So i've had my SRT8 for about 2 weeks now and with all the salt and grime from winter she's lookin pretty rough.

i swore i'd never take this through a car wash but i'm starting to think it's the lesser of 2 evils considering what the salt might be doing to the paint.

i coach monday through saturday and work sunday through friday during the winter months so free time is non existent.

Do you guys take your rigs through an automatic car wash?

thanks.

:eek: Just do hand wash!!!

If anything, go through a touchless, but powerful wash to get the salt on.. The go over it with some spray polish/wax and mf towel.

:eek: Just do hand wash!!!

If anything, go through a touchless, but powerful wash to get the salt on.. The go over it with some spray polish/wax and mf towel.

Right....while i'd love to....and from march through nov....i can.

right now....i'm out of my house at 6:30am every day and home at around 7pm.

No time.....

And i'm not sure if touchless car wash's exist in NJ....

Sucks.

Yeah I go to paradise car wash, the power spray everything off before it goes through. But Im worried i will eventually get swirl marks , I have an 09 brilliant black. I only take it through when its really dirty and full of salt.

No automatic car wash, like Johnny said, a touch-less car wash or find a good detailing shop that does car washing also ;).

Well what color is your jeep?
If you have silver, i'd say do it as the swirl's won't show up. Any of the other colors, you will see the after effect..

Yea, I know it can be hard to wash it.. If there is a trusty car wash there, i'd go through it and then do a spray wax afterwards.

Well what color is your jeep?
If you have silver, i'd say do it as the swirl's won't show up. Any of the other colors, you will see the after effect..

Yea, I know it can be hard to wash it.. If there is a trusty car wash there, i'd go through it and then do a spray wax afterwards.

it's modern blue. I might try to wake up really early and hand wash it. it's filth right now...lol

it's modern blue. I might try to wake up really early and hand wash it. it's filth right now...lol

Lol, I feel you. One reason why the winter sucks. It snows, then salt comes, and then it is almost to cold to wash!

Yea Modern Blue is to pretty, I'd wait it out and do a hand wash or pay a detailer.

the OEM Goodyears have no rim protector... I would be way too worried about what the track would do to the drivers side wheels...

Lol, I feel you. One reason why the winter sucks. It snows, then salt comes, and then it is almost to cold to wash!

Yea Modern Blue is to pretty, I'd wait it out and do a hand wash or pay a detailer.

Considering i detail on the side during the summer....even though i legitimately don't have the time right now....i have a hard time giving my car over to another detailer.

I'll plan to wash it and seal it on sunday morning.

Thanks for all the help.

the OEM Goodyears have no rim protector... I would be way too worried about what the track would do to the drivers side wheels...Very true, I forgot about that, the touch-less car wash (that I know of) have rails and I wouldn't take the chance with this rims.

Considering i detail on the side during the summer....even though i legitimately don't have the time right now....i have a hard time giving my car over to another detailer.

I'll plan to wash it and seal it on sunday morning.

Thanks for all the help.

Sounds like all of us carfanotics are the same. :D
I could never let someone else clean my rig, even if I knew it were a hand wash and would look great.

Deal with the dirt, and wait it out.. Taking it trough a car wash will make you regret it on the long road!

Sounds like all of us carfanotics are the same. :D
I could never let someone else clean my rig, even if I knew it were a hand wash and would look great.

Deal with the dirt, and wait it out.. Taking it trough a car wash will make you regret it on the long road!


Good Stuff. Cheers. I've had my vette for over 2 years and it's never been near a car wash....i'm feeling the SRT8 won't be either.

I Take Jeep To Hand Wash For $25 When Its To Cold

http://www.cwonj.com/charitywash/charitywash.html

Go here to find a car wash. Look for the brand LASER WASH. The one I use has no rails, it uses laser sensors to "see" your vehicle and never touches it.
Since living in the Northeast, and dealing with Salt and sub zero temps, a touchless car wash is almost a necessity.
That's great if you have access to hot water hoses and someplace warm to dry the vehicle before it turns to ice, but for those who don't, these come in REAL handy. Laserwash makes the best ones and the G5 and M5 are by far the best ones out there. (I almost opened a unattended car wash)

On a scary side note...on the link above...They put this on the home page!

