I have to use the automatic in the winter but don’t like it. I do the touch free cause I don’t like anything rubbing on the paint, especially after the car before me was caked in mud. In the warm months I hand wash. I wash when its dirty not according to the calendar. I usually buy a ten count car wash card every winter and that is usually enough for two cars.
Spring and Fall though I detail the finish with claying, machine polishing, glaze, and wax.
I was being funny…not insulting.
They are great at getting the layer of Salt off.
I tend to have reservations about too much winter washing from a salt perspective. Sure, they knock a lot of salt off, but high pressure water will also force at least some salt into crevices where it can sit there, nice and wet, and rust your car.
It’s not as big of a deal today as it was, say, on a 90’s Honda, but there is a school of thought that says limit washing at least somewhat in the winter if you want to extend your car’s rust-free life.
I don’t wash my car.
I’m not sure you have a car though. I thought you did a lot of walking and busing?
Is there ever salt on the rods in your part of NM?
Here in San Jose I rinse my vehicles off with a garden hose once a week, and only wash w/soap and warm water once a month or so. When I lived in Colorado I did that same routine in the summer, but in the winter where they had salted roads I would wash off both the top side and the wheel wells/tailgate with a pressurized wand at the diy car wash place once a week or after every major snowstorm in the winter. Sometimes I was pressure wand washing the underside every day.
You talking to me? I’ve had a pickup for 20 years. Now that I live in town I get around on bicycle except when I need to haul something.
Rarely.
I’ve heard that theory before…never seen it happen. If you know a specific case this actually happened - let me know.
How would you prove it? I know of lots of cases where cars rusted behind flawless paint, but did they rust because salt got up there, or just because they were going to rust anyway?
The first sign of rust on my old CRX was when the paint bubbled. When I went to look, it was obvious that the rust had started on the back side of the panel, because the area of the rust blight on the back side was larger than the area of the rust blight on the front, and there were no breaks in the paint where the rust was. No clue if that was caused by whoever owned it before me washing it too much in the winter, or just because 90’s Hondas were exceedingly prone to rusting… Or both.
I will say that I got my current CRX from a friend who subscribed to the “never wash it in the winter” theory, and it’s rust free (and will remain so because it will never be driven in the winter again).
I know that’s not nearly enough data points to draw any firm conclusions, but I don’t think that’s data you’re likely to be able to come across, simply because no one’s studying it.
That said, salt does require water in order to cause rust. Dry salt won’t work, and so if your car is dry, and you make it wet by washing it, you are adding an ingredient necessary for rust. So I tend to avoid washing the cars when it’s -10 out and there’s no meltwater on the roads, and then I’ll get it washed when the snow starts melting and the car is wet anyway.
My brother and Father had exact same cars…same year…bought one month apart…and they lived 4 miles from each other. I think my dad washed his car ONCE in 4 years…my brother washed his at least once a week.
My Dads car was rusting out at 4 years…my brothers car just started showing signs of rust.
And my Wifes 11yo Lexus with over 200k miles is rust free living in NH. My 05 4runner was rust free when I sold it in 2014 with over 300k miles.
I don’t know where you live, but this time of year the roads are sloshy with lots of water and salt mixed in. Getting the salt off the car is a good thing.
As I said…the idea of the salt getting pushed into places is just a theory. And based on my observation - it’s not a good theory.
The real killer is a heated garage in the Rust Belt. I shared an apartment there with an engineer who went for 4 months training in England. He parked his new 1965 Plymouth in the heated underground parkade. There was a scratch on the bumper and it was a rusty spot by the time he returned.
My car was parked outside and started rusting in 4 years.
An unheated garage is OK, as long as the temperature stays below freezing. That keeps the rust at bay.
Oh well. My garage stays at about 50 or above most of the winter unless it is really below zero outside. When I’m working out there I turn the heat on to get it to 65 plus. I think its worth it though. Spent too many years in a cold garage.
I think part of the issue with the winter car washes is that the water is usually recycled and not fresh. Even if filtered, the salt still stays in the water, you you essentially get a salt bath at each wash. Even so, I still use them, just not every week and still like to get the car clean.
I guess we just need to accept rust is part of the wear and tear on a car in the north land and just have to figure on trading after 20 years or so. Most new cars though are really pretty well rust proofed with coatings, design, plastics, galvanized parts and stainless. Not like the old days where even the chrome was attached through holes in the body and were first points of rust hiding behind the chrome. Now its all glued on or non-existent.
When I’m WORKING in my garage, I have 2 plug-in heaters to keep me warm. Otherwise, our garage (insulated but not heated) is just below freezing, as it is attached to the house and some heat is transferred in the winter.
I once worked with an accountant who always carried two 40 lb bags of SALT in his trunk to get more traction in the winter!
Was it FWD? I’ve got one of those at my office. 
No, it was a rear drive Dodge compact model. He also drove with his hands tightly on the wheel, not letting the car find its own track. He then had to make constant corrections resulting in a zigzag driving pattern.
I think I did that once 50 years ago but then saw the error of my ways when my trunk started rusting. See? The youth can learn a lot from our mistakes.
The picture is scary. So, this is from going through an automatic brush car wash, correct? I have delved into all the washing methods used on cars, and was shocked to find out how much they can put scratches into the clear coat / paint.
I asked my local high-end body shop owner, whose work and advice I have always found excellent - he’s a straight shooter and been around the block for a long time. His view is that ALL automated car washes, even the touchless ones, scratch the car. He was the most negative on ones with brushes of any type.
He, like others, believe it is better to leave the car dirty longer, as long as it is not grit or residue from driving down a dirt road (I would never drive down one!).
This is what I have found to make the most sense, and probably cause the least amount of any scratching.
Hand-Wash the car. But not at your house, but rather at a self wash high pressure wand at a car wash. The problem at your house is that the water pressure is not high enough, which drags the dirt across the paint to scratch it. The high pressure from a hand-held car wash wand hits the particles fast and strong enough that the dirt particles are bounced off so quickly, they don’t get dragged across the paint enough to scratch it.
Some may take issue with this, but that’s what my best research tells me, and I did a lot.
However, the recycled water most car washes use may have some residue in it, though if the filtration system the car wash uses is up to date, and properly maintained, this shouldn’t be an issue. Unfortunately, the only car wash near me is a scum outfit that has their water-temperature turned way down low, and you barely get lukewarm water, and that’s only if you run $2.00 worth of wash cycle to even get that. Then they overload it with soap so you have to rinse and rinse, and still end up with white spots. And, this cheapskate outfit has the lukewarm water on only the wash cycle, with all other cycles providing cold water.
It would be ideal if the self-wash bays had real strong, hot air blowers you could use, as even microfiber towels used as they should be used, per my body shop owner and a nearby detail shop say you risk putting some scratches in the paint simply by pulling that clean microfiber cloth across your car’s panels… Also be aware that many micro-fiber clothes have tags on them that you need to cut off, as they can scratch the paint as well.
I know there are some posts here extolling the virtues of touchless car washes. They theoretically should be the least damaging, but that depends on the quality and engineering of the particular touchless unit.
Hope to read more replies, as this is a subject on cars that needs to be given more attention.
Not really , it is a subject that has been beaten to death . Just do what you want with your car and move on.