tikitiki Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 When i bought my car last Sat (09 ES 350 w/ Nav), my Lexus dealer offered the following: Complementary car wash every week Complete wash and detail on my birthdays I have to sign up to be an 'elite' member (free) and have to bring the car there for regular service and agree to have a small emblem of the dealer's name on the back. I intend to bring my car in to the dealer for service anyway but am i risking damage to my paint job ? It seems like a good deal -- weekly car washes and their service cost are comparable to others in the area. They have a dedicated mechanical car wash system for customer cars. What do you guys think?
Lucky13 Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 Ive heard plenty on this forum about it being a bad idea. Bad for the paint because of the buffer, little scratches...etc.
JWE103 Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 I agree, automatic car washes can cause swirl marks in the paint. If you have the time wash it yourself by hand. I recently started using a Mr. Clean Auto Dry car wash kit. The beauty of it is the final filtered rinse that eliminates the need to dry the car. It air dries without leaving any water spots, saves me a lot of labor.
rjt65 Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 hello and welcome--Lexus have really soft paint ....for me 2008 black Obsidian i was to late adn got sever swirls and marring form a car wash supposedly using only boars head etc... no more car washes--found the gr8 detailing thread here, learned form the gr8 experienced detailers here... and no i rool on my own! Car always looks gr8 and when i cant clean it i live with it--but that is never too long... No swirls for me! good luck
tikitiki Posted April 19, 2009 Author Posted April 19, 2009 hello and welcome--Lexus have really soft paint ....for me 2008 black Obsidian i was to late adn got sever swirls and marring form a car wash supposedly using only boars head etc...no more car washes--found the gr8 detailing thread here, learned form the gr8 experienced detailers here... and no i rool on my own! Car always looks gr8 and when i cant clean it i live with it--but that is never too long... No swirls for me! good luck I have the same color, Black Obsidian. This color is high maintenance but thanks for the advice. I think i'll skip the free car washes.
rjt65 Posted April 19, 2009 Posted April 19, 2009 oh man dang no doubt- the balck will easily mar and acratch on the downside on the fliposide using the best products u can outshine any other black car...!!! shines up gr8 gr8... --FYI i learned on here the Black Obs. has no clear coat at all... so the CW will swirl it--read the detailing thread on here... some gr8 products that work well on the black SOnus cr wash, utlima paint guard plaus, DWG (danase WEt Gloss) my black is super shiny using thes products and others... also use ONR Optimum no rinse--- car wash with no rinse gr8 in the winter as i live in nY.... can do it in garage with no drain... gluck!! hello and welcome--Lexus have really soft paint ....for me 2008 black Obsidian i was to late adn got sever swirls and marring form a car wash supposedly using only boars head etc...no more car washes--found the gr8 detailing thread here, learned form the gr8 experienced detailers here... and no i rool on my own! Car always looks gr8 and when i cant clean it i live with it--but that is never too long... No swirls for me! good luck I have the same color, Black Obsidian. This color is high maintenance but thanks for the advice. I think i'll skip the free car washes.
mhawkin1 Posted April 20, 2009 Posted April 20, 2009 I don't even let the dealer clean my car at the 5k mile service intervals. ;)
needone Posted March 27, 2010 Posted March 27, 2010 Interesting thread. I have 212 Black on my 460 and had the same reservations expressed here. My dealer built a knock your socks off carwash for his and his customers' use. He uses it on brand new black cars and there are NO marks on the cars. My 460 shows NO ill effects from the wash and I am a convert. I will not use any other wash because I don't know how clean their cloths are and don't know how much fresh water they use or how well their filters are working. The coffee and cookies are good, the rest rooms clean and the dog is welcome. The end of the line area is staffed with a half dozen guys with no rings, belt buckles or zippers to mark the car and they do the inside as well, clean the windows and dry the whole thing and you're out in less than 10 minutes. Your concerns are legitimate and many cars have lost the mile deep gloss that makes black so nice looking because they went to a car wash running on a shoestring. One thing to remember when you wash it a home, try drying it with your leaf blower if it is strong enough. This will really help keep the micro-fine marks out of your paint and preserve the depth of your shine.
SW03ES Posted March 27, 2010 Posted March 27, 2010 How long have you been using this wash? I mean...there is just no way an automatic carwash can be 100% safe...unless the car is pre-sprayed and the cloths are cleaned after every car goes through it. Its just not possible...because the dirt from each car is deposited on those cloths and they get dirtier and dirtier and more and more abrasive. I would bet almost anything that you will eventually find scratching. Get a bright light, like pull another car perpendicular to your car and turn on the headlights. I bet the sides, especially the lower cladding about wheel height is scratched all to hell. Thats where the damage is done by an automatic wash, the hood and roof and trunk, higher up on the car where you normally look isn't so much an issue...its down the sides where the cars are really dirty. I've seen cars washed at very expensive boutique washes with state of the art equipment and guys who use all microfiber towels...tunnel washes people pay upwards of $50 per wash to go through. The result? Horrible swirls on the sides. I just don't buy it. Too much experience in the field...
tim john Posted April 2, 2010 Posted April 2, 2010 drive thru car washes are good for lease cars and people that just don't get fussy about their cars finish. I have dark blue es and its hard to keep clean, like black. I go to a quarter car wash if my car is bad, then wash it by hand at home. Tim
pj8708 Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 I kmow this is an old topic, but I wondered if those of you with Black cars would say they are more difficult to keep looking sharp than the Black Garnet on my 05' ES? I'm asking for future reference on a trade. Thank you.
SW03ES Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 Oh yeah. Thats why I bought the Black Garnet. Whenever there is any type of metallic flake or pearlescance to the paint it will hide imperfections that much more. The black will show EVERYTHING. Lexus black has no clearcoat either and it is very soft.
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