Car Wash Scratches?

I had Tank, my ‘25 Bronze Oxide OR, out in the sun yesterday and saw a bunch of close micro-scratches on the paint surface on the rear door in front of the fender well. There were a few on the black fender flare also which is what drew my eye. I haven’t been out bushwhacking so I a thinking that the only place this could’ve come from is the car wash. I’ve only taken it through twice.

I just went out to the garage to take a picture but they aren’t visible in that light. I’ll try to get some later if the sun comes out. We got snow last night so we will see.

What do you all think? Is this an issue with regular car washes or could it have come that way?

 

Yes

Just call them trail pinstripes.

 

Are you talking about these almost invisible swirl marks? I’ve got a lot of these - waiting for warm weather to
Polish them out over the whole truck. Had them since new. They don’t show up well in photos.

 

The OP has never seen a forum fight about handwashing vs touchless car wash vs touch car wash.

 

Sonax perfect finish compound with a Rupes foam yellow pads and a random orbital polisher.

 

You wanna go motherf_cker?! Me and my "touch car wash and live with the results" boys are ready anytime! Meet me in the parking lot. I'll be next to the truck with the pinstripes.

 

Let me get my trident.

 

Claybar

 

I know someone who can help

 

That’s funny. Clay bar does NOTHING for scratches.

 

Can't compete with me and my "it's a truck dude!" posse!

 

They are not scratches those are swirl marks from cheap ass rags at the car wash . Using claybar will make it look like new .

 

Those are micro scratches. Clay bar will do nothing for that. Clay bar removes contaminants from the paint and gets the paint ready for the next step. It does nothing for correcting the paint and removing scratches.

 

I saw some brand new ones at a local dealership that had swirl marks, so make sure to look before you buy, and make paint correction part of the sale.

 

I can't tell the car wash scratches from the off road pin striping or the paint chips in the hood and grill from the gravel on our roads out here.
But I do know that a good wash (polish if they are really bad) and some Ceramic Coating makes them all go away.

 

I finally got a somewhat decent picture.

 

Car washes can be rough on paint . Think about it . A car goes through that’s super dirty and all that crap gets on the cleaners and then beats is into your paint . Not good . Have the truck polished and waxed or ceramic coated, and if you have the ability to hand wash properly afterwards…. Do so. I will leave my truck dirty before I will use any automatic car wash .I hate them

 

Are drive through car washes as good for your vehicle as a hand wash? No absolutely not. And yes, going through after a dirty vehicle does statistically increase your odds of having residual dirt on the brushes. Not arguing that at all.

But! I think a lot of the stigma around drive through car washes comes from two things.

1. In yesteryear they used brushes that were made out of a fairly unforgiving bristle material like PVC or something. Similar to a brush you would use today to scrub your tires. Even clean, those bristles could damage paint. Most washes now have shifted to that synthetic foam finger chamois (shammy) style that is softer and cleans better with less force and spin speed.
2. Car washes that are not maintained well. I'm talking about most of the Circle K Car Washes and similar. Gas stations are not in the car care and maintenance business. They are in the getting you on the road business and I find that their car washes parallel the culinary cuisine you find there.

I prefer to take my truck to a drive through car wash that is a stand alone drive through car wash. That is their sole business. They tend to take better care of the brushes and scrubbers and keep them spinning at appropriate speeds. What is the appropriate speed? Slower on the vehicle and then when the vehicle passes, it lifts, gets soaked with water and spins fast to dislodge any dirt that was on it. Slow on the vehicle is better for your paint and keeps your cars dirt from getting embedded in the foam shammy fingers.

So don't fear the drive through car wash. We have a lot of high end car dealerships (Sub $175,000) in North Scottsdale, AZ. I'm talking BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Land Rover, Aston Martin - they all have an automated drive through car wash. Then the Lamborghini, McLaren, etc level ($250,000) has a hand wash only - but they sell one car every two or three weeks and the stock is all kept in doors. I have a buddy that does photography for these ultra high end shops. He's on contract, not an employee. So are the detailers. They come out and clean a car once when it comes off the truck, and again right when it sells. He has 8 dealerships and they pay well but no where near enough to keep him in business. The lack of volume at that level allows them to hand wash.

 

Those pinstripes can be removed by wax or whatever the product you use that you trust with.

I had scratches on my headlights, now they are gone. I fixed it.