importbeat

I read somewhere that you can take your car into any dealer and they will wash your car for you for free? is there any truth to this or did you have to by that protection package to be able to do that...My black 250 looks awfully dirty

al503

It seems to be dealers specific.

I would not recommend having the dealership wash your car especially since it's black. You can get swirl marks on black with a dirty look.

kensteele

It is likely that if you take your new lexus to any other lexus dealership, they will probably give you a free carwash if you ask and are willing to wait and they have time to do it.

WhoDat

^what he said....It's not a rush job for them, however, the time I have been back to have them wash mine, they told me it would be about an hour wait...only to have it done it about 30......

EBMCS03

I wont let them wash it if I got Paied $5 per wash for them to wash it... anymore... maybe.

Aclarke

I got nice scratches in my hood from the lovely car wash they provided with my 5K service... next time i know to say PASS!

AndyL

I would say a no-no. Not just a matter of trust in dealer's ability but who cares about the car as much as the owners do?

dkaplan435

Thanks to the advice in this forum, I've never let the dealer wash my car. I either do it myself or take it one of those touchless carwash places.

Kavistar

What do people think of touchless carwashes? I used to wash my 98 Accord by hand, then got lazy and started going through the touchless carwashes. I already purchased all of my supplies to wash my IS by hand, but I am still curious what people think about them.

Bichon

A touchless car wash in the ONLY kind of automatic car wash I'd use. I still prefer to handwash, since I do a better job, and don't subject the paint to the harsh detergents and solvents that a touchless wash uses. But for those times when you can't do it yourself, at least the touchless won't create swirls in the paint.

Stanzilla

Don't let Sterling McCall Lexus wash your car.
They scrathed mine all to hell when I took it in. I made them rebuff the car. Mine is black as well.

Turkoman

I also got a bunch of swirl marks with the first wash they did after I had to take it back in a few days after my purchase. I think I will pass too.

If you have a light colored car, you should be OK. If it is dark, then probably should avoid.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

It depends on how **** you are about your car. Dealership wash guys are not very careful. Unless you get a car straight off the boat and ask them not to detail it, you probably already got some scratches on your paint.

The touchless ones are not too much better. If you have an older car that has been through a lot and does not need to be in pristine paint condition, then use the car washes. It is too hard to tell how often they rotate their towels as they can get swirls on your car from drying it. You can also get a meticulous guy one day and a sloppy guy another. Too many variables. Obviously, some places are better than others. The hard part is how would you know. Also, if you have low profile tires, larger rims, and are lowered, skip the carwashes as those rails will be problems for your rims.

If at all possible, do it yourself. I am not saying that you will not cause scratches on your car but you will be more careful with your car and this will greatly minimize paint issues. OTOH, if you are not the ****, careful type, the I guess a car wash should be fine.

james6290

true for 90% of dealers, the ones who have a car wash (fact based on personal experiance)

well the two in columbus and the two i have been to in the carolinas and the ones i saw in colorado...