Three weeks ago I had a body shop replace and repaint the front passenger fender. When I picked up the car they said I should wait for 30 days before I wash the car again. Is that for washing the car with brushes or does that include touchless/pressured-based laserwash with clear coat? My Prius has never looked so dirty Thanks
Just a guess but I would say that the 30 days is to allow the thinners to evaporate and the paint to properly harden. While a dirty car doesn't look particularly pretty, I would follow the repairers advice and just leave it be. Cheers Warwick
On the one hand, did they advise you not to drive it in the rain? On the other, what exactly, constitues "touchlessness" and what does that imply about chemicals and water pressure?
A buddy of mine's brother owned three car washes in SoCal. Neither he nor anyone else in the family would run their cars through one. Good enough for me...
Don't take it through a brush car was and definitely don't take it through a pressure car wash. Have you seen what a pressure washer does to a cement driveway?!
We have some very new brushed auto washes around that are decent, but the rule of thumb is if it is older than 3 years they likely don't change the brushes and they start to really scratch the cars. However I will not take the new prius through one. Washing the car with my son is the closest we will get to having a pool in the back yard, and he thinks its the best game to wash the tires.
Thank you for your answers. However, if these popular pressurized washes cause such a problem, why don't we see cars with major paint issues on the road? Also I don't have the option of washing the car myself. What do you suggest?
Wait one more week so that 30 days have elapsed, then go ahead and have your car washed. I don't think that the touchless car washes are so bad. I use a local touchless car wash when there's just a light coating of dust on the car. If the car has been on a summer road trip with thousands of bugs on the front bumper cover, hood and windshield, the touchless will be inadequate. Then you need to bring out the big guns and go to a touch car wash...
+1 As far as the other posters responses: I use a touchless car wash on my Prius all the times when I cannot hand wash it. No problems whatsoever. The water pressure is high enough to help remove dirt, but no more. The rest of the work is done by the wash solutions. I no longer go to any drive through brush or cloth car wash. Those can (and do) scratch paint, especially the softer paints such as used on the Prius.
I had my BMW repainted after it was in a Kansas hail storm about 2 years ago. The body shop said don't wash it for 2 or 3 days and don't wax it for 3 months. 30 days before washing seems a bit excessive? After 3 or 4 days I started washing it again with Meguiar's car wash soap and good sponge, no problems. I waited about 4 months before I waxed it, no problems with that either.
I also had some painting work done recently on my 2007 and was told not to use an automated car wash for 30 days, or to apply wax during that period. It was OK to handwash the car immediately. However the OP is not able to handwash.
And you won't see paint problems caused by touchless, pressurized car washes. I've been going to one now for several years, with nothing but good results. Sure, they are not as good as a quality hand washing. But they don't scratch or damage your paint (or leave swirl marks) like a cloth or brush car wash. Comparing touchless car washes to a "pressure washer" is akin to comparing a Prius to ...... a Hummer! As Patrick already said, he could hand wash his car immediately, but could not use any automatic car wash until after 30 days. I'd follow that advice, even for the touchless car washes.
Sounds like you haven't taken a black car with good paint through a "pressure washer" car wash. I have, and I can assure you it was a disaster - took a couple of days with Meguires Swirl Remover getting all the swirl marks out and making it look good again!
That's weird. I've never heard of this before, even with friends who have black or dark colored cars. I have one friend who has a black Mustang that he "babies" and details. I'll have to ask him if he has had a similar experience to yours. I guess I would question the comment about "good paint". Maybe nice looking, but "good"? Mind if I ask what make and model car, and whether it was the factory paint?
+1 on a local car wash/detail place. Around here, it is $7 for a machine spray (low pressure drip of soap and misting water) and hand vaccuuming, hand tire polishing, hand drying, and interior wipe-down with smelly wafers for the floor they hide under the seats. The gas station auto-wash is $6, $7, or $9. The $6 doesnt dry the car, and even the $9 doesnt do all that well... So for $7, you cant beat the human touch.
Yes, I keep an old cotton bath towel in the car, and use that to dry the car after going through the automatic wash. In your case, since your local human car wash is priced competitively, it's not a tough decision for you to make.
