PSA: Do not use auto car washes

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by mact

lolwut

That has got to be one of the most illogical statements ever.

Clembo is making a totally valid point. Pressurized water has the energy to cut and abrade. While ultra high pressures makes it happen faster, lower PSI water pressure will still do it. Mountains are carved by raindrops and rivers, that would be lower PSI than most car washes. This is true even when the water carries a very low sediment load.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by FRiSson

Clembo is making a totally valid point. Pressurized water has the energy to cut and abrade. While ultra high pressures makes it happen faster, lower PSI water pressure will still do it. Mountains are carved by raindrops and rivers, that would be lower PSI than most car washes. This is true even when the water carries a very low sediment load.

Thats like saying "I'm never getting a carwash again because the Grand Canyon was carved out by that sh*t."



And, just for the sake of the anal records department, mountains are usually broken down by wind erosion and seismic activity more than water. So now I am just going to keep my car in a bubble and out of California.

[Books]

I don't know why we are still arguing over the validity of the touchless wash...

(obviously)
Hand wash > touchless > touch (never do this!)

It's cool that some of you have the time to hand wash and have access to a hose, but I don't for the most part. A touchless is the next best option.

[SloS13]

I'm not drinking water, people have drowned in that shit.

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Thats like saying "I'm never getting a carwash again because the Grand Canyon was carved out by that sh*t."



And, just for the sake of the anal records department, mountains are usually broken down by wind erosion and seismic activity more than water. So now I am just going to keep my car in a bubble and out of California.

I am at a loess here.

[n2oinferno]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Thats like saying "I'm never getting a carwash again because the Grand Canyon was carved out by that sh*t."



And, just for the sake of the anal records department, mountains are usually broken down by wind erosion and seismic activity more than water. So now I am just going to keep my car in a bubble and out of California.

Well, if some people would stop running their cars through car washes 24/7 for tens of thousands of years, we wouldn't have cars turning into canyons, now would we?

Originally Posted by Books

I don't know why we are still arguing over the validity of the touchless wash...

(obviously)
Hand wash > touchless > touch (never do this!)

It's cool that some of you have the time to hand wash and have access to a hose, but I don't for the most part. A touchless is the next best option.

I go through the touch washes every once in a while. I admit it. I have three reasons for it.
1. Lazy
2. I don't mind spending a day with the polisher if I have to, and the white Camry doesn't show defects nearly as bad as a dark color.
3. My kid likes it.

[BoostinIX]

I'll stick to Adam's Car Shampoo :P

Sorry, that sucks.

[Clembo]

Originally Posted by mact

lolwut

That has got to be one of the most illogical statements ever.

Sorry you're confused - I was just using this as an extreme example, more for humor than anything due to the incongruity of it. It is just my personal preference to avoid pressurized or chemically enhanced water, no more than that. And if that upsets you, I apologize.

[Clembo]

Originally Posted by Mac1235

The difference between a water jet that cuts 4 inch thick pieces of steel and the water jet used in touchless car washes is staggering. This is like comparing a firecracker to a nuclear bomb, they're orders of magnitude different. I am seeing a lot of people on this thread who are "picky" about their car's finish but have never heard or tried opticoat. You must not be that picky.

Go to a good opticoater and they will clean your car professionally, repair any paint issues you have, and put opticoat on and then you can go through thousands of touchless car washes with no problem at all. In fact, if you would just go get opticoat this thread and argument wouldn't be valid. Good luck and god speed.

I would consider opticoat if I were younger and, believe it or not, I am that picky. But I was raised in the era of Simonize Vista and Glass Wax and old dogs aren't always good at learning new tricks. I'm very happy with my own time-tested detailing routine and, being retired, I actually enjoy the 'quality time' with my cars.

Thank you for your suggestion and if you read my previous post I was only using the water jet comparison as an extreme example for humor while mentioning my own personal preference. I apologize if you saw it any other way.

I didn't mean to start a s*itstorm here folks!

[Jesse]

touchless wash bays are awesome, but i will never use a conventional auto car wash

[Pekingduck]

I thought this thread was about prostate specific antigen, lol my mistake

[blackraven1425]

Originally Posted by burnt toast

if a simple polish can easily remove the topmost layer of clearcoat from a car, what can these mystery chemicals in carwashes do?

Polishes are done with a relatively fine abrasive compound, not a solvent or detergent. It's the same idea as grit being pushed into and rubbed against your paint by a sponge, just as a much finer, more controlled level. They have nothing to do with chemically dissolving the clear coat to get it off.

the asphault under the rain gutters did not show any wear whatsoever. and keep in mind i live in the seattle area. there is much more rain water at higher speeds hitting the asphault under the rain gutters than the amount of soapy water runoff from the prewash bay throughout the course of a year.

Quite a few chemicals that will dissolve oils will dissolve asphalt over time - it's oil soluble, since it's really similar to oil chemically, just longer chains of atoms that make it more dense. It makes sense that a car wash would use this type of chemical, since they'd probably have it to take off the wax before they apply new wax. I'm surprised this area wasn't made of concrete, to be honest - it sounds like a design flaw from when the car was built, or a poor quality asphalt.

About wax, it's way too soft and too thin to provide nearly any protection against damage. Opticoat and even clear coat are much harder substances.

[blackraven1425]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Thats like saying "I'm never getting a carwash again because the Grand Canyon was carved out by that sh*t."

And, just for the sake of the anal records department, mountains are usually broken down by wind erosion and seismic activity more than water. So now I am just going to keep my car in a bubble and out of California.

Great analogy. The Grand Canyon is made of limestone, which, surprise, is a type of rock that dissolves in water. Corals actually create that kind of rock by pulling the chemicals from the water themselves, and it gets compressed into limestone.

[RedLeader]

Originally Posted by SloS13

I'm not drinking water, people have drowned in that shit.

"I don't drink water, fish fuck in it!"

Back on topic, there's only two car washes I've ever taken my car to and after multiple visits, I've never had an issue with it. Obviously after I get my car wrapped next weekend, I'll have to be careful how and where I wash it, but I'll cross that bridge when I reach it. Sucks for the OP, but at least the damage is getting fixed. I would like to see a picture of this car wash that was low enough to drag a hardpoint across his roof.