OK, I must admit I run my truck through the old car wash as I did my MDX. For the first year or so my BMW was hand wash only!.......but father time took over and it to made many trips through the car wash. Today the weather was a little cool for TLC and a hand wash, so my baby is in the garage a little less than perfect. So the real question is…should I feel guilty for using the car wash??

For me, there is too much real estate to clean on the GL, so I take mine to a hand wash car wash. I won't run it through one of the ones with brushes. Up until I got my first SUV in 1998, I always washed my own vehicles. But I have hard water & no shaded place to dry the GL, so it goes to the hand wash.

I used to be OBSESSED about detailing my own cars. I wouldn't let anyone else near them. I washed and waxed them myself. I left notes on the gauge cluster for the dealerships: "please don't wash my car!" because I didn't want them screwing it up. I bought 100% cotton towels and ripped the stitching out to reduce scratches. I dried the car in straight lines...no circular motions...to avoid swirl marks. No one was allowed to breathe on the car much less lean on it. I used Zaino and clay barred it, did the whole polish process. I would never take any vehicle through a car wash and would criticize those who did!

That was before I ran my own business with 50 employees and had a 17 month old daughter at home. Now I find myself more likely to hang out with my family, get on the elliptical or play Wii than wash the car. In fact, I haven't washed my own car in a few years. I just have so many other things I'd rather do and teaching myself the lesson that "it's just a car" was one I needed badly to learn. No one's epitaph reads "I wish I washed my car more."

There is a caveat though: we do have a "hand wash" car wash just down the street. Not as careful as when I did it but not as bad as a regular car wash. It's a nice compromise. And they're right next to my gym so I leave the car and go work out!

For me the choice between hand washing and the "Car Wash" depends on a few things...

1) My mood;
2) My time available;
3) The weather;

Either way - I never run the vehicle through those mechanical washes at the gas station - the ones that you pay 10 bucks to go through. If I do use a car wash the one I prefer is a touchless version that does a pretty good job.

It's minus 15 here today and the forecast is for cold weather for some time to come, so the idea of hand drying the GL is completely out of the question. Likely won't do the hand wash thing again until next spring - until then, its the spray wash and drip-dry-freeze.

I am a bit retentive about this. I have a local kid who does excellent work and is a professional detailer who comes every other week and cleans the cars. I get the car cleaned the way I like it and I support local entrepreneurship. Win Win

Keep in mind that the touch-less car washes can't clean that well so once in a while you should really wash it to remove the film of dirt that builds up - preferably by hand or have a detailer do it by hand.

I'm experimenting with using a boar's hair brush instead of MF towels to clean at least the vertical surfaces of my Ford F-150 'company car'. So far, it seems to be doing a good job and does save time. And yes, I'm crazy enough to hand wash a Ford I don't even own. Of course, it doesn't get quite the same level of TLC as my GL. I also use only 2 buckets instead of 3.

I hand wash my cars year-round but oftentimes will skip drying them in winter. I love having a clean car, but I think part of the reason I do this myself is that I find it relaxing! O.K. I have issues....

More than two commercial washes might require a trade-in.

Yup.....that was me......NOW, age and a desire to spend more time on other things result in me doing SOME of that ( Zaino - maybe twice a year and I still do the interior ) and the really good car wash doing most of it!

This is a great idea! If I could find someone to come to my house I would do it in a heartbeat!

Don't most dealerships have courtesy car washes? Mine takes appointments and has a complete Starbuck style coffee lounge also free. They have been doing a very good job.

I used to wash it by hand and had all the brushes and towels and bottles and bottles of cleaners for each part. But time has passed and I now take it to a local car wash who hand washes it off-rack for me and does a very good final wipe job.

I also take it to the dealer and they do a good outside only wash and I don't know if they have a autowash rack running or not. Not a bad wash and I have seen no swirls or such to be concerned about. They also treat the tires.

I think with the new clear coats and paints, much of the concern of old is no longer valid. I will find a detailer though to do a full detail and wax about every 9-12 months.

Two years ago when my M3 was in for service at the dual BMW/MB dealer. Complimentary car washers sprayed acidic wheel cleaner on the wheels and let them dry in the sun, badly etching all 4 wheels. It took about a month of hassle for the dealer to replace the wheels. I like the dealer and service but if they ever try to detail my cars again I have vowed retribution with extreme prejudice. Dealers in my area pay about $5 per wash to the help. You get what you pay for.

I think this is particularly true with the paint process used by MB ( at least as currently used )

Thanks for the help even though I was hoping for more of…..trigg, “just run that GL through the car wash. I do it 2 maybe 3 times a week and she looks as good as when I drove off the show room floor. Don’t worry about those brushes going around and around, all that harsh soap it’s not a problem for that great Mercedes paint!!!!!” …..so she went to the Hand Car Wash and got her first bath!

Is he/she willing to come to Colorado?

I asked, Brian, but he wants to charge too much for travel

Jokes aside, you and Chicky oughtta check out Autopia. Here is a link to their pro detailers forum http://autopia.org/forum/professional-detailers/ You can ask for folks in your area who do mobile detailing. That is how I found John who does mine.

Cool! Thanks!

Thanks for the link Nish. I'll be sure to check them out!

I run mine through a touchless wash about 3 times a week. I own my own washes all touchless by the way. Every once in a while you do have to do a hand wash or use a good SS with natural hair foamy brushes to get road film off. If you are going to use a friction type of wash I recommend a wash that uses the new FOam type of friction material. It will not hold the dirt like a regular cloth wash. It is the same thing that MB and BMW have at their factories.

Soapy....you went where I was going with my response to this thread. The factory in Alabama and the local dealers here in Central FL all have automatic washes with brushes. For years, I refused to ever take an M-B thru a brush wash....only to find out years later that hidden in the back of most M-B dealers is an auto wash In my opinion, only the darker colors are really affected by this. Most of my M-B's are silver and it really makes no difference on them.
BUT, nothing beats a good hand wash!

Careful washing greatly reduces the amount of spinderweb scratches you accumulate. And you will get them no matter what color the paint or how good modern clearcoats are. However these very fine scratches aren't detrimental to the long term health of the paint. They just make your vehicle look less than perfect. This is acceptable for individuals who understandably have higher priorities than obsessive detailing.

If you just want to preserve the paint without a lot of effort, I would clay and apply sealant - not wax. The sealant lasts a lot longer. Claying removes contaminants which are detrimental in the long run.

Now if you'll excuse me, I was in the middle of scrubbing my A-arms with my toothbrush.

Nice comment on the sealent and clay. I have a rather larger order due in from autogeek.net which includes the Clay and sealent (and a $100 wash bucket Ha!). I'm going to test it on my daughter cars first.

I ordered the complete outfit from Zaino and will experiment on my wife's
BMW first.

I bet you were to smart to fall for the $100 wash bucket kit! HA