Only if you are worried about swirl marks, micro-marring, and spider webs. One guy can go through there with a lot of mud, the mud gets stuck to the "brushes" and scratches your paint.

I only use a touchless car wash if I HAVE to.

If you are worried about it, don't use it.

 

If you have a roof rack be careful with the automated washers.

My salesman warned me about that.

 

What did the salesman warn about? I have'nt had problems and like the fact that they clean the chassis. Just my .02.

 

Said something about the fact that the automatic dryers that "roll up" over the top of your vehicle can get hung up on the Roof Rack and do some damage. I know our one local automatic wash has a wheel that ride downs the middle of the vehicle which I could see potentially being a problem.

I dont usually use this kind of car wash so its no loss for me.

 

Third day off the lot I went through one of those...ever seen then I have had thousand so micro scratches. Then again, I have black, everything shows. But really, I hate those damn things, go through a TOUCH FREE wash.

 

If yours is titanium or sandstorm or a new tt white, you may not notice the light scratches and swirls and scuffs but YES, it will FU your FJ.

 

this wont hurt your FJ any more than some 320 grit sandpaper lightly brushing your clearcoat..........yeah, I thinka no gooda.

 

Those things will not-so-slowly eat your paint off your FJ. Go to a car wash where 2 little guys climb a ladder, hand-wash your FJ, and even dry it for ya. It's a couple of dollars more, but worth it.

 

Well, it felt like a guilty pleasure. Kinda like getting a message with a happy ending cause there was little work involved, kinda spendy, but overall came out squeaky clean!!!


Cheers,

_

 

Looks dam good!! Now get her muddy again!

 

The very first time I washed my Cruiser I took it thru a "Touch-free" car wash. The sound when it was going over top was "Not Nectar" (it sounded like Chuck Laddel was up there doing some Ground and Pound) From then on I treat it like an oil change.
"Hands-on"

 

If I have to use a wash it's totally touchless. And only in the winter. In summer time it's the driveway with a brewski in my hand. :cheers:

 

If I have to use a wash it's totally touchless. And only in the winter. In summer time it's the driveway with a brewski in my hand.

Same here. It's hard to find a "touchless" car wash that is truly touchless. I always take my Prius through it first, just to make sure. Most "touchless" car washes also have that little wheel that guides the dryer. The better touchless washes the dryer just roars down from near the exit.

Otherwise, on a nice summer day, I have a wash mitt in one hand and a Kokanee in the other hand

 

Careful with the radio antenna .

I had a 69 buick Skylark and went through a carwash like you pic and it grabbed it of the front pass fender and proceeded to go brap brap brap
all down the passenger side of my car .

I pulled out of the carwash and the attendant was nice enough to retrieve

my antenna out of the swirling brushes and hand it back to me with a smile

Those type of carwashes are a thing of the past :wave:
:cheers:

 

I don't know what part of this car wash is "touchless". These things are really bad. They scratch and leave swirl marks. Not to mention, you never know what kind of chemicals they use.

 

If anyone is in the ATL area...we know all about car washes. Due to the drought, home car washing has been banned. There is no choice but to use these washes. I can wash my FJ with about 3 gallons of water....maybe less. I've even gone out in cold rain to wash my truck, at least the beer stays colder.

:boohoo:

 

Do not go in that...One of those things almost broke off my antenna! It was literally bent back to almost make a half circle. Plus the dryer damn near screwed up my roof, since its sensors didn't work ...grrrr.....
Go brushless or Hand

 

Washing your vehicle with the rain..............that sucks!

 

i will use the touchless ones that use high pressure water jets to wash and rinse....but if muddy may need to go through the hand wash bay and spray it off some first....but I like they get underneath.

not all touchfree are alike so if you find one with great pressure and all....then stick with it.

 

Washing the FJ has become one of my wife's irritations. The tires are too wide for any of the local car washes so we now wash it by hand. I'm not sure what the big deal is, we use to wash the cars every Sunday. Then again, that was 25 years ago and we didn't have the "Water Conservation Police" trolling the streets looking for people "wasting water" washing their cars at home.

 

Stay far far away from the brushes. Hand washing is your best bet but that is not always an option. I would either go to a pressure spray or find a pressure spray style car wash. There is one that I go to during the winter time, otherwise I do it by myself and go to the pressure spray to remove the large chunks of mud, etc.

 

Just a couple of notes.
The antennae simply unscrews. Take it off yourself and put it back on.
The hand wand car washes can take the silver plastic film off your bumper. At least it did on mine. Think it was a combination of the hot water and pressure.

 

Get the Mr. Clean AutoDry kit and do it yourself. It'll save you $$. And the final result is even better than those touchless car washes.
Here's a link to the product

 

I have the detailer come out once a month, and I usually take it to the car wash once or twice after that during the month. I am going to start having him come out twice after reading this. I like how he brings the ladder to do the top.

A few miles from where I live there is a kind of modified hand wash place. They still have the tracks and soap and water sprayers from the old style brush wash but they got rid of the brushes replaced it with a a three guys who hand wash it then rinse it down.
What do you guys think about this system?

It seems to me that somestimes the touchless spray washes dont get the car as clean.

 

Man I NEVER EVER take my autos through any type of car wash, touchless or not. I believe in the old fashioned DIY on mine. Doing the DIY route accomplishes many things but to me the most important thing is it is a detailed inspection on what is going on with my rig. A weekly go over is priceless, regardless of what you drive.

JMUO though

Kim

 

For all of those who want to hand wash your vehicle, but are on water conservation, look into a rinse less wash system. There are a couple manufacturers of products that get good reviews. Some are companies are:

Optimum Polymer Technologies: No Rinse Wet & Shine. Proudct Review.

Protect All: Quick & Easy Wash. Product Review.

I have not personally used either but will be ordering one or the other soon. BTW, Autopia is a great resource for any 'poser' that wants to keep their truck clean. Or if anybody has another car they want to keep clean. I've been detailing vehicles for 10 years now and I always stop by Autopia for advice on the latest products.

 

Optimum Polymer Technologies: No Rinse Wet & Shine. Proudct Review.

I was just about to post this. Optimum works. I use this product. I have 1 bucket of water and thats it. You can wash inside your garage in the winters. At first it doesn't seem like it should work, but it does. No suds or anything. Dirt just comes right off. Weird science.....

 

I have no problem with the car washes. I take my antenna off before I go through and the rest is done by the machine.
I also have driven my FJ through all kinds of tree limbs and sticker bushes. I have even knocked one of my bumper wings off so I might not be as picky as some of you.

 

Yeah........but it's still a bit chilly!

Well, once the new wears off maybe I can let it stay dirty for a longer period of time.

Cheers

P.S. Maybe I'll have some cheese with my whine...