Brand new truck. Touchless wash?

I work in the carwash industry, and to be honest safety really varies company to company and which equipment they decide to install. Hanging curtains are bad always as they grab things, carwashes that do higher volume are usually the way as the closed cell foam will be in the best shape.
I'm not a fan of touchless, but that is because most of them are not professionally taken care of, maintenance is key. I love diy in bay spray washes for my cars the best.
Ceramic coating are tunnel carwashes are no joke, they do work and look awesome, but they do not last as long as hand application.
If find a good tunnel wash, stick with it. They are really fast and the unlimited plans are a great deal.

To get the longest life and best look however there is nothing like a good hand detail diy wash. There is always risk with tunnels, but they are extremely safe, especially to vehicles in good shape.

 

Ok so spend over $ 30,000 on a Tacoma and let the paint get ruined on a tunnel wash.makes sense. Lol. Use the coin op only to wash undercarriage and to rinse before & after using your own soap.

 

Who has actually seen paint get ruined by a touchless automatic carwash?

I ran my previous 4runner through a touchless automatic every 2 weeks or so for 12 years, and the paint was fine. A good buff might have been nice, but it still looked pretty good.

There's nothing wrong with pampering your vehicle with a good hand wash. But, an automatic wash isn't going to hurt it.

 

I had one of those rotating drum things dent my FJ roof and scuff the hell out of some trim once but I still go thru the local tunnel washes with the Taco it’s white so who cares

 

Lazy people I guess, maybe people who don't have time.
Convenience is powerful.
If I had a nice truck if don't feel confidant sending it through most tunnel washes.

 

The soap they use is very harsh on ANY protection that’s on the car. Not ph neutral

 

Be gentle with her. Take really good care of the paint and it will last a very long time. The paint on these trucks is not the best. Here is my 2012 that I bought in October of 2011. Paint is like a mirror on it. Check out the snow reflection on the side of the truck, and this is even after a day of wheeling. Good luck with your truck.

 

The way some washes do high ph is bad, they do high ph all the way through the wash.
What I've seen to be best is to do high ph for a presoak arch, and then immediately switch to a neutral ph, I've seen cars go through 800+ times each year for three years with no difference, consistent wax helped a ton.
And yes I've seen people come three times a day for years on end, I don't understand it either. Who has that kind of time.

However, I would recommend for the picky person that in bay diy washes are the best for safety, just don't use the brush, they never clean those.
Tunnel Carwashes are safe, however* again you do not know how they have done maintenance so be skeptical. And that's the reason I wouldn't send my nice car through a tunnel I don't know.

And yes I've seen people come through three times a day for years, who has that kind of time?

 

It's more about time than laziness. I bought my 4Runner to drive it, not wash it. You'll almost never find me sitting around the house on the weekend. I'm usually out of town, or up to something with my friends.

That's true. But, a good wax periodically helps protect the paint from this.

 

I wonder if people would use a online application where someone comes to your location and takes your vehicle through a tochless wash.

 

It's a truck, not a prius. Wash off the much and stuff and keep on keeping on.

 

No, because I wouldn't trust them not to scratch my paint.

 

Actually a few companies have explored that idea, mostly the issues lie with double liability with the carwash blaming the company and the company blaming the carwash.
That's the main reason express tunnel washes are becoming more the norm and full service is falling out of fashion.

 

So much ado about washing a vehicle.

Guys, this ain't rocket science.

Good grief.

 

You're right, we should discuss more pressing matters like oil change intervals.

 

Or what is the biggest size tire will fit a 3" lift.................

 

I don't know whats involved with maintenance but I know the owner of the car wash is always there doing something. I know he gives people hell if they leave something in the bed of the truck because he doesn't want anything blowing out in the bay/tunnel and possibly causing damage. I always brought my 2003 through there in the winter fairly often. Again, there are no brushes or roller drums. Summertime I have no problem grabbing the garden hose and washing by hand but once we get into late fall, it's just too cold. BRBNNEAT, thanks for the tip about Best of show. That narrows it down pretty good. I'm looking to wax in the spring and fall plus maybe use a spray a couple times between in the summer.

 

forget the intervals. I want to know which blinker fluid is the best.

 

In truth, you don't need to do any maintenance to you truck.

It will run................for a while.

 

Yeah you paid for it anyhow. Who cares. LOL!