Recommended Car Wash Options?

[booeyoh]

I have heard horror stories of putting the Rivian through any automated car wash, and to be honest, I have loved the tranquility of hand washing the car, but now that cold weather is here I am wondering if anyone has had good experiences with any of the automated car wash places out there like Moo Moo car wash, etc?

I know there are touchless ones, and brushless and probably other types.

Any feedback on what you have used and would you recommend it?

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[Donald Stanfield]

I use the local gas station automatic wash. Not many people use it, it’s touchless and seems to work pretty well. Of course I have a ceramic coating and half the truck has PPF so I’m not as worried about scratching. I did my Audi for a year using that wash about once a week and it held up well.
IMO a hand wash is gold standard but touchless is next in decency. In fact I’ll probably take it through today thinking about it.

 

[goldburger]

Hiya.

I like going through an automatic car wash-- what are the things to be concerned with? I have done it once early on otherwise my truck has only been washed by Rivian during service appointments whatever way they wash cars. I have a *ton* of swirls on the hood and I am unsure of this is just the way it always was or the car wash did it.... any thoughts?

 

[jeeden]

So the real issue people have with automated car washes is the damage to paint from the cloths and/or brushes. It creates "swirl marks" in the paint (I'm not sure on why it creates a swirl and not a line etc, maybe the motion).

The concern is that they will scratch the paint because they are not clean (still contain dirt from previous cars) or that the clothes are not soft enough, etc. Understand that this is coming from a crowd that doesn't just hand wash their cars. They use a two bucket method (dip a microfiber into a clean bucket of soapy water with a grit guard in the bottom and wipe the dirt off the car by making it float off the paint as if you are wiping a bottle of nitroglycerin, then wring the cloth out over the ground, then dip into a second bucket of clean water and agitate to get all the remaining dirt off of the cloth, then repeat).

I would say to do what you like. If you are a car detailing enthusiast, then great. If not, most damage can be corrected by a detailing shop if you want. If I want to keep the car pristine for someone else I'll wrap it and park it in a garage. These are vehicles made to be used in the outside world and while I care a lot for my vehicles and avoid doing the obvious things that would damage them, I also have to live my life. I don't have time to always hand wash, I have other things like kids, work, vacations, etc, etc, etc.

We had a GREAT car wash near my house that had a train station theme with a LONG tunnel with crazy soft brushes and an interior cleaning building with conveyor belts for the cars. It has since changed hands and I don't like the way the new owners are running it and it has gotten crazy expensive, but I used to go there often and joke it was "my therapy" to get to watch my car get cleaned so well. My vehicles probably had some swirls in them and I know they had some minor scratches from skis, kids, rocks, etc, but I always got top dollar for them when I sold them down the road.

If getting a car wash is what you enjoy and it is that or keep the car dirty, get the car wash and enjoy!

 

[Foobar]

Touchless car wash is the only thing I'll trust and only to do a quick clean up of winter road salt grime. Definitely avoid anything with brushes.

 

[Count Orlok]

cheap touchless auto or the local handjob (more expensive but induces happiness at the end)

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