Automatic Car Washing Maverick?

[TheWizziard]

The car wash destroying your paint is similar to the drop-in-bed line rusting your bed out debate. A lot of people have an opinion with little or no data or personal experience. They just repeat what others have said or written. And there is an exception to everything. Have there been occasions where a carwash has damaged a vehicle? Of course. Has a bed under a DIBL rusted out? Of course. Has a bed rusted out without any Liner? Also of course.

I do agree with post #4. If you want show quality paint and go through the effort of clay bars, ceramics, waxes and such then don't do it.

If you are like me that bought a truck (my 5th) to use as a truck then a lot of things you do will cause more damage than the carwash. I have always used carwashes and the paint on all of my vehicles have outlive the vehicles usefulness. (I average 10 years 100K miles per vehicle)

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[jfourman]

I'll let the debate rage on, but if you decide to run 'er through, be sure to turn off the auto hold/auto brake feature. I nearly forced the machine to shut down before I realized that my truck was holding the brakes on for me!

I would not have ever thought of this. Is it certain the truck will try to brake if you don't turn off the auto hold? This seems like a serious "Warning" that should be in the manual.

 

[ladyhawkgt]

While I don't care at all what others choose to do with their truck, I have to comment to say you are wrong. Haha. Mean that in the nicest way I can. Seriously.

This is one of those things where you can't prove something won't or doesn't happen (really hard to prove the absence of something, like Bigfoot or Aliens), but I can easily prove it did/does happen.

We have a black Subaru that literally has giant (like more than a foot long) wavy/"S" shaped scratches all over the hood from being run thru a tunnel car wash a few times over a few years with those "dangly/curtain like" fuzzy octopus arm style cloths that rub all over. The scratches match perfectly with the "wavy" back and forth motion of those dangly arms in the car wash. Plenty of scratches on the side panels as well. And I don't mean that there are 1 or 2 of those. I mean dozens across the hood, gained over years of car washes. While we don't care about the paint on that Subaru, I am 100% certain of where the scratches came from.

Saying that a high usage (dozens if not hundreds of washes per day), physically contacting/spinning/waving/rubbing automated brush or cloth doesn't scratch automotive paint is misleading at best. The reason folks are in the car wash is due to having a dirty car. Some percentage of all that dirt/gravel/glass/microplastics/iron fallout does get embedded into the brush or cloth that is vigorously spinning/pushing on your paint. Those car washes are not replacing those giant brushes or cloths very often, they are not cheap, and they are virtually impossible to clean of contamination. If you want proof about them not being able to clean them or replace them often, read my earlier statement about how we gained our giant scratches over multiple years time, not from some single freak event.

this exactly. if you can’t see swirls in your paint, your eyes must be closed. i walked through the Ford lot while waiting for my car to be processed and saw brand new cars full of swirls already from the wash at the dealer. i did not let them clean my car. it went to my detailer one month later for a coating. i wash by hand with a rinseless wash.

 

[RobertD]

It is easy to tell which responses fall into which of the three groups (Way to add a third group Scott).

Simplified:

Group 1: Likes car washes
Group 2: Hates car washes
Group 3: Why wash a car

 

[AutobahnSHO]

Group 4: Love somewhere there's sand but not real mud, no salt or other road nasty stuff ever. Wash the vehicle every decade or if it gets really really really dirty

 

[commadorebob]

I have run our Maverick through the car wash with brushes and it has been fine in my opinion.

In car wash opinions, especially ones with brushes spinning about, there are two groups of folks.

Group 1. Folks like me, I just don't care if the paint is getting micro scratches. I would rather run it through the car wash every few days than spend time and effort washing it by hand. I never notice the micro scratches. I also don't detail my car to make it look absolutely perfect. Also in my world parking lot dings and rock chips are going to happen and I learned early on in life to not obsess about them or I would go nuts.

Group 2. Folks that care about making their cars look absolutely perfect and debate the wonders of clay bars, ceramics, waxes and such. They would never take their car to a car wash and ruin it with spinning brushes that have glass and rocks and other paint scratching monsters left by other cars. These folks always seem to have a car that shines much better than mine did when I bought it and their effort really shows. They always look ready to enter a car show.

If I had the best of both worlds I would be in group 1 and my car would look like it came out of group 2. But at last the real world kicks in and I have chosen group 1. I wont be winning any car shows but that is OK with me because I have time to do other things.

The choice is yours, which way will you go......

I'm more Option 1(B): When I wash my truck once a quarter, I'll run it through the brushed car wash at the highest level.

 

[paneubert]

Group 4: Love somewhere there's sand but not real mud, no salt or other road nasty stuff ever. Wash the vehicle every decade or if it gets really really really dirty

Group 5!

I do run my Maverick thru a car wash every couple months in the cold months of the year, but it is a TOUCHLESS car wash. Yes, there are drawbacks to touchless (harsher chemicals to compensate for the lack of physcial touch), but it is still worlds better for your paint than a dirty spinning brush slapping the crap out of your hood. Haha.