Regarding Jeep Grand Cherokees
The International Carwash Association distributed a Special Edition of Breaking News to update the progress that the Association has made on the Sudden Unintended Movement topic and discuss the plans for the future.

Included in this document was an incident report form for operators to use when such a situation occurs.

Latest Statement From the ICA
The ICA's position regarding Jeep Cherokee's is that the handling procedures, particularly starting vehicles in park, monitoring
engine speed prior to shifting into drive and placing your foot on the brake - and visually verifying proper foot placement on the pedal - is a carwash operator's best defense against sudden unintended acceleration.

www.CarCareCentral.com/SuddenUnintendedMovement

www.CarCareCentral.com/SuddenUnintendedMovementForm

Where in Jersey are you?

I'm guilty of using a car wash occasionally but not just any car wash. There's 2 near me that are meticulous and their 'wheel rails' are rubber coated (yes, owner took me down the line on one, the other is wider than my wheels and rubber lined).

The first wash is in Westbury (behind the Nissan dealership) on Old Country Road. They air dry the Jeep with compressed air so they blow out ALL the water and soap. The Jeep comes out TOTALLY clean. It's great in the winter when it's too cold to hand wash.

:eek: Never!!!

I drive about 15-20 minutes to go to a car wash. Its an open layout so its not like the machinery is gonna bump your car and the spinning brushes just graze the surface. They're also some kind of soft foam like material. I don't worry about my rims there either. I trust the place. My truck always comes out looking like it was buffed. Its blown and wiped dry with lintless cloth. They also blow out the cracks and crevices with an air gun and the tires are gleaming.

I just washed mine in the driveway this afternoon. It got up to 35 so the ice in the hose melted. While I was washing it, it began to snow. Boy was I getting some interesting looks from the traffic driving by. One utility truck and crew stopped to admire the Jeep, gave me a thumbs up and then drove off. This thing is never going in a car wash but I sympathize with those of you that have no other choice.

i do it by myself even when its 20 degrees out but the water freezes instantly so then i go in the garage and dry it off..

but u should go to mario hand wash should its in nj

never goes through a tunnel... only detail bay hand wash. $35.

Best case senario, give me an hour, my 3,500psi power washer, a super soft brush with some excellent wash/wax combo, even with the insanely hard water we have here, super soft cotton towls afterwards leave my rides looking deadly!!! This stuff is great, super foamy and a very nice finish.
http://www.kleenflo.com/en/productpages/products/851.gif

Touchless war washes, don't like them. Either too weak to do anything, or so strong you think the sunroof will blow in, dust shields bend and scrape when you drive away, any paint imperfections turn into flaking sections, panels flex, and trim gets loose, and usually nooks and cranny's are still caked with muck.

Hands on washes, expensive and usually staffed with unmotivated ex-cons, and/or children being punished by their parents. I don't like them for several reasons:
-never reasonably price for the job done.
-pressure washer work is never sufficient and even before mit-washing
-the following mit-washing usually missed huge amounts of area, and usually is never re-soaked in soapy solution to clean the mit after doing lower panels, wheels.
-even the goons at the finish end eventually get sick of you pointing out 38 different spots the other goons doing the hand washing missed.
- either you wait even longer for the goons to run your ride back through, or they use semi-wet rags to wipe, or as I like call it, wet sand your ride.

Hands on has way to many negative variables, and over the long run, at least here, it leaves your vehicle looking no better than any other form of automated wash.

I prefer to hit a do-it-yourself for a buck or two pre-rinse, then an automated. Find a good one with lots of foam/suds, newer brushes, they clean the lower panels and wheels great, are always consistent, the brushes at the infeed are never pissed off and consumed with stabbing another set of brushes at the outfeed for stealing their crack out of gym bag.

Either way, I keep a large roll of soft shop towel in all the vehicles and dry off the vehicle myself in the parking lot after it goes through any of the washes. Automated are usually cheaper too, way cheaper. One automated wash for the deluxe "triple-coat" is $14 taxes in, and offers free re-washes if it rains in the next two days. A triple-coat exterior here is $30, touchless is $18.

Hands on washes, expensive and usually staffed with unmotivated ex-cons, and/or children being punished by their parents.

LOL... so true.

