I have a dilemma.... live in Boston where you cant wash your car by hand from Nov-April since its too cold out...salt and sand are all over the car, I have brilliant black and I want to wash it but dont have the courage to go through a normal car wash as I am afraid the spinning brushes will scratch my paint, dont feel like driving 30 miles to my detailer to have him wash it in his garage as im sure it will get all dirty on the way back home. I tried the "touchless car" near my work and it sucks... has anyone with a black jeep had the courage to go through a normal car wash? Thanks

im scared. i went through one in my girls black car in daytona beach and it scratched the piss out of it and took all the wax off. it looked dull and was not smooth at all

Just wash it by hand i did it when it was 20 degrees out and it was cloudy it was cold but the beast look hot..

You're asking for trouble, especially the rims getting scratched if they have to go through the little wheel rack they have and if you have bigger tires they definately want fit.

I've taken mine through on several occasions for the same reason. That and they charged $10 more for a handwash during the winter. Way to take advantage. :rolleyes: But they are pretty good. I'm thinking of taking it back to get a full detail and point out all the swirls.

Touch car washes present 2 problems:
1) The track or tire guide can damage low profile wheel/tire set ups.
2) The brushes and spinning, wiggling, thingies are always dirty and rough.
....on top of this, the finishers (guys with towels) really do the damage to your paint at the end....by wiping and wiping and wipig with tiny dirty rags...it is painful to watch.

Touchless car washes are more gentle...but they don't get the car completely clean...you really have to touch it to clean it..

My method is to:

1) Get a good coat of synthetic sealer/wax on the car in late fall.
2) When the weather gets sloppy, use the spray car wash (either manual or automatic...but watch the tire guide, they can ruin your rims quicker than you can say raped ape) to get the primary salt and grime off.
3) Every couple of weeks I will wash my car by hand...to really get the baked on grime off. This sounds strange but it was suggested to me 20 years ago by an auto painter...I use a 5 gallon bucket of water, a microfiber wash mit, and several 100% cotton terry clothe towels or mirco fiber towels. I simply begin on top and gently wash a panel at a time...drying as I go. After each panel, I discard the dirty water still in my mit and go back to the clean water in the bucket for another panel.

After 3 years, my black Magnum looked very good...no swirls.

I use touchless laser wash with blower for drying with no problems when I don't have time to hand wash. Then I dry anything left and detail the rims and tires. I never use the touch car wash and I would never use them.

When the weather like below 32 I go to the do it your self bay the water is heated, I leave the car running with the heat up. Ive been to the car wash once , and only because i know the owner he's a car guy and he's always there. But car washes scare the crap outta me.

i drive mine through one every Friday. :) Brushes and all. its just a jeep, all hail the orange peel paint!

Find a good touchless car wash

I go through at least once a week. Yeah, there are some scratches in the paint, but since I have no other way to wash it, thats life. You know not all of us have the facilities to wash our own cars, especially those of us who live in the cities in apartments.

I go through at least once a week. Yeah, there are some scratches in the paint, but since I have no other way to wash it, thats life. You know not all of us have the facilities to wash our own cars, especially those of us who live in the cities in apartments.

Bill knows a car wash around your way that does hand washing and they dry the Jeep with a leaf blower. Thats what he told me.

Theres the Hand Wash place right on the other side of the Expy from me. I don't like them. They're overpriced, have crappy hours and I'm not thrilled with the job they do.

I generally hit the Little Neck Car Wash by Douglaston Pkwy on the way home at like 10pm. $7 for just a wash, $13 for wash, wax, and wheels.

When i lived in Bklyn there was and still is a car wash off Atlantic Ave , and washington, anyway its wild, they pull your car in the bay and the guys are standing inside the car wash with big foam mitts and hand wash the car while all the water and soap is blasting

$13 for wash, wax, and wheels is great! The place I go to literally spits it on, and it's $16. For $2 more you get the "simonize sealant" and tire shine.

normally, NO. In winter, I will try to go touchless if I can, but there is ONE place that has the brushes that I will trust, only because I actually asked the owner to walk through the wash. They dont do rust buckets or muddy cars, and every night, they actually wash the wash, as in they hose down the brushes and swirly things...

So far, aside from the normal wear and tear that the salt does, no problems. At least none that cant be removed with my normal spring cleanup!

In answer to the thread title.


:eek:NEVER!:eek:

50 deg out today... washed by hand... I dont have the courage to go thru a normal car wash, the rails may scratch my wheels and I dont trust those brushes spinning on my black paint.... plus I have OCD so if i see a little scratch I flip out!

anyone know a good hand washer in Boston area??

This is what 1 year of car washes does to your paint. I used this one car wash here at the beach FOREVER!! Minaly b/c my old truck was too big to go though anywhere and they washed it by hand and ALWAYS did a great job. Then I bought my Jeep and it could actually go through the wash. I WAS STOKED!! They also would hand wax it every 4-5 weeks too. Well, after 1 year of using that wash only, which has cloth not the rubber beater, this is what my Jeep looked like below. On occasion..... yes you can use it, but there's NO WAY I would make a habit of it. If you do use one, just make sure to get your paint polished(not wax) every once in awhile.

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt173/HarrisonZ/JeepDetailing023.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt173/HarrisonZ/JeepDetailing014.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt173/HarrisonZ/JeepDetailing013.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt173/HarrisonZ/JeepDetailing011.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt173/HarrisonZ/JeepDetailing001.jpg

50 deg out today... washed by hand... I dont have the courage to go thru a normal car wash, the rails may scratch my wheels and I dont trust those brushes spinning on my black paint.... plus I have OCD so if i see a little scratch I flip out!

anyone know a good hand washer in Boston area??

I hear you, there seems to be allot of OCD owners.

