How many car washes are too many washes?

[LSU04_08]

As the title states... How many car washes are too many? I pay $32 per month (as opposed to $19 per wash) for the best auto car wash around here which lets me go through as many times as I want to. The package I get is the Platinum, highest package, so you get:

Presoak
Soft-Touch Brushes
Wheel Cleaner
Underbody
Tri-Color Foam
Clear Coat
Lava Shine
Hot Wax
Ice Tire Shine
Free Vacuum

I've never seen a vehicle come out cleaner. I chose this car wash because it's next to the place I get my oil changed and it never failed that I'd watch brand new Yukons, BMW's, Mercedes, 4x4 lifted Rams and GMCs and Fords, etc., going through it all the time. It takes about 45 seconds to go through each time and there's always a fella standing there to guide you in and if you're in an SUV, he'll tape your rear wiper blade. I usually go through once a week at the very least, sometimes twice, and a third time if it's a grass mowing day.

How much is too much?

Here's the car wash.




Here's how my truck comes out.

 

[Firebird]

Honestly, 1x is too much, and yes, I have the unlimited wash package too.

 

[SKS 800]

One automatic car wash is too much. I only hand wash mine.

 

[retired]

I have a buddy who has unlimited and he drives through almost every day as he drives by it on his way to work.

 

[mb33458]

You might be ok with orange paint, but at one time I owned a nice black 5.0 Mustang and the brushes put marks in my paint. I only do brushless auto washes now. Most of the time I hand wash every two to three weeks, followed by detail spray or spray wax. Then wax every 6 months. Seems to work.

 

[KeithP]

Daily washing means there are nooks & crannies in the frame and sheet metal that are never drying out. Could be a catalyst for rust issues over time.

 

[LouM]

I get mine whenever I get to a town with the car wash, I like to go twice a week.
I normally end up with 3 - 5 in the summer and 4-8 in the winter.

 

[SniperDroid]

Any car wash that has brushes will cause swirl marks on the paint.... I ruined the finish on a 2005 Explorer we had doing the twice a month car wash...!
My wife's 2016 Jeep Cherokee Limited has never seen the inside of a brush carwash. Hand wash by me, or a laser wash. Not a Swirl in the finish! My Ram will get polished up before winter because I can see the lightest swirls in the finish. The previous owner had a wash package sticker in the windshield.

If you don't care about the finish, use the carwash all you want.

 

[mikeru]

Touchless car wash, I'd say there is no such thing as too many car washes. Anything else will cause micro-scratches, and over time will dull the paint. Even hand washing.

 

[TestPilot57]

I will never run any vehicle through a brush auto-wash. Touchless only.

For my RAM, maybe 2-3 times a year. But, I only drive on paved roads. If I spent time or lived on a dirt road, it would definitely be more.

For my Porsche, no auto wash of any sort ever. I only drive it in nice weather, and have it hand-washed and detailed once a year before I put the cover on it for the winter.

 

[JayLeonard]

I do once a week or so.

 

[LouM]

Well my truck doesn't get pampered at all, dirt roads, field roads, fields and pastures.
Then the brush type car washes as the touchless don't even start to get it clean.

 

[rotts4u]

1 x is 1 x too many for me. I hand wash my vehicles only and have since I got my first car in 1979. I would never use a wash that had any brushes ever. A touchless in the winter when its too cold etc is acceptable but thats it for me. Those brush washes will ruin the paint

 

[LouM]

1 x is 1 x too many for me. I hand wash my vehicles only and have since I got my first car in 1979. I would never use a wash that had any brushes ever. A touchless in the winter when its too cold etc is acceptable but thats it for me. Those brush washes will ruin the paint

I have heard that for several decades, all I can say to that is;
My 2002 Dakota (white) went thru weekly or more often from 2002 thru 2014 and over 200,000 miles with no paint damage that I noticed and no rust were rust is routine here.
Then my 2015 ecodiesel (Granite) got the same treatment till 2021 with the same results.
And now my 2019 (Blue) is getting the same treatment.
Prior to that my Fords and Chevys got it when I saw one as they were not common around here, and they all rusted rapidly also,
so the under carriage wash seems to really help in that requard.

 

[Timsdually]

I have washed my truck twice since I picked it up in January.

 

[yakalong]

I hand wash mine.

 

[Treburkulosis]

After doing the whole touchless car wash and seeing what it did to my white paint, I went back to my roots and corrected the paint and then ceramic coated it. I use a foam cannon and the two bucket method. It takes about as long as a long line at the car wash and then the same with blowing the water off and touching the paint as minimal as possible. I wont return to another touches car wash. Just my .02. Also once you get set up, its way less per month to do it yourself.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Example 32x12= 384 a year not bad, but your poor paint. I have roughly 140 dollars in my pressure washer and cannon. Mega foam or Mr Pink is roughly 20-40 bucks. I just switched to mega foam, but I still use CG extreme body wash and wax and that was 35 a gallon on amazon. I shop the deals when they come around. Adams and CG are always running deals. Amazon has it for around the same price and prime gets it there within a day if not that day. A gallon lasts me 6 months washing two vehicles weekly and when my Charger goes out which is pretty rare. In the end its all up to you. A lot of us just prefer hand washing vs touchless. In the end we dont make the payments you do so you take care of it how you want to! Good looking truck btw! I love that red!

 

[bcbouy]

handwashing is the way to go but you still need to pressure wash the undercarriage weekly.especially in the rustbelt.

 

[LSU04_08]

One automatic car wash is too much. I only hand wash mine.

I've had mine through several times and not a single scratch or swirl mark on my paint. When you hand wash, you can pick up debris with your wash tool and scratch the paint.