Hey guys, I just had a question. I live up in Canada and my G coupe is my daily driver. The winters here are pretty bad with all the snow that falls first off, and secondly all the salt/sand/gravel they dump the roads with. I try and wash the car myself every time I get a chance...generally every 3-4 weeks (pretty much the only sunny day of the month)

My question is regarding the touch less car washes. If the car is getting really dirty which it has, I usually take it to a touch less carwash in my area. I was completely fine with it until one of my friends said he heard that touch less car wash's aren't good for your paint. Something about the pressure being a bit high so it removes parts of your clear coat? Does anyone know if this is true? And I have searched the forums, and yes I know washing it myself is the best way, its just its not really possible when its freeeeeeezing cold outside?

thanks

 

There are at least 2 problems with "touchless carwashes" that I can think of. 1) since it is touchless, the soaps they use to cut through dirt/grime are rather harsh, which means it will likely strip some wax/sealant on your paint. 2.) these touchless washes use very high pressure water jets to "blast" dirt off of your car....but in my opinion the high pressure is just blowing around all of that dirt which will likely etch your paint and give it swirls.

Your best bet is to use a rinsefree car wash (you use like 3 gallons of water for a full wash) like Optimum No-Rinse more frequently (you can wash your car in your garage if you have one). That way you're keeping more salt/sand off of your car, with less chance for paint etching.

Hope this helps and answers your question.

 

I agree with KnoxvilleG37

For more information see article " Touchless Car Wash” in the Detailing School section of Detailing Bliss forum...

 

ya harsh chemicals should be your biggest worry. pressure too i guess. just use a water hose and spray off your car often. it doesnt need to be cleaned as much as you need to get off all the salt and crap.

 

alright, thanks a lot. Yea I found a local supplier that carries the optimum no rinse, ill definitely give that a try. It seems like a good product to even use just between car washes to keep the car looking clean.

 

I live in Boston area - also lots of snow, salt, and sand. I've used the ONR twice this winter. When it got above 40 degrees or so I brought the car to a self service bay and rinsed as much salt and sand as I could using low pressure. I then used ONR in my back yard and it worked great, even with a lot of salt on the car. I recommend using a separate wash and rinse bucket, and adding a capful of ONR to the rinse bucket.

 

where in vancouver did you find ONR?

 

One word... NOOOOOOOOO!

 

+1000, my thoughts exactly.

I don't use ONR but use QEW, which basically the same type of product.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I loved ONR this winter, but now that it's warm, I'm all about being outside in the fresh air. Thanks for the nice reply! You get 2