I have a dilemma.... live in Boston where you cant wash your car by hand from Nov-April since its too cold out...salt and sand are all over the car, I have brilliant black and I want to wash it but dont have the courage to go through a normal car wash as I am afraid the spinning brushes will scratch my paint, dont feel like driving 30 miles to my detailer to have him wash it in his garage as im sure it will get all dirty on the way back home. I tried the "touchless car" near my work and it sucks... has anyone with a black jeep had the courage to go through a normal car wash? Thanks

you dont have any brushless car washes around?

I do not have any around me in NY but right now im down in FL and these small brushless car washes are all over the place... !! i love it... for 5 bucks these high powered jets work really well

i hear ya though... what about just getting a warm bucket of water from your home and a big water jug... in the winter i some times do not use my hose... just improvise with some buckets etc... it works great

brushless sucks... its ok but on black you still have the layer of dirt that stays on and wont come off with touch.... :(

i hear you...I live right outside of Boston. I found a great touch less car wash in Southboro and have used them like once a week. Works great and no scratches.

[QUOTE=HarrisonZ;370773]This is what 1 year of car washes does to your paint. I used this one car wash here at the beach FOREVER!! Minaly b/c my old truck was too big to go though anywhere and they washed it by hand and ALWAYS did a great job. Then I bought my Jeep and it could actually go through the wash. I WAS STOKED!! They also would hand wax it every 4-5 weeks too. Well, after 1 year of using that wash only, which has cloth not the rubber beater, this is what my Jeep looked like below. On occasion..... yes you can use it, but there's NO WAY I would make a habit of it. If you do use one, just make sure to get your paint polished(not wax) every once in awhile.

Hey Harrison, whats the difference between polishing and getting it waxed. I thought it was the same?

Hey Harrison, whats the difference between polishing and getting it waxed. I thought it was the same?[/QUOTE]

Think of wax as a protective layer. If you don't polish then all you do is add layer over layer on top of spots and micro scratches. You really should wash, claybar, then polish then wax it last just to protect it. If you do it yourself it's a lot of work but the end results are worth it. If you take it to someone remember, Good work is never cheap and Cheap work is never good.

my $0.02

On the topic of detailing, I was quoted 3 hours and this is what they emailed me:
3 Step Buffing Process
-Cleaner
-Polish
-Wax

I stick to handwashes. :)

Just my opinion.

So far I haven't been thru an automatic wash. Thought about it a few times but decided against it. I just take it to one of those that has the pressure washer foam brush things. I just make sure to spray down the foam brush before I touch my truck with it. Probably still scratches it some, but my Jeep is silver. If it were black, well, thats a whole different story. Those are a mother to keep clean and looking good.

I stick to handwashes. :)

Just my opinion.

I totally agree

Hand wash:

2 buckets with a grit guard in each bucket

Meguiars Gold Class Soap

and I like to use 3 mitts. One of the roof, one for each side of the vehicle and one for the hood and tailgate. (I like to use the one from the roof to clean the glass on the Jeep.)

I use Meguiars to. I think it is great.

I use touchless laser wash with blower for drying with no problems when I don't have time to hand wash. Then I dry anything left and detail the rims and tires. I never use the touch car wash and I would never use them.


+1

During this past winter I took my jeep thru it at least once a week to wash off the road salt. The one I use is only about 18 months old and does a great job. Now that summer is here, it's back to hand washing for me.

I washed and claybared the Jeep then I tried the Meguiars three step Cleaner,Polish and Carnuba wax this weekend. I was impressed. I seemed as if it just got darker black with each step. I actually used an air compressor to dust it.

where I live we have these places:

http://www.splashcarwashes.com/category/1833/hand-wash.htm

it's on a track, but instead of rotating brushes, etc. they have 3 or 4 guys in the tunnel that hand wash it as it goes through (water jets/soap jets provide the wet stuff). there's a blower at the end, but they wheel it out and towel it off to dry it. the track is plenty wide too - plenty of wide tired cars here in ffld county...

it's expensive though. also, I noticed our tires don't come with much of a wheel protector so I am pretty wary of the track scuffing the wheel.

I am lucky, my office building has a hand wash place in the parking garage. they are open year round as it's warm enough down there.

NEVER go through one that touches it... ive heard so many horror stories (not even about swirls and stuff) but like SCRATCHES left and right...

We had so much salt on the roads here this year that I figured it was the lesser of the 2 evils, on the plus side it's a brand new automatic wash unit it cost $7.00 Cdn, sprays all the underside and had the wheels looking great!

Hey Harrison, whats the difference between polishing and getting it waxed. I thought it was the same?

Think of wax as a protective layer. If you don't polish then all you do is add layer over layer on top of spots and micro scratches. You really should wash, claybar, then polish then wax it last just to protect it. If you do it yourself it's a lot of work but the end results are worth it. If you take it to someone remember, Good work is never cheap and Cheap work is never good.

my $0.02[/QUOTE]

Ok thats what I thought, so a polish actually elimates some of the scratches then, if there not deep?

NEVER go through one that touches it... ive heard so many horror stories (not even about swirls and stuff) but like SCRATCHES left and right...

Back in beginning years of college, I worked at a local car wash that had 2 guys prep (spray off everything) and then it rolled through . . . In the two years of working there, i've never seen any problems or scratches . . I guess depends on the car wash, this one had top of the line equipment and they maintained it very well. I still go to this wash about every other week with my Jeep

We have Fuller's in Chicagoland and they do a great job--although it's $25 -$35 a pop. No scratches here either (I used them for six years with my last ride--a Mercedes) and I see a lot of high-end rides go there. I can't stand a dirty car and refuse to let salt sit on my vehicle for 2- 3 months.