AppleFan1

I’m too lazy to wash this gorgeous car myself. We have a fantastic automatic car wash, privately owned here in the city. I know that people have concerns about car washes. This place uses no harmful detergents, has the softest brushes, and the rail is not tall enough to do any damage at all to the wheels. Outside of the car wash there are numerous spots for wiping excess water with free microfiber towels and powerful vacuum cleaners. We pay only $53 per month for two cars for unlimited washes. I’ve already used it 4 times since I picked up the car in early May. I hope you guys have this type of quality car washes where you live.

C2 Turbo

Harsh chemicals and car soaps. Some automatic car washing facilities use an industrial strength alkaline enhanced degreasing shampoo. These formulations are great for stripping wax, paint sealants, and even bird droppings, bug guts, and tree sap. But that aggressive soap leaves a mark on unprotected paint. In fact, overtime, it can start to eat away at the clear coat, leading to oxidation of the coat, corrosion, and eventually rust.

Water Spots. Even the auto car washing facilities with super hair driers are prone to water spotting. Most facilities use city industrial water – which isn’t filtered and contains higher calcium deposits or other minerals. As water dries on the surface, those deposits will dry rapidly, and leave dried mineral deposits that are difficult to remove.

The brushes are meant for durability and not for their gentleness to the paint. The dirt would stick to those brushes when not in use and when a car comes in for a wash, you can imagine what those brushes would do to your paint.

Tjdehya

Sorry to hear that you are treating your car like that.
Is it at least coated or does it have ppf? Or both?

But a lot of people don’t have the time to wash their car, take care of their garden, or even walk their dog… so they hire someone!
What I have done to keep the car clean is protect the car with a ceramic coating, when the car gets dirty I take it through a touch less car wash.
When the car is too dirty for a touch less wash I either wash it myself or I either take it to get hand washed or I call a mobile service.

NEVER will I take my car through a torture tunnel… even if I had a full body ppf I wouldn’t mistreat my car like that…
My ford however… yeah I take that thing through that scratch gauntlet… because it’s a Ford lol

nctalkinghead

Since my first Tesla in 2015 I have used nothing but Optimum No Rinse, microfiber towels, two buckets, and a soft wash mitt. Inside the garage and no mess, only a really sparkling car. As Tjdehyda said, Commercial car washes are for Fords

j944

I use a foam cannon, power washer, and ego leaf blower to dry. Uses less water and easy on the back

AppleFan1

Sorry to disagree with you guys but I’ve been using this type of car wash for several years (including my 2019 S450) and I’ve had zero damage. Trust me. I would never use them if I had any damage at all. The S450 looked as good as new after 3.5 years when my wife and I gifted it to our daughter and son-in-law.

AppleFan1

The place uses no harsh chemicals and the brushes are extremely gentle.

Cincy2

I'm retired so I have the luxury of plenty of available time for hand washing. Age does take its toll on the body so I bought a very nice electric power washer and foam cannon. This makes the process very easy and enjoyable. To get the water off I have a soft rubber squeegee and a blower. All of this means perfect washes on demand.

Cincy

C2 Turbo

The washes might not be good if the company uses " no harsh chemicals and extremely gentle brushes"

Sometimes the damage is not visible until few years later.

However, it is your daily driver so who cares about the swirl marks etc etc...... a clean car is still way better than driving a nasty dirty car.

Enjoy your car

wings1969

First world problem, but there is no car wash app in the menu. If activated, it closes the windows and sunroof, turns off all the parking features, folds the mirrors and a few other items I forgot. We have it in our GLE but for some reason it is not in the EQS.

c4004matic

I have designo matte paint on my EQS and my previous E43. For 5 years I put it through a touch free or regular carwash at least twice a month. I clay the rocker panels twice a year (spring and fall). The only other thing I do to the paint is to spray ulitamte fast finish also twice a year which takes around 15 minutes tops. The paint on my 43 looked as it did when I drove it off the lot in 2017.

AppleFan1

Thanks for your input. When I said I'm too lazy to wash my car myself, I was half joking. However, I have more important things than to spend hours a week or two to personally wash my car. I've owned 2 other S Class cars since 2014 and I've been using high quality car washes with no discernible damage to the paint or wheels. Additionally, my wife has been driving RX400H's since 2010. Again, no discernible damage to her cars over the years. So, the way I look at it, why bother to do it myself.

c4004matic

Swirlmarks that's one of my favorite internet myth videos. You get some 300 pound guy with a beard who's highest educational achievement was prison high showing you horrible paint swirls that are only visible with a 1000 watt lamp at a specific angle and that only his 500 dollar bottles of teflonized, ceramic, unobtainium, 6 part process can correct🤣
Guys, modern paint is 2 coats of base color with 3 or 4 coats of clear over it! The clear is fully transparent! It will keep the base coat in perfect condition for decades in a garaged car! The only scratches that will ever be visible with the naked eye are scratches that extend through the layers! Everything has swirl marks if you use a bright enough light and a magnifying glass! A coat of any wax will fill them and make them "disappear"! If you protect your car from day one with a silicone dioxide containig product you never have to do anything other than wash it and clay off the tar and stuff that sticks to the paint one or twice a year. The paint will be as new essentially as long as the car lasts. Any product that claims to last for years or that costs more than 20 bucks is a rip-off.

asdf

I've also heard god things about graphene coating, but don't have any personal experience.

c4004matic

More snake oil but graphene is a real thing! Waxes come in three main varieties natural waxes like carnauba , silicones and silica dioxide (aka ceramic) which is the latest and greatest. Note that is the protectant portion of a "wax". Most have a or various polishing compounds (abrasives). Abrassives are only necessary for weathered finishes thus if you use a so called sealer (most new ceramics) and you apply it periodicly to the paint, it will always look new.

hlothery

This is always a polarizing topic to discuss. I've just seen so many cars in our area with massive swirl marks from the local car washes (the Sun is more powerful than a 1000 watt bulb), I would never do that. I love (I know....I'm weird!) hand washing my car. And I still use waterless (water is a real issue in San Antonio) wash exclusively....specifically EcoSmart RU from chemicalguys.com. Kaolin and carnuba, like a clay bar and shine all in one. It does a fantastic job, and I get a workout at the same time. YMMV.

