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Would you put your S Class in this dealership car wash? Ughhh...
So I got my car back from service a few days ago and I walked back into the car wash area, I'd never seen it before. BRUSHES? Oh no! I only hand wash my cars and never put them through a car wash. Then I saw this behemoth back there with massive dryers when it's completed. I always thought the cars were hand washed or washed with a touchless carwash machine. Don't these brushes have grit in them from the dirty cars before my car and it trashes my finish a bit with that grit rubbed around my lovely car?. Should I tell them to never wash my car again? What would you do? I mean, this is a MB dealer so shouldn't this device clean my car without messing it up? Or not? I love getting my car back clean and have never noticed any swirl marks or issues with the car when it comes back. Was I looking carefully enough though?
So I got my car back from service a few days ago and I walked back into the car wash area, I'd never seen it before. BRUSHES? Oh no! I only hand wash my cars and never put them through a car wash. Then I saw this behemoth back there with massive dryers when it's completed. I always thought the cars were hand washed or washed with a touchless carwash machine. Don't these brushes have grit in them from the dirty cars before my car and it trashes my finish a bit with that grit rubbed around my lovely car?. Should I tell them to never wash my car again? What would you do? I mean, this is a MB dealer so shouldn't this device clean my car without messing it up? Or not? I love getting my car back clean and have never noticed any swirl marks or issues with the car when it comes back. Was I looking carefully enough though?
I always tell them not to wash my car! It will become micromarring heaven if they run it through there. ONLY takes one time to mess up hours of time spent correcting the paint. The only positive is the air dryers which better than someone rubbing a drying towel that has been dropped on the ground or used on someone else's dirty car.
Last edited by Detailingdoc; Jun 25, 2019 at 01:11 AM.
It looks like based on your inputs, dealerships just wash the cars just to do it as if they were obliged to do it .They may seem to do a favor but it seems they don't
I only trust one dealership to wash my car. The first time I walked to the car wash behind the service area I saw they were hand washing my car. Had a bad experience with other dealership when they used those brushes and scratched my black S class!
GT63S ePerformance 4dr, '25 Bentayga Black Ed.(wife), Wrangler and 250 MLB(kids)
Let's not panic, modern paint jobs are more resilient then before and modern carwashes are harmless to them.
I use my local car wash (similar to picture above) for my S63 and my wife's Lusso.
Granted, my car was washed only twice since I just got it but my wife's car had been to carwash dozens of time, in Winter in particular to wash all the grit and salt of it.
I have 6 autos and have no time to hand wash especially on my F250 with a roof over 7 feet tall where one has to climb up and down on a ladder numerous times to reach the top. Modern 2 part paints are world’s ahead of older paints as far as durability and the “brushes” on most modern car washes are super soft. All my vehicles look like they just came off the showroom floor and I get compliments on how they look. Having a bit of chemistry experience I would be more concerned sending one of my vehicles through a touch less system where they use harsh chemicals including mild acids to clean the paint surface rather than physical means. Your car, your money, your choice.....
Use a flashlight or look at your car under the bright lights at your local gas station you will see many fine scratches that look like spider webs which are the result of improper washing.
Mercedes paint is acutally fairly hard compared to something like Honda/ Acura which is very soft but you still get marring. A ceramic coating will still further protect but will still occur if you take them through a car wash with brushes.
Some people just dont care that much and that's fine but they definitely degrade a car's appearance
Oh darn. Thanks for all this information. I think, from now on, I'm not going to take the chance and won't be allowing them to make my car look clean and pretty when I leave the dealer.
I have way too many cars in 2 locations so a hand wash is out of the question for me. In the winter I will once in a while run it thru a brush car wash but most of the time I have a professional do the job or if I am on the run I use a touch less. Also look into ceramic coating. Expensive but worth it
If you care about your car, you will wash it yourself. Everything else is a compromise. I tell my dealer not to wash my car. I'm a loyal customer of theragcompany and Optimum No Rinse. Modern ceramic coatings are very very very easy to apply yourself. The hardest part is the paint prep/polish (my regimen is Dawn dishsoap wash, dry, clay and rinse, dry, fine polish, repeat Dawn dishsoap wash, dry, apply ceramic and buff).