One time I asked what happened to the head detailer-washer. The guys told me he was in jail. :D

LOL... so true.

One time I asked what happened to the head detailer-washer. The guys told me he was in jail. :D

LMAO I couldn't help it, like hell I'm letting any of those dudes sit inside while doing the "wet rag wipedown" for $20 on the inside too. I' scared to tip if one of them does well, they might stab and roll the guy if he stands too long with a fin in his hand, or stab me and drive off with my wheels!:D

So my dealer today GAVE me a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper, free for life theft activation, oil changes for 40,000, and some new paint sealant thats being used on Bentleys and Rolls. Gauranteed for 10 years and claimed to be extremely slippery. Meaning that it will stay cleaner longer. You can also take it through car washes and if anything happens, swirls and such then it will be fixed. They strip off the clear coat and put this on. Im skeptical but we shall see!

Get the info, definitely worth looking into. I don't believe in much more than a descent wax can compliment a good quality paint, to try anything else, well we'd all have it if we could create 10yr paint.

So my dealer today GAVE me a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper, free for life theft activation, oil changes for 40,000, and some new paint sealant thats being used on Bentleys and Rolls. Gauranteed for 10 years and claimed to be extremely slippery. Meaning that it will stay cleaner longer. You can also take it through car washes and if anything happens, swirls and such then it will be fixed. They strip off the clear coat and put this on. Im skeptical but we shall see!

Noooooo dont do it to a black rig. The swirls will show no matter what you do. Then its a PITA to remove them.

I'd say pay someone to wash it by hand or if you must, use a touchless wash. The only beef I have with the touchless wash is that they recycle and re-use the water. So... the salt is still there I believe

Silver, Nice gas mileage Bro! I filled my tank twice the second day I had mine got about 120 miles per tank. LOVE that Beast growl!

We have regular car washes of every type. 1 place is soft touch but I go to the touchless @Sunoco which is a bit farther and a little more money. Believe it or not it does a better job than the soft touch one(I do my wifes charger there) or even the regular one where the guys hand dry it afterwards. Also they have some guides but the rims never get closer than about a 1 foot to them. You drive in and the robot takes over, very impressive at the touchless. My only complaint is that it doesn't get 100% dry maybe 90% and then by the time I get home the back of my rig is a little dusty. Overall best damn wash next to hand washing which I tried a few times with a hose hooked up to the hot water. But on those very very cold days I was worried that the windshield might burst from the difference in temps. lol! Plus it takes me about an hour to do a good hand wash and the touchless takes about 5mins while I sit inside the warm cabin listening to my tunes. lol! Good luck! Come spring or even late winter I will start hand washing again. Cheers.

no brush should ever touch the paint...you will regret it...and wash microfiber cloth and if you dont have time leave it dirty....it will look like crap in the summer sun if you use any brush on it

Any car wash place with those rubber strips on the rollers will be fine, don't use the ones with those rollers that have the brushes that look like toothbrushes, those will scratch the paint.
Go through it with my black RT every 2 weeks, costs me $3.99, take 4 minutes to get it washed + 2 minutes to dry, then after going through the dryer, I park it and dry it off with microfiber towels.

Yea i wash mine in a car wash with soft rubber strips, no brushes. Than apply a spray on wax. I use Eagle one. The one that says wax while you drive and it is awesome. My beast ends up looking almost like glass cuz its so shiney.

HELL 2 THE NO!!!! Part of the dedication to the beast is getting that azz out there at 20 degrees and at least hosing it down. Gives you character. Especially when in the hand wash bay right next to you, there is some soccer mom hosing down her minivan.

I think my Jeep is the worst kept example of any here, if it gets washed it's likely an automated carwash, about once a year I do a full detail and about once a year I'll hand wash it to see all the horror first hand.

To clarify, the automatic washes I go to, the brushes are made up of strips of clotch, I do inspect before using them.

It doesn't matter what you use, at one point I/we/you must do the same:

-full complete hand wash to really get in the corners, clean door sills, the cheesy spots the cons and lousy kids never get.
-detail and wax. Whether we do it or take it to some shop makes no difference, it must be done to recover that luster and give a good dose of protection. Hand washing, do it yourself car washes , automatic, we all must break our routine and do it ourselves in great detail with a wax, or sit in a bar, watch the game with a few beers and shots of Cabo Wabo, and pay some sweaty, beat up, sore backed, tendonitis suffering sob to kill himself for 3-4 hours and do it for you. I do the latter, but no sweaty dude, a 20 something hottie struts around in a bikini just across the street, cranking tunes, so I sit in my driveway admiring her "effort" and drink beer.

