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Car Washes

Shedvl

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I prefer to do my own car...usually takes me about 4 hours to do inside and out. Since my car accident I cant do it as often...and it drives me mental. I'd rather have a messy house than a messy car. I take my time and listen to some music. I have no problem laying down on the ground in the dirt or mud and getting it done right. A chick has to have her priorities right lol. I had gone through automatic car wash a couple of times with this car, but not since new wheels went on. I only use Meguiars products on it.
 

gossie

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I only ever wash my own car.
Hose off grime and dust with the hose on full. Wash with a big clean sponge with water on low starting at the top working down. Hose off hard again. Chamois off. Give a very light polish all over every three months.
 

GothicKidd

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I would take my car through the car wash every time my car needing a washing, but its a 80k travel just for a $10 car wash.. I sometimes do it myself. :p
 

Astranomical

Ecotec just kicked in yo
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Once when I took the car to the local Holden dealer for a service I got a voucher for a free car wash. When I had a look at the car afterwards I noticed bits of soap and crap that were still stuck on the car, that weren't cleaned off. Not to mention that the way it just completely blasts your car with water, I can't imagine it would be good for the paint. I'd do it again if I got another free voucher, but I'll never pay for one.
 

Darren_L

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a lot of automatic car washes (brushless in particular) contain high levels of caustic in their detergent, which can be rather harmful to paint - particularly dark colours. Strangely enough it was a carwash attendant that advised me of this when I took my car to the carwash, he said my red car could eventually end up looking more pink than red lol ;) I thanked him for his honestly and instead chose to hand wash the car, and I've never taken my car through the automatic wash since. I have taken my white daily ute on the occasion though. And if I do handwash my car at the carwash (don't need to now that water restriction have been relaxed), I use my own detergent as I found even the hand washing detergent leaves bad streaks in my paint.

So yeah I can't say the above with any sort of authority, but just repeating what I was told by someone working in the business.
 

F l a k

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I've always found car washes to be harsh on paint. With my old rims they faded a lot as I used the car was every couple of weeks or so. I'd also be worried about fine scratches, and if you have any existing paint damage then definitely avoid them as it can rip the paint open from that weak spot.

It's really not that much of a pain to wash you car yourself with good quality products. Plus you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself, having a much better job, knowing that the paint will look better and be healthier, and you probably save money too.
 

SP00KSTER

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ive never liked car washes, they seem very brutal on the paint, always hand washed my car, plus when you hand wash it you can get every little spot of dirt and you have the satisfaction at the end knowing that your car is clean and no damage is done by extreme water pressure and flinging brushes at paint work.
 

Tim Smtih

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just buy a v8 lol
I've never used a car wash. I have both the time and energy to wash my car. That and i couldn't stand the thought of people messing about in my car (obviously i'm referring to one of those ful detail places). Whenever i have to remove bugs and muck from the front end of the car i hose it, then spray on a "bug and tar" remover and leave it for a couple of minutes before giving it a good wash by hand. Despite the fact that the previous owner must have had the front bumper painted by trained chimpanzees it comes up pretty well.
 

LittleMissVE

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You drive a HSV and aren't gonna wax/polish etc?? You make the baby Jesus sad :(

I've done far worse things in my life than not waxing my car that make Jesus sad lol.

Nah, I love my car, I really do. But the main reason I bought a clubsport over an SS is because I like the look inside & outside better... I needed a V8 because a) I'm a revhead at heart and b) as I mentioned before, lots & lots of highway driving, and need the power to overtake.

So the fact that I don't kill myself & my child when overtaking a road train, is a little bit higher on my list of priorities than how shiny my car is ;)
 

Jesterarts

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I sway well away from automatic car washing, places with those high pressure sprayers and hot chicks to have dangley metal bits on their bra between their tits.

All these things are bad for paint.

I don't even use high pressure at home!

Bucket water, microfibre "tentacle" washing globe and running hose water to wash it off.

But that's be and maybe I'm a little OCD about it. :p
 
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