A small percentage of people, like me, are at least somewhat obsessive about how their paint looks taking measures to avoid marring, polishing/correcting paint as needed, making sure there is a proper coat of protection ie wax, sealant, coating, wiping bird crap off when it happens as it easily etches paint, uses rinseless wash in their garage in the winter, putting sign in their car so the dealer doesnt wash it etc
Most people occasionally wash their car, take it through a local car wash and are pleased with the results and think it looks great after a wash and may apply the occasional wax or sealant.
A third small segment have no thought to how their car looks at all. They consider rain a wash and will happily park their car under a tree and let birds poop on it all day.
Most people are more likely to damage their paint washing it themselves than putting it through a modern car wash. Mine goes through at least once per week.
Most people are more likely to damage their paint washing it themselves than putting it through a modern car wash. Mine goes through at least once per week.
Wow, talk about a varying set of opinions on this. I thought they'd be all the same but they swing the full gamut from one direction to another. I did have the car ceramic coated when I first bought it. I'm very very lazy though and I haven't waxed it since that happened, 15 months ago. I may pay someone to do it or I may do it myself, I'm not sure. I have very little free to do stuff like this anymore. It may be worth paying a mobile detail company while I'm at work, to wax it. What a luxury that would be, though I'm pretty thrifty too so I may just do it myself. I'll think about it some more. Pic below is when the clear bra guy did the car in my garage. The ceramic coat guy came back the next day to do it or a week later, I can't remember.
Wow, talk about a varying set of opinions on this. I thought they'd be all the same but they swing the full gamut from one direction to another. I did have the car ceramic coated when I first bought it. I'm very very lazy though and I haven't waxed it since that happened, 15 months ago. I may pay someone to do it or I may do it myself, I'm not sure. I have very little free to do stuff like this anymore. It may be worth paying a mobile detail company while I'm at work, to wax it. What a luxury that would be, though I'm pretty thrifty too so I may just do it myself. I'll think about it some more. Pic below is when the clear bra guy did the car in my garage. The ceramic coat guy came back the next day to do it or a week later, I can't remember.
No need to wax over a ceramic coating the coating is providing much more protection than a wax will. Also some waxes dont play nice and may cause streaking. After 15 months your coating should still be there.
It may be worth looking into specialized car washes and topper to maintain your coating which are usually much easier than waxing.
I guess you could damage your clear coat/paint if you have no idea what you're doing. This is highly unlikely if you take 30 minutes to educate yourself on detailing and care and spend a few bucks on the proper equipment. I can't imagine how I could do more damage to my car's clear coat than a car wash.
Of course, I've laid down six layers of ceramic over the past six months. One 50mL bottle goes a loooong way. After you lay down the first coat, it's hard to feel any debris embed, and almost nothing comes off with a clay wipedown.
It takes me far less time to wash and dry my car than it does to wait at the car wash as they hand-wash the thing. And I do a better job. With a waterless wash, it's even faster. Dirt just does not embed in the coat after application of ceramic.
I guess you could damage your clear coat/paint if you have no idea what you're doing. This is highly unlikely if you take 30 minutes to educate yourself on detailing and care and spend a few bucks on the proper equipment. I can't imagine how I could do more damage to my car's clear coat than a car wash.
Of course, I've laid down six layers of ceramic over the past six months. One 50mL bottle goes a loooong way. After you lay down the first coat, it's hard to feel any debris embed, and almost nothing comes off with a clay wipedown.
It takes me far less time to wash and dry my car than it does to wait at the car wash as they hand-wash the thing. And I do a better job. With a waterless wash, it's even faster. Dirt just does not embed in the coat after application of ceramic.
