arlinek

We've mostly/rarely used a car wash as we always felt that you start to see brush marks across the new finish - you know, swirls and marks, even though light, that definitely showed up in the reflection. We now have a new es and am wondering if the car washes have changed and all of you finicky owners are comfortable using them. It's not so easy at our age to keep hand-washing so am wondering.

LexBob2

I use a toucless car wash most of the time and a soft cloth drive thru ocassionaly with no problem. But I have a light color car. I'm like you and no longer have the interest or energy to hand wash all of the time but am still particular on keeping up the car.

SW17LS

A car wash with spinning cloth/etc WILL scratch the paint. It just absolutely will over time, the cloth is dirty, the water is dirty, the rags they use to dry and dirty. They scrape all the dirt and sand across the paint.

With that said...I actually do use an automatic carwash nowadays. I found a really good one, the customer drives it onto the conveyor and out to the area where they dry and do the interior, they spray the car off really well before it goes through to keep the wash media clean, the mechanism is pretty gentle (some are REALLY rough) they use all microfiber towels to dry and wear aprons so they don't scratch the car. Plus, my car is silver, and the scratches are well hidden. I'm just too busy to do it myself anymore, and my schedule is too crazy to have someone come hand wash them at home. The car wash is one reason I got silver this time.

The Jeep is dark green, and we also run it through the carwash. It has some swirls in places, but the green is metallic and hides them okay...and its just too big to hand wash.

So,if you are okay with the fact that it WILL scratch the paint over time...then use it. The scratches can be polished out. if its a black one, it will look terrible fast because Lexus paint is so dark. White, silver, nebula even? Go for it.

lesz

I've always washed my vehicles myself by hand. My 2005 GX, for example, has never seen a car wash in the entire 9 years that I've owned it. Besides the potential for surface scratches (from some types of car washes), I like to hand wash and hand dry my vehicles because it gives me the opportunity to closely inspect every inch of the sheet metal and to deal with any pinhead-sized stone nicks, surface scratches, etc. immediately. I also know that some car washes recycle their rinse water, and, in the north during the winter, doing so leaves the potential for salt residue in that recycled water to be forced into nooks and crannies where it might later cause a problem. My one concession to my aversion to using car washes is that I might occasionally wash a vehicle in one of the commercial washes where you pull in, deposit your money, and use their high-pressure hose to wash and rinse the vehicle. Then, after that process is completed, I still wipe the vehicle down by hand.

Canesguy

We've mostly/rarely used a car wash as we always felt that you start to see brush marks across the new finish - you know, swirls and marks, even though light, that definitely showed up in the reflection. We now have a new es and am wondering if the car washes have changed and all of you finicky owners are comfortable using them. It's not so easy at our age to keep hand-washing so am wondering.

Many cities have multiple by-hand car washes. Generally these cost a little more but are markedly safer at avoiding swirls and scratches.

SW17LS

I was always the same way, and I'm a hobbyist detailer and used to detail professionally. I still wipe the whole car down with a quick detailer when I get home to get the drips, so the inspection still occurs.

Its just that as I have gotten older and busier professionally its gotten harder for me to find the 1-2 hours to sit aside, drag out all the carwash stuff...wash the car...dry it...put all the stuff away...need to take a shower afterwards to move on with my day, etc. Even to do something like use ONR or something is a hassle because it still requires me to go from work ready to car washing clothes and back again (some times I'm working at least part of the day 7 days a week).

Then when you factor in I have TWO cars that I want cleaned at LEAST once a week...I just don't have time. So...I can understand why people use a carwash.

These are getting pretty rare, at least around here. There is one in Tyson's Corner I have never used, but thats the only one I know of, and thats 15-30 miles away depending on where I am.

As for safety, it depends on what they are using.

Another option is to pay a detailer to hand wash your cars once a week. Thats not that much more expensive than a high end automatic carwash (which can be almost $30 here). The issue for me is though, if you have someone come to your home or work to do it, the car has to be there and available for an hour at a set time every week. If its a detail shop, you have to either make an appointment or drop in and wait around...and I just don't have the time.

So, I'm left with the option of having a dirty car most of the time...or using an automatic carwash.

lesz

I agree that the type of car wash that you describe should be pretty safe. My ES is Nebula Gray Pearl, and I've used that type of wash for it a couple of times. I still feel the need to wipe it down by hand because, while their blowers remove much of the water, there will still be water spots on the finish from residual water. Since my GX is black, I stick completely with my own hand washing for it.

SW17LS

Oh yeah, with black you don't want to use a carwash. When I had my Black Garnet 03 ES, even letting anybody but me HAND wash it the finish would be swirled. But, back then I had the time to devote to it.

They dry it well and do all the windows well, wheels and dress the tires, vacuum it out. But, driving it home water migrates out around the mirrors and from the trunk lid and needs to be QD'd, so I usually just go over it quick with a QD and a nice MF towel when I get home...that I can do still dressed for work and move on with my day.

Result, car is clean almost all the time...and yeah there might be some light swirls or scratches but with the silver you'd need a big halogen light to see them.

Halfmoon

NEVER

I always wash my vehicles myself by hand. Winter is a PIA, I drain the hose so it won't be frozen.

Yes, I do have a lot of free time being retired to do this



.

LexBob2

The nearby touchless car wash that I use, has blowers - When I drive the car home most of the residual water blows off. I dry off the bumpers and other plastic areas, and then always use a quick detailer or a quick spray wax to finish up, and remove any water spots. This also provides a pretty good shine. Occasionally during the winter the soft cloth wash is necessary to remove the road salt and grime. The touchless doesn't do too well with that stuff.

LexHybrid1

i would pay someone to detail it just to remove all the dirt, clean the finish and then seal it. after that, you can regularly take it to a drive through "touch less" to get it wet and then use a spray wax/detailer product with a microfiber to maintain the appearance. the first clean and wax is the most work, but the subsequent ones are easier and require less elbow grease, IMO.

wasjr

My wife generally weekly takes her 300h to the dealer for the complementary hand wash and vac, while she has a cup of their Starbucks coffee. Although there have been a few times during the winter with the temperature so low they were not washing cars.

Poppa

Since I bought my es a little over a month ago, I've done the same.... to the dealership every Saturday morning... now I will admit it's not a great detail job, but the car is clean inside and out and it's hard to beat for free... plus they do wash it by hand..... before I traded my avalon in, I used to take it to a car wash where they run it thru a wash system.... guys did a really good job cleaning it inside and wiping it down after the wash.... Used this place for about 5 years or more with my avalon and never really noticed any major paint issues.... a few swirls now and then, but nothing terrible.

Poppa

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

I've used touch-less car washes and automatic, I took my 2 week old GS to car wash and the whole car was scratched. I learned after that I had opti-coat 2.0 applied and I safely use automatic car washes now and I can say I never get worried like before. During winter automatic car washes hold that salt in the cloth so I would be cautious.

MDames2

iTrader: (1)

Here in Southern California there are many brushless, hand car washes. They cost about $8.00 plus tip. but it's worth it to me to not have to spend hours washing two cars. Both of my Lexuses have been washed like this for many years. Their paint finishes are outstanding.