MS3 and automatic carwashes?

[whooosh]

Here's a funny story.. in the 80's my neighbor had a Delorean.. And no s***, he washed his car every sunday with SOS pads.. He did make a mistake once and used a circular motion. He spent weeks fixing that mistake. In 1989, he hired a dude to come out and polish the stainless steel to a mirror shine, only to be fined by the local police. He ended up selling the pos.

was that Marty McFly and Doc Browns Delorian?

 

[Sierra117]

Dude at 15-20 bucks why not take it to a car wash where they wash it by hand for you? a DIY for 15-20 bucks...Wow! They letting you use Evian water to rinse your car or something?

1. Zero cleanup
2.I don't have a ton of room in my driveway to do it, and my neighbors will get b****y if I do it in the street.
3. The bays at the place I do it are climate controled (though it doesn't matter when the air temps drop into the 30s and 40s)
4. I don't trust the illegals at the big name places to hand wash my car. Hell, I don't trust the legals. Only other people I trust are the detailers at the dealership I used to work at
5. It lets me give my car a good looking over. But I can look it over if I do it in my driveway? See #1 and #2 and #3 and #4

15-20 bucks, I do the full wash cycle twice, vacum, clean the engine bay, clean the wheels, clean the tires, get the interior all shiny, treat the leather, and clean the glass. Do it every other week. If my monthly budget allows, I'll get it detailed professionally.

Of course, I'm wierd when it comes to cars.

 

[redspeed3tk]

its all good untill it drops below 0 then i really dont care anymore ..i wish my garage had a drain

 

[chacon101]

Having owned my MS3 for just about 2-3 months, I am being militant about the paint. In my previous cars (all 12 of them), I have always been a DIY car wash place kind of guy. I did that even in the middle of winter in DC.

With this car, I wash it once a week and I do it by hand followed by a total dry down with a couple of towels making sure I do the engine bay and the inside of all the doors.

As of now, I have not one single swirl in the paint and I am loving it. Eventually when I start to see the perfect paint wear a bit, I might consider taking it to a DIY place and use the brush.....maybe.

I agree about the non brush auto washes, they just don't clean the car. It might be shiner in some places but if you did that about three times, you can still run a finger along the bottom of your car and majorly fail the white glove test.

Oh, and when I lived in DC, I just used hot water in the bucket. Yeah, it sucks and all but my baby has to be clean (shrug)

(silly)

 

[flipstylex]

holy smokes, speaking of carwashes, they have this new place opened up in my area. for 10 bucks , u get ur car cleaned by these mexican brothers, like 6 of them or sumtin, just sit inside the car and they do all the work !!! loL

 

[Haltech]

holy smokes, speaking of carwashes, they have this new place opened up in my area. for 10 bucks , u get ur car cleaned by these mexican brothers, like 6 of them or sumtin, just sit inside the car and they do all the work !!! loL

Yea, imagine the acoustics, sitting inside your car while one of the mexican dudes drops the rag on the ground, picking up the grit and small rocks, and grinds it into the paint! woohoo!(rofl)

 

[ThrillRide]

Yea, imagine the acoustics, sitting inside your car while one of the mexican dudes drops the rag on the ground, picking up the grit and small rocks, and grinds it into the paint! woohoo!(rofl)

lol thats what keeps me in business. Cheap labor=cheap work. I remove swirls, scratchs, and buffer holograms and trails just about every day. Sad part is the so called 'detail' packages at carwashes are almost what I charge but still done by inexperienced labor. I correct buffer holograms all the time from those express was and 'detail' places. You pay $125 and get a nice shiney hologram in return. I put a card on brand new s-class merc (paper plates). It was completely hologramed and swirled. Most likely from the prep work by the dealership 'detailers'. bunch of hacks!

 

[LaCroix08]

I have never taken any car of mine through an automatic car wash.
I usually laugh at the people that are in line to use them, heh.
It's cold here too, and I still wash it at least once a week, if you love your car, or even care about it, it's absolutely worth the effort, nothing compares to a hand-washed, hand-dried, hand-waxed car.. mmmm..

 

[Betelgeuse]

I am concerned about the sharkfin antenna, is this a problem with automatic carwashes? Also, in general, do you guys use automatic car washes at all (the contact-kind). I am also concerned that I don't have a silver car anymore and this red color may show scratching over time.

I hand washed for a while but I've been using a new laser/no touch carwash near me and it's been great. No problems so far.

 

[dan1101]

The touchless car washes don't do a great job, but they're better than leaving all the dirt/sand all over your car. Hand washing is the only way to get a car 100% clean, safely.

 

[Craighjr]

holy smokes, speaking of carwashes, they have this new place opened up in my area. for 10 bucks , u get ur car cleaned by these mexican brothers, like 6 of them or sumtin, just sit inside the car and they do all the work !!! loL

Are you up around Oradel? I saw a tinted out MS3 on Kinderkamack Rd. What place does hand washes for only 10 bucks.

 

[Ryz]

Winter + Salt = Spray Washes FTW

 

[Andrewsmc]

wash your own car. the drive through dosent even clean it properly. You need elbow grease to really get off the stubborn dirt.