[noka]

Weren't there some posts about 'bubbled' or 'missing' paint on new vehicles?

[tango131]

Originally Posted by lbjgh

I just washed the crud off my car at lunch today and noticed two small, what looked like pin sized rust marks peaking through the paint.

I thought our cars were hermetically sealed in the dunk tank... I can hear the dealership now, "oh that'll buff right out".

... but, hell I hope this isn't the start of a rust problem on my 2013 model.

unless it's a deep "bubble", I'm willing to bet you it is not rust, but surface contamination that looks like a rust pen dot. good news is that this can be removed with a clay bar.

come spring time, a nice full detail will do you and your car good . wash>clay>polish/clean paint> seal paint. i do this on our 2 cars at least 3 times a year: after winter to get all the winter crud off; mid summer; late fall to prep for winter. wife thinks I'm nuts -- but i tell her to wait until 5 yrs from now when her x3 will still look new. takes me about 4 hrs for the small boxster, 5 hrs for the x3 each time (only have done it twice for the x3 -- summer and late fall). I call it "therapy." my almost 3 yrs old daily driven (even in winter) boxster looks new.

[DonC]

You guys have really good snow/ice removal - bad for paint through.

[Aziego]

I took my X3 to on of those touchless place and it did not do that much damage, a swirl here and there, will not use it again.

[noka]

Originally Posted by Aziego

I took my X3 to on of those touchless place and it did not do that much damage, a swirl here and there, will not use it again.

Touchless did damage?

[Nahoa]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

I only wash by hand and never use any type of car wash. When the car is in for service, I make sure to tell them never to wash the car. Don't trust anything but myself.

I do use the touchless spray washers in the Winter; however, after a bad swirl-producing experience at the dealer, I have come to always ask that they do not wash the car. Strangely, if you ask them to wash it, it's a big deal, if you ask them not to wash it, that also seems to be a big deal.

[Aziego]

Originally Posted by noka

Touchless did damage?

Oops, meant brushless

[noka]

Originally Posted by Aziego

Oops, meant brushless

So if not touchless but brushless, what kind of place was it? Cloth?

[KingX]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

I only wash by hand and never use any type of car wash. When the car is in for service, I make sure to tell them never to wash the car. Don't trust anything but myself.

That's what I do for all my vehicles yeah it's a bit anal ...but I do a better job even when I wash it in 20 degree weather

I'll even drive it a week or two longer dirty if I have to and wait till I have a chance to wash it myself

Maybe I'm just very CDO (<---you'll laugh when you catch that joke )

[bookerV]

Hand wash is best by far. But I use a touchless as well in the winters when I'm in Canada. I've had no issues with touchless so far.

[pault]

Mine goes through a cloth auto washer about once a month, or a little more often in the winter if had lots of snow. No issues at all, still looks great, no problems with the paint or finish.

[Irish-Texan]

Originally Posted by noka

So if not touchless but brushless, what kind of place was it? Cloth?

There are a few Laserwash locations convenient to me. No brush or cloth contact. $3 for a light wash (they call it "dust off"), which works well enough, or $8 for a substantial wash. Found it by chance a few months ago, and have ceased using the brushless cloth strip washes. Hand washing is not an option as I'm on well water that is very, very "hard".
If y'all are unfamiliar with this type of wash, just do a web search for "laserwash".
Check out the link which has some video of the concept in action.
http://www.pdqinc.com/car-wash-equip...serwash-g5.asp

[noka]

Originally Posted by Irish-Texan

There are a few Laserwash locations convenient to me. No brush or cloth contact. $3 for a light wash (they call it "dust off"), which works well enough, or $8 for a substantial wash. Found it by chance a few months ago, and have ceased using the brushless cloth strip washes. Hand washing is not an option as I'm on well water that is very, very "hard".
If y'all are unfamiliar with this type of wash, just do a web search for "laserwash".
Check out the link which has some video of the concept in action.
http://www.pdqinc.com/car-wash-equip...serwash-g5.asp

Saw the video and really like the way they use the laser

[jsbos]

Boston must have a good cloth washer because I haven't had an issue either. Mine is silver which helps but I know people who regularly run their black cars through. I agree hand wash is best and I cringe when going through the cloth wash but its tough to hand wash in below freezing temps (dirty water freezes on the car). Plus city living makes it even more of a challenge.

[b0urg301s13]

My alpine white X3 gets dirty everyday here in the rainy season of a dusty tropical country, so frequent washing is needed. I have always opted for hand washing so far. Question is, is it safe to wash the often like once every other day?

[iamhoffer]

HI Guys, I only wash my X3 by hand. I have never taken it through a car wash. One of the reasons is because it's carbon black and I'm terrified to get swirl marks in my car from a car wash. I have not been able to find a touchless carwash in my area. I really do enjoy washing my own car.

[u2b]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzw2-Kl2TSs[/u2b]

[noka]

Originally Posted by jsbos

Boston must have a good cloth washer because I haven't had an issue either. Mine is silver which helps but I know people who regularly run their black cars through. I agree hand wash is best and I cringe when going through the cloth wash but its tough to hand wash in below freezing temps (dirty water freezes on the car). Plus city living makes it even more of a challenge.

Totally agree. I ran it through other day when it hit mid 50's. I used a cloth wash that I took my previous MB C300 through all the time. No problems, scratches or marks whatsoever. Looks nice and clean too.

[daninny]

Often times, the problem is not with the cloths in the car wash, but the knuckleheads who dry the car. Even in the so-called touchless car washes, they dry by hand (or at least finish drying it). Usually, they use the same rag for every car coming through, and they dry the wheels and then dry the body. They then drop the rag, pick it up and resume drying, thus scratching up the paint. The only way to prevent all of this is to do it yourself. Never use the same rag once you drop it.

Admittedly, we often use auto car washes for our Lexus (5 yrs old) and 2013 X3. However, for my Cayman S, I only hand wash it myself and then I use the Mr. Clean auto dry system to let it air dry. It works great - unfortunately, they stopped making it - but you can still get it through ebay.

[noka]

Originally Posted by daninny

Often times, the problem is not with the cloths in the car wash, but the knuckleheads who dry the car. ...

Luckily, the car wash I go to uses a blow dryer at the end and nobody touches it after that except me.