Soulman

I'm doing exactly the same thing using waterless washing from the Chemguys on the EQS. Works Great!

Lawen4ment

I used the Go Carwash once on my EQS I also wash my 2021 GLS 450 once a week or as needed. 450 is polar white like my EQS but the outcome is different. The 450 resists the chemicals from that carwash but my EQS doesn’t, turbo is correct don’t wash it at automated car wash. I’m lazy too but not when it comes to my EQS.

Newbyloub

Lots of you all, including members of my family, are way more concerned about the finish after a commercial car wash than I am. I bought my first MB, a two-tone (black over light ivory) 1971 300SEL, and ever since have run my cars through commercial washes. At 90 yrs, I ain’t about to start washing cars - an ‘18 S560 and my EQS450+ - now.
Have never ever had a finish problem.

Lawen4ment

No shouldn’t worry, you should the car.

superswiss

I'm pretty much with OP on this one. I used to hand wash my cars, but I just can't really be bothered anymore these days. I suppose living in a dry climate helps, and I have PPF on the full front and rear bumper. With the pandemic and the drought conditions my car hasn't actually seen rain in 3 years. I don't have to commute and can just wait out the rain. I may do a spring wash after the rainy season if I drove a lot in the rain, but otherwise I have a great touchless car wash less than a mile from my house. That's plenty to get the dust off periodically. I've owned cars for up to 8 years. My wife's car is actually 18 years old, but only has 40k miles on it. Always been garaged and other than the nicks she's put on it, the paint is as glossy as ever. My black cars looked like new after 8 years and got compliments from dealers when I traded them in. I never bother with waxing, either. I have better things to do. Keeping the car garaged and not driving in winter conditions with salt and sand on the roads protects the paint more than anything else.

As for hand washing being more gentle in general, that's been debunked by a study done at the Technical University of Munich, and later substantiated by the University of Texas. They both found that hand washing causes deeper scratches than commercial washes even after only a short time. Even when using the two bucket method you trap debris in a small cloth that gets dragged over the paint. There's more getting stuck in there than you think. The commercial brushes have much bigger surface areas for the debris that gets caught to spread out.

Now, I don't just go to any commercial car wash. As said, here in the USA I use a touchless wash, but I did a 2 months European Delivery with my current car and had to wash it occasionally while criss-crossing through Europe. I went to high-end washes only, and in particular those who said they can accommodate my wide rear wheels. Ultimately with the entire month of May raining and then getting splattered by bugs in June, washing it was ultimately better for the paint than letting all the stuff sit for 2 months. Not to mention that I was required to wash the car before they shipped it or worse somebody who didn't care at the port would have washed it.

https://samscarwashkl.com/university...r-cars-finish/

c4004matic

I agree with this "study". However most toucless carwashes do not completely clean a car. In my experience they always leave dirt behind. Invariable after pretty much any carwash I still have to wipe it down with a wet rag to get it truly clean. Handwashing with plenty of water is always best but also laborious and and not necessary for day today "clean".

superswiss

Yes, depending on how soiled it is, there can be a dirt film left. This is why if I did drive in the wet, I give it at least one good wash at the end of the wet season. Occasionally, I wipe it down with Adam's detail spray after the wash. It leaves a slick surface that helps dirt to wash off. But really the environment plays a big role. I don't drive in grimy conditions that leaves stuff sticking to the paint. It's mostly dust settling on the car, which washes right off. We also don't have insects around here for the most part. I get those mostly after a canyon run in the more rural areas, but nothing like in other places. I also especially don't drive in the wet during the first few storms as that washes up all the oil that has collected on the roads over the summer. Not having to commute or be on the road during busy times helps a lot with keeping a car in good conditions.

nctalkinghead

And at 90 years I hope you are still a long way from having a finish!

stealth.pilot

I'm skeptical of the study because it is posted on a machine car wash website. I don't know what the actual study said. Handwashing is obviously as good as the process and technique of the person doing the hand wash. Most "hand wash sweat shops" have tired employees who are whacking the car with their hands. Plus they use the same dirty mitts all day along, essentially sanding your car with dirt.This process basically causes abrasion.

If you were to do it yourself or hire someone who puts in the necessary time and attention, it's a different story. The best technique in my opinion is to use a foam gun and pressure washer to get rid of the dirt before hand washing. A foam gun can be loaded with a lubricating wash (add some waterless car wash to the car wash mix) which lifts the dirt into suspension with the foam. Then use the hose to remove the foam suspended dirt. After that you can gently hand wash with a fresh microfiber mitt to get the small bits of dirt. Finally you can use a deionized rinse which eliminates the need to dry the car. A deionized rinse combined with a blower to 90% dry the car will leave it spotless with no abrasion from drying towels. This approach will be vastly superior to any machine wash - even a touchless one.