, as with any washing, is to avoid doing this in direct sun.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kY_S-fkgrE"]The Garry Dean Wash Method GDWM Infinite Use Detail Juice Anywhere Wash Bucket Waterless Car Wash Auto Wash Rinseless Car Wash - YouTube[/ame]

If I were in your shoes, I'd do my best to find a drive-in coin-op wash bay and bring your own buckets and supplies, as already mentioned.