Automatic car wash queen – makeover
- Thread starter jjkacz
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thundercloud
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- Mar 9, 2010
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I was thinking the same thing myself ! I am glad I joined this forum. None of mine will ever go through an automatic car wash that uses brushes again ! I do have a question though. Are the automatic ones that use water only OK to use ? The reason I ask is because the ones around my area have the ability to wash underneath your car. This is critical in the winter time because of the really nasty stuff they put on the roads here in Missouri when it snows. I do not have access to a heated garage where I can take care of it and to top it off I am somewhat disabled especially in the wintertime when the cold makes my pain level increase.
Years ago I bought a new 88 Ford Bronco II and kept it until a year ago. We had no car washes in our area with underbody wash at the time. Unfortunately my little B II eventually rusted so bad it was pathetic. I think that if I had been able to run it through an underbody wash it would have lasted a lot longer. It is still in use. I sold it cheap to a guy who wanted it to check on his cows and use it for hunting. I was a stickler on oil changes and such like that. It had 240,000 miles on it when I sold it
jjkacz
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- Jul 5, 2009
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- #23
What you're referring to is a touch less wash. They have these all over the Midwest. My parents live in Northern Illinois, so they are in the same boat as you. My Dad takes their vehicles through the touch less car wash whenever the weather breaks. It will not harm the finish, as nothing is touching it and rubbing the road grime into the paint. It won't clean your vehicle to the same level as if you did it by hand, but I would have to say it's better than not washing your vehicle at all during the winter months.
240K on your Bronco is awesome. It just goes to show that taking care of a vehicle mechanically can make it last for a long time.
Boy I am glad that I moved to Georgia
!
jjkacz
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Thanks, I too thought the metallic paint looked awesome afterwards. I hope to capture some pictures in the sun next week.
Yes, it did leave some residue on the roof rails where there was about 1 inch of black plastic. Other than that, the tape came off with out any issues. The tape was on there for about 4 days...so I was happy with the minimal residue.
Excellent work and a great save!
Thanks - the toughest ones are the best sometimes.
Mike Phillips
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- Dec 5, 2022
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I don't think it's just water, it's water and cleaning solution of some type.
For the underneath of your car it's probably safe and a great way to get the underneath of your car rinsed off at least to some level.
For the outside paint though, just keep in mind that if nothing mechanical is touching the paint to loosen built-up dirt and the film we call road grime, then something chemical must be taking it's place together with high pressure spray.
This is just a guess but a guess that I've been posting for years and I've never seen anyone add to it or take away from it, if nothing mechanical is touching the paint, that is a brush or anything, then the chemicals used to remove dirt and road grime are probably strong enough to reduce any amount of protection you have on the finish also.
Maybe not, so this is just a guess...
In a harsh winter though, if your car is really dirty, then a touch-less would be a better option then the Swirl Master Brush Beast type car car washes at it would be easier to replace a coating of wax or paint sealant over time then it would be to remove all the swirls and scratches out of the paint, (and remove a little paint in the process), like Jeff demonstrated in this before and after detailing project.
Mike Phillips
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jjkacz
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- Jul 5, 2009
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- #27
Amazing transformation.
I just posted this to another thread,
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/24231-what-would-you-use.html
So let's hope your customer stops running it through the Automatic Car Wash!
Great pictures of what a brush type automatic car wash will do to car paint...
The Finger Technique for getting your camera to focus on the surface.
Nice work taping the car off to save you time getting polish and wax off trim and out of the cracks and crevises...
"Polishing paint is polishing paint, detailing is getting the wax out of the cracks"
:xyxthumbs:
Thanks for the great comments Mike! I was really please how the camera was able to capture the scratches from the car wash. I remembered to use the Finger Technique that I learned from your article on how to take better pictures. Taping off the vehicle took about 2 hours to do. It was well worth the effort in the end, as I didn't have to spend as much time on clean up.
thundercloud
New member
- Mar 9, 2010
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I don't think it's just water, it's water and cleaning solution of some type.
For the underneath of your car it's probably safe and a great way to get the underneath of your car rinsed off at least to some level.
For the outside paint though, just keep in mind that if nothing mechanical is touching the paint to loosen built-up dirt and the film we call road grime, then something chemical must be taking it's place together with high pressure spray.
This is just a guess but a guess that I've been posting for years and I've never seen anyone add to it or take away from it, if nothing mechanical is touching the paint, that is a brush or anything, then the chemicals used to remove dirt and road grime are probably strong enough to reduce any amount of protection you have on the finish also.
Maybe not, so this is just a guess...
In a harsh winter though, if your car is really dirty, then a touch-less would be a better option then the Swirl Master Brush Beast type car car washes at it would be easier to replace a coating of wax or paint sealant over time then it would be to remove all the swirls and scratches out of the paint, (and remove a little paint in the process), like Jeff demonstrated in this before and after detailing project.
What you are saying is pretty much what I was thinking. Those car washes have to be doing something to the finish. Used to be when I was younger, in the late fall I would put at least two coats of wax sometimes three to get it through the winter. By the time you got to the third coat it got easier to do. Unless it was a really bad winter my fall waxing would last until spring. I will continue to use the the touchless carwashes in the winter and not the brush type especially after what I have seen here on this forum.
SRHTX
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- Mar 16, 2009
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Well, here is a Lincoln MK-S I did there at the dealership. They kinda were a lil ticked since the car looks better than all of the NEW VEHICLES sitting on the lot. Im the MAN
A4 1.8tqm
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- Apr 4, 2009
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HAHA LOL! good one
rops:That's exactly what I was thinking.
Great job! I bet having the car raised up was really convenient, but what about maneuvering around the lift's posts?
jjkacz
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- #32
I thought that it would make it harder, but it wasn't bad at all. The rear doors could be accessed by standing behind the rear arm. The front doors were done by standing between the two arms. This was great because the center post of the lift worked as a backrest as I stood there. It was real comfortable!