In the warmer months, I foam cannon, pressure wash, and use brand new (or specially handled/washed) microfiber cloth. Any microfiber I use is only used for one Maverick wash, and then is tossed in an empty bucket to be specially laundered when the supply of "dirty" microfiber gets large enough to clean a load of them all at once.

 

[TheShark]

I'm too old to bother with washing my Mav by hand, I run it through the car wash maybe once a month. In the end it's just a cheap pickup truck, it's not a Bentley Continental GT.

 

[tom_tucker]

I have run our Maverick through the car wash with brushes and it has been fine in my opinion.

In car wash opinions, especially ones with brushes spinning about, there are two groups of folks.

Group 1. Folks like me, I just don't care if the paint is getting micro scratches. I would rather run it through the car wash every few days than spend time and effort washing it by hand. I never notice the micro scratches. I also don't detail my car to make it look absolutely perfect. Also in my world parking lot dings and rock chips are going to happen and I learned early on in life to not obsess about them or I would go nuts.

Group 2. Folks that care about making their cars look absolutely perfect and debate the wonders of clay bars, ceramics, waxes and such. They would never take their car to a car wash and ruin it with spinning brushes that have glass and rocks and other paint scratching monsters left by other cars. These folks always seem to have a car that shines much better than mine did when I bought it and their effort really shows. They always look ready to enter a car show.

If I had the best of both worlds I would be in group 1 and my car would look like it came out of group 2. But at last the real world kicks in and I have chosen group 1. I wont be winning any car shows but that is OK with me because I have time to do other things.

The choice is yours, which way will you go......

Scratches are just one factor. I have gotten water in my headlights from those auto washes (other vehicles). Too high pressure. They also cost 2-3x of what the self wash stall costs. I can wash it myself for $5 in the self wash, auto wash is $14.

Auto washes are fine, but I prefer the DIY wand for those reasons. I think once in the Spring, I'll send it though the auto with "the works", undercarriage, etc. just to be sure it's de-salted from Winter.

 

[TheWizziard]

It is easy to tell which responses fall into which of the three groups (Way to add a third group Scott).

Simplified:

Group 1: Likes car washes
Group 2: Hates car washes
Group 3: Why wash a car

I use #3 as a theft deterrent. I once was concerned about leaving my truck parked in a non-US airport parking lot for a few days. When I got there I realized my dirty old school Ranger was parked between a BMW and a Mercedes. Both with immaculate paint jobs. I felt a lot safer in that they were more likely targets.

 

[null98115]

I'll let the debate rage on, but if you decide to run 'er through, be sure to turn off the auto hold/auto brake feature. I nearly forced the machine to shut down before I realized that my truck was holding the brakes on for me!

Great advice. Thank you.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Gotta keep it all in perspective.

This is a $20k TRUCK.

Sure. Some paid $26k, $32k, or $40k.
But it's still a $20k truck with mediocre at best paint job.

 

[Robert C]

Gotta keep it all in perspective.

This is a $20k TRUCK.

Sure. Some paid $26k, $32k, or $40k.
But it's still a $20k truck with mediocre at best paint job.

And, even though I'm in my 60s, it's my first new vehicle.
The first time I've even really chose the color, cheap paint job or not.
I guess it really depends where you are coming from.
If your parents bought you a new car at 16 and now you are coming down from a previous $50,000 or $75,000 SUV, yes I could see how you might not care for it as well as someone coming from a 2001 Ranger with 250,000 miles.
With it hopefully being the last vehicle I ever buy.

 

[Robert C]

The car wash destroying your paint is similar to the drop-in-bed line rusting your bed out debate. A lot of people have an opinion with little or no data or personal experience. They just repeat what others have said or written. And there is an exception to everything. Have there been occasions where a carwash has damaged a vehicle? Of course. Has a bed under a DIBL rusted out? Of course. Has a bed rusted out without any Liner? Also of course.

I do agree with post #4. If you want show quality paint and go through the effort of clay bars, ceramics, waxes and such then don't do it.

If you are like me that bought a truck (my 5th) to use as a truck then a lot of things you do will cause more damage than the carwash. I have always used carwashes and the paint on all of my vehicles have outlive the vehicles usefulness. (I average 10 years 100K miles per vehicle)

I got the SIBL just because of my anecdotical personal experience with a drop in bedliner. This is my 2001 Ranger after taking off the drop in bedliner to repair the rattles.
The riveted in sheet metal is covering huge rusted out holes.
(And, yes I plan to keep my Maverick that long).

 

[swtiming8]

Does anyone run their Maverick through the automatic, brushed car washes? Does it work ok, without hurting the truck?

I have been told only if it’s a brushless car wash. I have only hand washed it so far but I’m sure the dealer has run it through their wash. Also I installed the window deflectors after I took ownership that company says only brushless washes or hand washing.

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