Wayne780

GES

Touchless car wash is Ok, but it doesn't clean as well as hand wash. I use it in the winter when the temperature less than say 45. But other than that if I have time I prefer hand wash. Also periodically I wax the exterior, and you have to do good hand wash before waxing.

lesz

Even if the washing process is "touchless", I'm still concerned about the drying process, including who is doing the drying and what he/she is using to do that drying and how much care is taken to do it.

As an alternative to a touchless wash, when I can't do a proper hand wash myself, I prefer to use one of places where you put a few dollars into the machine, and you get several minutes worth of using a high pressure spray to wash and rinse the car. I take my own microfiber drying cloths with me, and, after the wash and rinse are completed, I take a few minutes to use the microfiber cloths to complete the drying process myself.

bc6152

No commercial car washes for me, dealer or otherwise. I also utilize the DIY with high pressure spray and dry the car myself afterwards. Does a really good job on the wheels which are tough to get completely clean. There's been posts on this forum where members cars came out with scratches after a dealer wash. Not for me...

ES350mark

I am a classic car collector and will never use any commercial car washes for my collection or my DD. You must realize that "touch less" car washes still use recycled water which can be like sand blasting your clear coat, rims, trim and lights . When I take my wife's 2015 ES 350 to Lexus for any service work I always leave a note on the dash and stated on the invoice DNW (DO NOT WASH). Further, she has the opt. 18" rims and no one can clean them well, other then by hand. The one time the wife used the Lexus car wash on our previous ES 350 I noticed minor curb rash on perfect rims prior to her dropping the car off. Hand washing might be too strenuous for some but cathartic for me, not to mention a great cardio workout. On the interior, I use Lemon Pledge, not only on my collector cars, but also on the dash, wood trim and console and gauges with a micro fiber cloth. The devil is in the details.

Nelexus88

When my 14 ES was new I worried about things like that, but after a couple of years of interstate driving and some stone dings, sadly its just another daily driver now.

jfelbab

FWIW, not all touchlees washes use recycled water. Check with them to see if they do or don’t. I used to live in WI and I used one near my home that was not using recycled water, The winters were just to severe to do a hand wash so I used the touchless for several weeks each winter.

I put Do Not Wash index cards on the dash and console of my daily drivers and also instruct the service writer to add that note to the work order. I don’t want anyone but me deciding to wash my vehicles.

My classic very rarely gets washed as it almost never sees inclement weather. I use a quick detailer, (Last Touch) for dust and fingerprints and a spray synthetic sealant (D156) to keep it 100%.

Also take a look at the MSDS for Lemon Pledge. It contains Butane, Propane and Isobutane, along with silicone. Are you aware that all these are very bad on polycarbonates, polyurethane, rubber and neoprene. Your gauge lenses are made from polycarbonate. Your cars leather and vinyl is painted with polyurethane. Your weatherstripping is rubber or neoprene.

IMHO, I wouldn’t use Lemon Pledge on my classic or my daily driver if I were concerned about longevity. There are SO many better products that won’t cause harm over time and won’t leave a silicone gloss. As you say, "The devil is in the details."

bc6152

Great information. Damp soft cotton cloth to clean gauges. Never a spray wax... Then there's the lemon smell...

ES350mark

We are on the same page when it comes to our classics. I have five in my stable and check Doppler radar before I take any out of my warehouse. Although not trailer queens, they are waxers and driven and have never needed to wash them as well. Mequiars QD is our friend and my PC polisher with correct foam pads is great for waxing, not only my classics but my DD as well.

Thanks for your reply regarding Lemon Pledge. I was not aware of the contents and started using it years ago on my 1st Muscle car. Never had any problems, but now aware of the potential issues. FWIW,, I learned the Lemon Pledge trick from Harley Davidson owners that used the product on there tanks and gauge faces before and during shows. I agree there are excellent products out there and would not touch any of my vehicles, classic or DD without a micro fiber towel in one hand.

Warm Regards,
Mark

Maikerusan

I am with you on this one. It's just a car, and really not that big a deal to me. Yes, I like it, but I don't worship it.

When you live in a part of the world where they put salt and sand on the roads and you have to drive them in winter, you would go crazy trying to keep a car pristine during the winter season. And in the other seasons I have better things to do that clean tires, rims and the like.

Wayne780

jfelbab

I was told that it depends on local regulations. Ask the operator(s) of the touches in your area.

FWIW, touchless washes typically use stronger detergents than you would use in a hand wash. There is then a need to replenish your protection regularly or use a coating on your car. I typically would run the vehicles home and use UQW (D156) to keep the protection up. Given the salt and winter chemical deicers used where I lived, I felt it was better to use a touchless than to leave this stuff on the paint. My last DD was ten years old when I traded it and the paint was in excellent condition.

Poppa

When I bought my car in January of 2014, the new car sales manager informed me that I could bring my car in for free car washes for as long as I owned the car.. once a month, once a week, once a day if I wanted.. and I did take it to be washed, usually once a week or every 2 weeks at the most..... then sometime back I had a small accident and my car was at my buddy's body shop to be repaired... I went up to check on it one day and he asked me who had been washing my car and then he pulled it out in the sun light and i could see dozens of very minute little scratches in the paint...He said it looked like "brush" scratches... so the next time I was at the dealership I walked back and sure enough the workers were using long handle brushes to wash the cars... Normally I wash my own but when it get's to be summer time in Louisiana I don't wash it my self.. I still get it washed at the dealership once or twice a month, but I go back there and tell them to hand wash it, no brushes... and I stay there til they're finished with it... when I want a "better" wash I take it to a local car wash where I get it had washed for an extra ten bucks... but they do a really good job of cleaning the inside of the car as well as getting the door jams nice and clean... plus, they use garden hose to wet and rinse, no recycled water / and 2 or 3 mitts when washing, and all of it in front of me... Now my 4 runner, I take it to the same place, but run thru the actual car wash. but not my lexi

Roland

Maikerusan

I really don't know what to tell you about the Esso washes in Canada. It looks like the water is recycled to some degree, but the rinse may be clean water. Some are concerned that the salt accumulates in the recycled water and you are, in essence, spraying more briny water on your car, which obviously no one wants. It may be better to find one of those wand type self serve washes if you can be sure the water is fresh, which it likely is.

I see you live in Alta, so you have pretty cold winters. It may be better for the vehicle to do fewer washes rather than more . I have read some reports that constant washing in winter with the salt etc actually does more damage to the car than just leaving it alone , particularly in sub zero temperatures.

Not sure there is a definitive answer to this issue.

lesz

One of the problems with using a car wash that recycles its water is that when the high pressure washers spray that salty water onto the vehicle, they force the salt into nooks and crannies where the salt might not otherwise accumulate, and that salt has the potential to start the process of corrosion.

I have no idea whether it is true or not, but I've read that, when temperatures are well below freezing, the ability of salt to cause corrosion is minimal and that the potential to cause corrosion only increases when the temperatures are near or above the freezing level. Thus, the thinking is that there is no real need to do regular washes during the coldest part of the winter but that, when winter breaks, that is when it becomes important to do a thorough job of removing the salt from the surfaces of the car. That is also the reason why there is greater potential for rust when a car is kept in a heated garage than there is when a car is kept in an unheated garage.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/wheelsn...2%80%99d-think

The following is a quote from that article.

" The effect of road salt on corrosion drops along with temperature. During cold stretches, especially when temperatures are under -21 degrees Celsius, it's better to not wash at all. ... However, on days where temperatures are just below the freezing point or greater, washing a vehicle's exterior will do it a lot of good."