The Car Wash

[rodrigo]

So because it is below freezing out here and I had to do some driving int he wet snow/sand/salt mixture, I need to get the wagon washed. I am not crazy about carwashes, but in the winter, I have no choice. The wash I go to is a hand wash with a roller thingy that pushes your left front wheel along the entire 'assembly line' of guys with mits and spray nozzles.

You guys ever have any problems with scratching Peg's from these places...because there's a bumper on each side to keep the car from deviating off track, and the Pegs kinda stick out a bit....

any opinions, or am I making a big deal out of nothing?

[burchs1]

Don't do it. Find a car wash that won't touch anything on your car. Lots of gas stations have ones where your car is stationary and the machine moves back and forth around your car, no parts actually touch your car. I am especially paranoid now with new paint, spoiler, etc. When I used wheel covers on my snow tires they got ripped off several times by the type of car wash you describe...I can only imagine what that could have done to expensive alloy wheels. I think you could be OK with your car wash, but if your not careful I think you might be able to scratch up your wheels, but your tires may prevent that..with wheel covers they actually protrude beyond the tire sidewalls..Pegs are fairly flat so you could be safe, buy why risk it?

So because it is below freezing out here and I had to do some driving int he wet snow/sand/salt mixture, I need to get the wagon washed. I am not crazy about carwashes, but in the winter, I have no choice. The wash I go to is a hand wash with a roller thingy that pushes your left front wheel along the entire 'assembly line' of guys with mits and spray nozzles.

You guys ever have any problems with scratching Peg's from these places...because there's a bumper on each side to keep the car from deviating off track, and the Pegs kinda stick out a bit....

any opinions, or am I making a big deal out of nothing?

[flyfishing3]

don't do it. will scratch and most car washes won't stand behind their machines.

mike

[robert213]

Find a car wash that won't touch anything on your car. Lots of gas stations have ones where your car is stationary and the machine moves back and forth around your car, no parts actually touch your car.

Ah!!! The good-ole TOUCH-LESS car wash. Indianapolis used to have a few of those -- until this company ran them all out of business.

http://www.mikescarwash.com/

I can't believe all of the Mercedes, BMW, Acura and Lexus owners that have their cars washed there. The only decent car wash that I can find is the old fashioned spray-wand where I have to get out of the car and wash it myself.

[Mesoam]

i like the touchless car wash but the friggen people use their brushes and power washers before you drive in (atleast the one i go to)

i have struggled to fine a local "do it yourself" wash bay (pull in, use your stuff but their power washer/bay)

[Gregg]

don't go to the ones that pull your car along. Pegs are fairly wide (8") and there is a pretty good chance they will get scratched (my BBS did at one of these carwashes I went to). Now I only go to the completely touchless where the car is stationary, or a self-serve bay, or I handwash the car at home in my driveway.

[exexpat]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Self spray wash. Go to one that starts for $.25 and start with $.50 on "High Pressure Soap" go over your whole car until it stops, use a wash mit over all surfaces, clip the mit on a floormat clip, rinse car and mit with another $.75 on High Pressure Rinse. $1.25 and 7 minutes later, you are done

[dancetheman]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Self spray wash. Go to one that starts for $.25 and start with $.50 on "High Pressure Soap" go over your whole car until it stops, use a wash mit over all surfaces, clip the mit on a floormat clip, rinse car and mit with another $.75 on High Pressure Rinse. $1.25 and 7 minutes later, you are done

i need to find one of these....

[Volvoson]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Self spray wash. Go to one that starts for $.25 and start with $.50 on "High Pressure Soap" go over your whole car until it stops, use a wash mit over all surfaces, clip the mit on a floormat clip, rinse car and mit with another $.75 on High Pressure Rinse. $1.25 and 7 minutes later, you are done

Sounds like you have done this before :P

[rodrigo]

ok..its settled. no pegs and car wash

im about to install the winter (stock) wheels where the tire is a 55 (nice n' chubby) if I need to go to the rolling wash. but I think there is a powerwashing bay nearby...I'm going to check it out after lunch.

thanks all!

