Service Station car wash, good or bad?

dwayneburke

Hi

Can anyone tell me if service station car washes i.e. unattended are bad for a cars paint work etc? Some people i know would not touch them with a barge pole

D

JoeA3

Yeah, don't do it, unless you don't particularly care about your paintwork! It stands to reason... I'd liken it to using a kango hammer to crack open a walnut.

these things hammer the car with gritty brushes, probably missing half of it (the sills, wheels, etc) and scratching the bits it does do to bits! And the machine will be full of some cheap detergent, stripping any protective wax you may have on the car.

Use your bucket and sponge (or better still a wash mitt) and a garden hose.

dwayneburke

Thanks for that, it has done one service station car wash already (out of necessity and new car BTW) but i dont want to do it again.

Would this have had any adverse effects on any protective wax etc that would have been on it as new?

Would it be a good/bad idea to put on 3m 02-03 Wax anyway even though its new or is that a bit overkill?

Cheers

ART6

JoeA3 wrote: »

Yeah, don't do it, unless you don't particularly care about your paintwork! It stands to reason... I'd liken it to using a kango hammer to crack open a walnut.

these things hammer the car with gritty brushes, probably missing half of it (the sills, wheels, etc) and scratching the bits it does do to bits! And the machine will be full of some cheap detergent, stripping any protective wax you may have on the car.

Use your bucket and sponge (or better still a wash mitt) and a garden hose.

Couldn't agree more. Keep well away from them things. They are the best things paint shops could ever want to be used. Personally I think a careful wash with a good quality car shampoo followed by a good wax (not the wash and wax stuff), while it may take effort and some (rare) decent weather is the only way. Nothing wrong with waxing a new car -- it helps to prevent problems with the inevitable stone chips. Just get the right wax for your finish, and it makes it much easier to wash off the dirt that the property developers insist on spreading everywhere.

JoeA3

dwayneburke wrote: »

Thanks for that, it has done one service station car wash already (out of necessity and new car BTW) but i dont want to do it again.

Would this have had any adverse effects on any protective wax etc that would have been on it as new?

Would it be a good/bad idea to put on 3m 02-03 Wax anyway even though its new or is that a bit overkill?

Cheers

You are lucky... you've only put it thru a machine once!! The car's probably OK, considering its so new. A good wash with a decent car shampoo, such as Meguairs Gold class (not fairy liquid!) followed by a coat of wax and it'll be fine...
Machine washes and even hand power washes seem to do great work initially, but its a bit like McDonald's "food", the effect wears off quickly, leaving you with a scratchy swirly mess after the water dries off.

It's never overkill to wax it, but I'd advise using a claybar on it first (meguairs do one, available in any motor factors)... A new car can be covered in greasy, sticky factory residue which clay will remove, then wax afterwards.

towel401

i wouldnt know if they are actually bad. just expensive. a few years ago they were over 6 eurs a pop, which probably means they are about 9 here now, and closer to 16 in dublin.

Seperate

Wax wont really protect it against marring from a petrol station car wash.

Those things are the wrost way to treat a car. The will destroy it with swirls marks, scratches etc. I have seen a good few 06/07's that have been through them and few times and they were destroyed.

Use a mitt, 2 buckets and good shampoo. It will only take 30mins and it will look better then the station car wash too.