This! It take very lttile effort to learn the correct washing/drying technique.
It all depends on how close you look at your finish. If you look quickly from 5' your good to go with the car wash. If you hand wash and wax you see every last mark the vehicle has.
There is no getting around the the brushes do cause minute swirls or scratches and after a couple they start to be noticeable. To many its just a clean car and they move on.
A lot of this is area specific. If you live in the NE you are happy just having the car clean. If you see a CA car you will be more inclined to do the nah wash as cars see no weather or real dirt so they look showroom for years. That is the car that is hard to run through car wash but again it depends on its use. To me its just a car and I run it through. Ferrai FF? No hand wash only but to some people that is an everyday car and they will run it through carwash.
There is no such thing as Honda having softer clear coats. Thats a myth.
When i brought my car in for service they asked me if I wanted t washed and I looked at him why he was even asking me? I thought there was a charge? Nope and car looked new when I got it back. I went on with my day.
I'm actually surprised that Mercedes doesn't offer a high end option for hand-finished color-sanded paint and clear coat finished to avoid that factory orange peel. Get rid of the nasty matte options.
GT63S ePerformance 4dr, '25 Bentayga Black Ed.(wife), Wrangler and 250 MLB(kids)
Originally Posted by bkdc
I'm actually surprised that Mercedes doesn't offer a high end option for hand-finished color-sanded paint and clear coat finished to avoid that factory orange peel. Get rid of the nasty matte options.
Why?
The more options for customers the better, you may not like matte finishes but a lot of people do.
I truly dislike all Beige or Gold colors but I would never want to take that choice away from others that do like them.
So I got my car back from service a few days ago and I walked back into the car wash area, I'd never seen it before. BRUSHES? Oh no! I only hand wash my cars and never put them through a car wash. Then I saw this behemoth back there with massive dryers when it's completed. I always thought the cars were hand washed or washed with a touchless carwash machine. Don't these brushes have grit in them from the dirty cars before my car and it trashes my finish a bit with that grit rubbed around my lovely car?. Should I tell them to never wash my car again? What would you do? I mean, this is a MB dealer so shouldn't this device clean my car without messing it up? Or not? I love getting my car back clean and have never noticed any swirl marks or issues with the car when it comes back. Was I looking carefully enough though?
Hell no, I wouldn’t go through that thing even with a Honda. FYI, most dealer subcontract the car wash out and you can request hand wash. Find yourself another dealer/car wash if they don’t offer hand washes.
Hell no, I wouldn’t go through that thing even with a Honda. FYI, most dealer subcontract the car wash out and you can request hand wash. Find yourself another dealer/car wash if they don’t offer hand washes.
Hand wash does not mean better. So, they tell Billy to go Hand wash the car, grabs the closest bucket, some soap and a sponge, nah, Ill do it myself and have it professionally detailed once a year. But that's just me...
Hand wash does not mean better. So, they tell Billy to go Hand wash the car, grabs the closest bucket, some soap and a sponge, nah, Ill do it myself and have it professionally detailed once a year. But that's just me...
yea the sponge off the flr, or better yet!! dealer favorite the car wash broom!! leaning on the floor and the wall. LOL
yea the sponge off the flr, or better yet!! dealer favorite the car wash broom!! leaning on the floor and the wall. LOL
Ok, you guys are really scaring me now. No MB car washes of any kind, anymore, ever again. Damn, I'm miss those free car washes but I never knew what that meant till now.
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Everything else is a compromise. I tell my dealer not to wash my car. I'm a loyal customer of theragcompany and Optimum No Rinse. Modern ceramic coatings are very very very easy to apply yourself. The hardest part is the paint prep/polish (my regimen is Dawn dishsoap wash, dry, clay and rinse, dry, fine polish, repeat Dawn dishsoap wash, dry, apply ceramic and buff).
