Car Wash Season Pass

Wait until you get a subpar application of real ceramic coating... The only real way to fix it is wet sand it off, and then polish the finish, praying you dont break the clearcoat finish, and start over.

Semi ceramic Si02 stuff like, Griot's Garage Ceramic spray wax, their ceramic speed shine and their ceramic wash soap, really keep the finish protected for a very long time, easy to use, and has a great shine.

I too used to be a drive through wash hater but, with the new laser technologies, microfibre "mop heads" and new modern soaps, and water filtration, the washes have, makes them worthwhile, when you cant always hand wash.

Guys worried about the scratching, and the dirty cars before them, the heads are spinning, most if not all debris in the heads are spun out, before your car gets there. If you dont use a two bucket method and multiple wash mitts yourself for EVERY WASH, you are doing the same thing, you think the drive through was is doing. Now with that said, would I do it daily, or weekly on a finish I love? probably not but, a few times a winter, no worries. Ski

 

Yes sir it’s hard to argue against ceramics. As I said I really like them. We do 1 or 2 every month. If applied correctly they offer fantastic results, but so do traditional/synthetics/polymers . It simply depends on what you want. Personally I love good old Nu Finish for my personal vehicles . If I had a show car it would be traditional . If I really don’t want to worry about it and money really doesn’t make a difference I’d go with ceramic. My only point is ceramic isn’t better, just convenient as they last longer in the right conditions and if applied correctly.

 

This for sure. Quite a few of the stealerships around here have contracts with the local drive-through car wash places. They take them there and run them through, take them back to the shop and hand dry, and done. Wheel it around and there you go.

With that being said, I used to always hand wash/wax my vehicles. These days, and as long as I keep my trucks, I run them through on occasion, especially during winter. I hand wax and do all the other stuff myself in warmer weather. My time is more important to me these days, and I am less anal about it all.

 

I use touchless and self spray in the winter. I have a problem with the recycled water. I feel that it could be filled with salt captured the cars done previous. Can't be good for your plastic parts either.

 

Just go for the regular tier, whichs avoid the "ceramic sealant".

Whether you should go for the monthly pass or pay-per-use is an economic calculation. In my area, temps don't go above freezing often enough in the winter to enable washing more than once a week. And then there are 12 cars waiting in line. 5 minutes per car and that's an hour of waiting time. Occasionally the wash is closed due to repairs and collision damage (like someone hitting the sprayer boom while driving in). So a monthly pass doesn't make sense for me.

As I understand, *most* car washes recycle the water out of economic necessity, and have good filtration systems to remove the salt and dirt.

 

I live in a salt area and know getting that crap off ASAP is a necessity to keeping rust at bay. I too am leery at car washes both cost and scratches unless it's touchless. I did come up with solution for my needs. I got one of those expandable hoses since trying to lug a heavy stiff full of water traditional hoses would not work. Also I got a sprayer with a wand and adjustable head angle and spray pattern for $15 at Home Depot. Works excellent. Can spray everywhere under the truck including inside the rear bed quarter panels without getting wet myself and the roof with ease. Probably better coverage on the under carriage than a car wash could accomplish.