[maiku]

a guy came up to me while i was working today (at volvo) asking if he could wash his car there.

he was willing to actually pay becuase the local carwash place was all full.

i said i couldn't cause i didn't want to get in any $hit with the dealership manager (he's such an jerk)

would have been an easy 10 bucks though, but i was weary washing his expensive E-series MB..

the only car that gets handwashed where i work is my own car =)

[PorBleemo]

a guy came up to me while i was working today (at volvo) asking if he could wash his car there.

he was willing to actually pay becuase the local carwash place was all full.

i said i couldn't cause i didn't want to get in any $hit with the dealership manager (he's such an jerk)

would have been an easy 10 bucks though, but i was weary washing his expensive E-series MB..

the only car that gets handwashed where i work is my own car =)

What do you do at the dealership? For some reason I thought you worked at Bay Valve...

[Slater]

So because it is below freezing out here and I had to do some driving int he wet snow/sand/salt mixture, I need to get the wagon washed. I am not crazy about carwashes, but in the winter, I have no choice. The wash I go to is a hand wash with a roller thingy that pushes your left front wheel along the entire 'assembly line' of guys with mits and spray nozzles.

You guys ever have any problems with scratching Peg's from these places...because there's a bumper on each side to keep the car from deviating off track, and the Pegs kinda stick out a bit....

any opinions, or am I making a big deal out of nothing?

Beware. They all suck but my wife gave me a book of Mike's washes last year so I went a number of times. Each time was more fun than the last.

On my Camry I had a small pock of paint missing (about 1/2 in diameter round) on the corner of the rear bumper from where someone rubbed my car pulling out of a parking lot I assume. One day I went thgough Mikes and the wash literally sprayed the paint off the rear bumper. When I exited the 1/2" diamater circle was about 5" in diamater. The mamager shat his pants when I showed it to him. I filed a claim, but was later denied by the corporate office because they are "not responsble for damage to paint due to preexisting paint chips, scraches, or paint damage."

They also completely ripped off my driver's side headlight wiper on another trip. I didn't even bother making a claim on that one after they denied my Camry claim.

Then the straw that broke the camel's back. I go to Mike's a few months ago on my way to my best friend's wedding which I was in (tux and all). Mike's if you don't know is a pullalong place where your driver side wheels are pulled along in a metal track. After leaving the carwash 20 minutes later I had a blowout on the highway where the outside tread came completely detached from the sidewall. The tire guy said he never saw anything like it. Guess what side - driver's side. My tires were perfectly fine, and I didn't run over anything. They were stock 205/45/17 PZeros on stock 17" Titans. I guess they need to widen their track.

I have had enough of automatic carwashes needless to say.

[Ginzue]

My town has 5 booths for do it yourself wash and 1 traditional 'beat the crap out of your car with spinny thingies' washers. The do it yourself one seems to be 3x more expensive than Exepats one though. I usually spend 4.25 there. A good way to was is to do a whole spraydown with high pressure soap, then skip the rinse and do a 2min spray of hot turtle wax, it gets off the soap then starts to wax, my friends always comment on how I must have alot of time to wax my car so much :P

[Slater]

My town has 5 booths for do it yourself wash and 1 traditional 'beat the crap out of your car with spinny thingies' washers. The do it yourself one seems to be 3x more expensive than Exepats one though. I usually spend 4.25 there. A good way to was is to do a whole spraydown with high pressure soap, then skip the rinse and do a 2min spray of hot turtle wax, it gets off the soap then starts to wax, my friends always comment on how I must have alot of time to wax my car so much

You should still wax your car a few times a year with real wax. The "wax" at car washes is really diluted oil with other chemicals added. People call it wax because it "beads up" water. But it's not really wax and will not protect your paint like actual wax will.