With Teslas now being mass produced, there are tons of non enthusiast owners who have no idea on maintaining paint. On the Tesla fb groups, most owners run their cars through automatic car washes regularly, non touchless at that and all say it has no ill effects. I'm not surprised since fb group members are not enthusiasts but I wanted to see what forum members think. I've been detailing cars for more than half my life and can guarantee you all automatic car washes sans touchless leave some sort of microscopic surface scratches.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Automatic Car Washes
- Thread starter aspec818
- Start date
billh13850
Member
the issue for me is the ones where they push your car through and have the cars 2 feet apart. It is HARD to get into and out of Neutral that fast. Last time I almost got rear ended. Because of this I have started going to ones that are not like this.
I wish it was easier or faster to get into neutral. I have never seen another car that required you to brake to go into neutral.
I wish it was easier or faster to get into neutral. I have never seen another car that required you to brake to go into neutral.
insaneoctane
Well-Known Member
People who are comfortable with "touch" automatic car washes may not really notice or be bothered by the clear coat defects that such equipment leaves behind.
follow.johnny
FSD Beta Tester
It's going to be almost a year of me owning my Model 3 and I've never taken it to automatic carwash. Been hand-washing since day one with ONR. It also helps that I have PPF on full front and ceramic coating entire car.
I know some friends who actually PPF or wrap the entire car and just go through the drive-thru automatic car wash since PPF will (should) protective from the micro scratches and swirls from the brushes since they don't wanna spend the time or don't have time to wash by hand.
At the end of the day, it's still only a car and it gets people from point a to point b. It just the matter of how much you want to take care/baby your car.
I know some friends who actually PPF or wrap the entire car and just go through the drive-thru automatic car wash since PPF will (should) protective from the micro scratches and swirls from the brushes since they don't wanna spend the time or don't have time to wash by hand.
At the end of the day, it's still only a car and it gets people from point a to point b. It just the matter of how much you want to take care/baby your car.
Meh... I'll run it through any car wash really. This is a Model 3 not a Porsche Carrera.
I recently bought an electric pressure washer and a foam cannon and will use that most of the time though. Rinse all the dirt off, foam it up, rinse it off and then use my electric leaf blower to dry it so that I don't get water spots. Works good enough for my needs.
Now if I had a really nice car I'd likely be pretty meticulous about it. Not that the Model 3 isn't a nice car but for me personally it's just not in the range to where I will go to great lengths to ensure the clear coat doesn't get damaged.
I recently bought an electric pressure washer and a foam cannon and will use that most of the time though. Rinse all the dirt off, foam it up, rinse it off and then use my electric leaf blower to dry it so that I don't get water spots. Works good enough for my needs.
Now if I had a really nice car I'd likely be pretty meticulous about it. Not that the Model 3 isn't a nice car but for me personally it's just not in the range to where I will go to great lengths to ensure the clear coat doesn't get damaged.
There are threads on the Model 3 that discuss the charge port door opening in an automatic car wash. Depending on the type of automatic washer and the car in neutral or park, I’m not sure... I don’t ever use a automatic car wash.
It’s just too easy to use ONR and a dozen or so microfiber towels.
Car Care, exterior and interior and PPF
It’s just too easy to use ONR and a dozen or so microfiber towels.
Car Care, exterior and interior and PPF
Wooloomooloo
Member
It's literally a car wash that doesn't touch your car with brushes. It uses high-powered water jets and dryers.
I find them useful pre-handwash, as they remove much of the initial grime and dirt, but they're not particularly thorough.
Those people are nuts. I never even ran my boring family cars through non-touchless car washes.
I go to the manual spray and wash places in the winter, but touchless is reasonable. No way would I go out into the freezing cold to wash my car and I don't trust waterless washes to remove thick winter road grime.
Where I live there really aren't many non-touchless car washes anymore.
Last edited:
The Model 3 is by far the smallest vehicle I've owned (trucks / suvs previous) making hand washing a breeze. I recall detailing my truck and it would take an entire weekend.
I just bought quite a few 1100 gsm microfiber towels yesterday (Memorial Day sale). It's fun to get back into it given how the industry has evolved and all the videos out there.
It also gives you an opportunity to examine your vehicle up close and note any paint chips or other anomalies that can be dealt with in a timely fashion.
I just bought quite a few 1100 gsm microfiber towels yesterday (Memorial Day sale). It's fun to get back into it given how the industry has evolved and all the videos out there.
It also gives you an opportunity to examine your vehicle up close and note any paint chips or other anomalies that can be dealt with in a timely fashion.
JasontheBeaver
Jason Barker
This!
Also, I see cars everyday that have been neglected for literally months because the owner "didn't want to introduce swirls by using a drive through car wash", instead they're left with permanent damage from all the contaminants that have etched their way into the clear coat like tree sap, bug splatters, bird poo, etc. In summary, a drive-through wash is the better option when compared to not washing the car at all.
Lastly, this is why ceramic paint coatings were invented in the first place, to minimize the worry of carrying for your vehicle.
ONR hand-wash at home or a touchless car wash on the lowest option with no wax or fancy stuff... just standard wash and spot-free rinse. It will NEVER go through a car wash that contains brushes, cloths or humans with wash mits. He have PPF front wrap and full ceramic coating and the car looks great after 30,000 miles. We're going to visit the detailer again in August and have him fix a few rock chips, add some PPF to the rocker panels and do a thorough top-to-bottom detail on the car.
JasontheBeaver
Jason Barker
Help with what? PPF and ceramic coating address vastly different issues.
I have ceramic coating on all my vehicles and our shop loaner cars and they all see weekly drive-through washes and still look fantastic with just an annual polishing. However if having a show-car quality level of finish is the goal year-round than hand washing is the only way to go regardless of ceramic coating or not.
Basically, ceramic gives you peace of mind if you know you're not the type to meticulously hand wash your car as often as you should.
PPF of course protects against rock chips (you already knew that I know) but it is also more susceptible to environmental damage of tree sap, bird poo, bug splatters, etc. This is why many people apply ceramic coating on top of PPF, to get the best of both worlds.
Similar threads