Coincidentally, all our vehicles get done 6-8 times a year:D

Vanderhoof isn't that bad after all I guess!:)

I do the latter, but no sweaty dude, a 20 something hottie struts around in a bikini just across the street, cranking tunes, so I sit in my driveway admiring her "effort" and drink beer.

Coincidentally, all our vehicles get done 6-8 times a year:D

Vanderhoof isn't that bad after all I guess!:)

Hose Clamp...THIS POST IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS WITHOUT PICS!!! :rofl:

Please post pics of "Car Washer" PRONTO!

I take mine to any carwash out there, its not a Lambo its a Jeep.

I wash mine in the driveway.... It is just habit cause I used to own truck I entered into shows and a handwash is all they got...

PEOPLE!!!! Who the hell has time to handwash their Beast everytime it needs cleaning!! Thats nuts! I have a 2010 Brilliant Black and live in Queens NY, I couldnt even imagine trying to handwash my truck everytime it needed a wash....Idk fellas, the only thing I would say is NEVER do any wash when the temps r below freezing...other than that, get it simonized once or twice a year and call it a day....

PEOPLE!!!! Who the hell has time to handwash their Beast everytime it needs cleaning!! Thats nuts! I have a 2010 Brilliant Black and live in Queens NY, I couldnt even imagine trying to handwash my truck everytime it needed a wash....Idk fellas, the only thing I would say is NEVER do any wash when the temps r below freezing...other than that, get it simonized once or twice a year and call it a day....

what are you doing when the guys at the car wash are busy washing your car?

what are you doing when the guys at the car wash are busy washing your car?

Breakdancing to the music being played on the PA.


























IDK I just threw that out there for no reason. LOL

Here is my Jeep after about a year of going through car washes. The wash I used was an all cloth one too, not with the rubber beaters which are worse. This should be reason enough to NEVER use a car wash!!

http://www.cherokeesrt8.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24393&highlight=gloss-it

I go thru the touchless all the time its a trip!

Ive taken my rig threw a car wash 1 time and the guys spray it off and hand wash it b4 u go threw then its the rest of the usual drive threw car wash then they hand dry and wipe the wheels off shine the tires for 15 bucks it was worth it but i usually just handwash the beast if i dont hand wash it and theres alot of salt on it or still on the raods i at least spray it all off until i get time.

Hand wash only,My friend had to sue a car wash,really messed up his car,not to mention the soap,recycled water,and it just takes one rock on a brush or foam pad to really make your day.

Do any of you guys that hand wash your rigs use that Wax-as-you dry product by Turtle Wax or Eagle products? You spray it on while your car is still wet and then just chamois it off. I thought it might be a good in-between product but it's so good I use it all the time. The best part is that it takes no more time than just normally drying off your car. I've even used it in the cold weather and it still worked well. It's probably similar to the spray on wax that car washes use but you chamois it off which rubs it on your car instead of using blow dryers/vacuums like the car washes.

I do. I use eagle wax and i love it. looks like glass everytime.

Breakdancing to the music ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v8I5egzoMo

Ok so i'm going to revive this thread because the sunday i planned on washing the truck was the day after we got 15 inches of snow. so that never happened.

then the following wednesday (10 days ago) we got another 22 inches of snow.

Finally FINALLY the snow is melting and this sunday is looking good for my initial Wash, Clay, and Wax). I can't freaking wait.

Then monday it's going to snow again...lol

I'll try to take some pics sunday after i'm finished.

Cheers.

I Take Jeep To Hand Wash For $25 When Its To Cold

Where do you take it around here for $25? i know they just open a place on 69th and Elliot i was going to try but it is $35 + tip $50

Thanks.

This is why you never use a brush on your ride...even the soft ones in carwash's can still have small stones in them...this is the guy that parks next to me ...Brand new truck...cant see how bad it is till the frost fills the scratches...this will look so bad once its sunny....

^Moment of silence for that paint. :(