I have read the manual and it says to remove the antenna before going thru a car wash. Is this necessary?
yes a lot of the automatic car washes are powerful enough to tear the antenna and the mounting base out of the roof and then pulverize your car with the remains all wound up in the rotating brush assy. It just unscrews. If your a little short to reach it just open a back door and stand on the sill.
Luckily here in Southern california we have an ample supply of illegal aliens that make it possible for a good hand only wash for 7 or 8 bucks, so no need to remove the antenna!!!!!
Brushless automatics shouldn't be a problem so long as the top clearance of the washing system doesn't go down lower than the antenna. I use a drive through automatic in which they do not request that antennas be removed, nor do they remove the antenna for you because their system have plenty of clearances all around.
:idea: To solve the "carwash/antenna" problem, I replaced the original with a 2" STUB antenna bought on eBay. I haven't made a "cross country" drive, but the reception in the Dallas metroplex area seems as good as with the long original antenna. Replacement antennae usually come with several "screws" one of which will match the Prius base. When I make a "country" drive, I carry the original in case the reception gets bad.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt\";p=\"91266)</div> that's the way to do it. Good plan Charles.
