I would like to see some tests on that.... I doubt a coating would hold up that much better if the car wasn't washed a lot in the winter.
They still have to be maintained.....
That junk they use on the roads is very corrosive....
So here'd my unedumacated understanding,
Coatings are more resistant to degreasers and other chemicals that will break down traditional LSP's. A dawn wash or IPA/CarPro wipedown is considered an effective way to remove waxes, sealants, and polish residue; but are not considered in any way harmful to a coating.
In my limited understanding.
Most touchless automatics use heavy duty degreaser-type car wash chemicals because A) they can be bought cheaply and B) they will break down road grime without touching the car. Most people who use a touchless want their car to be clean when they leave it. They are probably not even concerned about swirls, but are concerned about major physical damage that can sometimes happen with brushed car washes (such as knocked off mirrors, damaged antennas, etc.). Those of us who just want the bulk knocked off before doing a rinseless/waterless or who just want to tide over until it breaks above freezing are in the minority. So, the best way to accomplish that is with some heavy duty chemicals.
A buddy of mine has a Red Dodge Avenger that he bought last year. He runs it through a brush automatic about once a week. It looks sort of orange and faded now, and the swirls are so bad you can see them across the street. (I know because last week I stopped by his house, parked across the street, and could see the swirls in his car in the driveway!). He doesn't wax it, wipe it down at home, or do anything else. The only touching that paint gets, is the weekly automatic car wash. So I can only infer that the automatic wash he uses damages cars. It's likely that others do too. When I watch a salt-and-grit laden car enter the bay, followed by another, and another, SURELY not all of that grit is off of the brushes, especially since there appears to be no system in the mechanism for cleaning the brushes. You could scratch a car with the finest Microfiber towel Korea knows how to make if it were dirty. We wouldn't DREAM of putting a dirty microfiber towel, full of grit, on our paint. So why would we EVER consider allowing a high speed, rotating brush that sits outside smack against out car without ever being cleaned?
One of the reasons I intend to go with a coating in the spring when it warms up, is so I can use the touchless automatic instead of the coin op (I just use a high pressure rinse at the coin op). As it is now, I am concerned that I don't know what they use in the touchless. Could be dawn for all I know. Could be perfectly harmless, could strip my wax and sealant immediately. Because I don't know, I won't use it. With a coating, that concern is gone.
I wonder, for those of you who are at least above freezing, why not do a touchless 'at home'? Granted, it's the issue of dragging out the hose that you may have stored for the winter, but a foam gun followed by a rinse is probably better than the touchless as you'll be using better products. If you're doing a touchless anyway, then just skip the buckets and wash mitts and knock it off with a pressure rinse followed by foam gun followed by second pressure rinse!
