How many car washes are too many washes?

[LSU04_08]

Can you hook me up with your dealer?

Standby, brother, I can get ya hooked up!

 

[LSU04_08]

Ah, yes - those NORTH west Louisiana winters can be a real bear! I hope you ordered the Arctic Package.

It was pretty bad here this past February...

 

[Southern Ram]

I usually go to the car wash about every 3-4 weeks. It also depends on the weather. Just went to get it washed Saturday morning

 

[Socalramfan]

You’d be better off rinsing any dirt/grim off with a garden hose, and then hand washing it when you have time.

i cringe of the thought of a ‘car wash’ . I get it that not everyone has the time, but that nice shinny truck will show the scratches and clear coat failure sooner than you’d think.

 

[JoeCo]

You’d be better off rinsing any dirt/grim off with a garden hose, and then hand washing it when you have time.

i cringe of the thought of a ‘car wash’ . I get it that not everyone has the time, but that nice shinny truck will show the scratches and clear coat failure sooner than you’d think.

How soon? Admittedly I don’t keep trucks for very long but I haven’t had any issues over the past 7 years on any of my trucks. Only keep them a few years each but they all went through car washes regularly.

 

[Treburkulosis]

It was pretty bad here this past February... Did they do rolling black outs?

View attachment 468754

 

[JoeCo]

Lol that's funny...this was our worst last winter:





Also drove from NY to TX and back during all of that fun down there in February. Certainly not the worst I've ever seen obviously, but worst roads/driving conditions I've ever encountered by a long shot due to the lack of preparation to the roads. Glad I waited until after that trip to pursue my new truck, was better to take that out on the last truck before getting rid of it.

 

[Socalramfan]

How soon? Admittedly I don’t keep trucks for very long but I haven’t had any issues over the past 7 years on any of my trucks. Only keep them a few years each but they all went through car washes regularly.

As soon as practical of course. Not so much from where I'm at, but you guys who have to deal with road salt, sea salt (beach & boat launching), certainly know what that monster can do. Then you have tree sap, bird crap etc that will just eat through the paint.

Drive through car washes have their place, just not for me. The damage that is caused to the paint, just isn't worth to for me.

 

[bcbouy]

you guys don't know cold snowy winters.Canada would prolly kill you.

 

[Socalramfan]

you guys don't know cold snowy winters.Canada would prolly kill you.View attachment 468844

and that is why I don't

 

[Tray Burge]

One's too mant.
Worst thing you can do to your paint and clear coat.

 

[LouM]

we get a tad bit if that miserable white stuff;

 

[JoeCo]

As soon as practical of course. Not so much from where I'm at, but you guys who have to deal with road salt, sea salt (beach & boat launching), certainly know what that monster can do. Then you have tree sap, bird crap etc that will just eat through the paint.

Drive through car washes have their place, just not for me. The damage that is caused to the paint, just isn't worth to for me.

That's true, definitely jealous of that weather that you have out there! Around here, you know it's almost always going to rain/snow within 2-3 days, so putting all that effort into washing it becomes frustrating. Plus all of the other stuff you mentioned makes the auto wash a good option for a lot of people here. If I lived where you did I would probably do a hand wash every month of two, it would be really nice to see the truck stay nice and clean for a while too!

However, I'm still wondering on my original question to you. In your experience in your neck of the woods, how long to see damage in the paint due to going through a car wash once or twice a week? A lot of people here are stating it as matter of fact, I just haven't seen it or heard of that very much with modern car washes, so I'd be interested to hear some first hand accounts of paint being damaged by going through modern car washes over x amount of years. Of course plenty of variables here, but does anyone have some specific examples of this type of stuff in the newer style car washes?

 

[JoeCo]

Worst thing you can do to your paint and clear coat.

How about leaving salt on it for a few months until it becomes bearable to do a hand wash? I've seen cars rust after one winter due to people not washing them a single time during winter. Plus all the salt on the underbody as well, whoever works on the truck will thank you for going through underbody washes regularly. For anyone that doesn't get the underbody washed off regularly, just get out the acetylene torch anytime you want to work on anything underneath!

I'm very jealous of my fellow ram drivers that don't have to deal with salt/rust, it's a never ending battle throughout winter unless you just give in and say f it.

 

[Socalramfan]

That's true, definitely jealous of that weather that you have out there! Around here, you know it's almost always going to rain/snow within 2-3 days, so putting all that effort into washing it becomes frustrating. Plus all of the other stuff you mentioned makes the auto wash a good option for a lot of people here. If I lived where you did I would probably do a hand wash every month of two, it would be really nice to see the truck stay nice and clean for a while too!

However, I'm still wondering on my original question to you. In your experience in your neck of the woods, how long to see damage in the paint due to going through a car wash once or twice a week? A lot of people here are stating it as matter of fact, I just haven't seen it or heard of that very much with modern car washes, so I'd be interested to hear some first hand accounts of paint being damaged by going through modern car washes over x amount of years. Of course plenty of variables here, but does anyone have some specific examples of this type of stuff in the newer style car washes?

From what I've seen, (as a Concours Judge for a few marques) the brushes will certainly "scratch" the paint, only correctable by a full paint correction if not too deep. The blowers they use that "roll over" the top of your vehicle to dry it, leave wear marks that deteriorate the clear coat, repaint is the only option for that one.

How long? The scratches can start right away. I've seen clear coats as soon as 12 months for failure. From a "standing 10 feet away from the vehicle" my personal experience has been about 3-4 years. That's where the phrase, "your car looks like a 10 "comes from. Meaning, from 10 feet away it looks great.... but as you get closer, all the visual flaws stand out more. Of course conditions, frequency, and care all come into play.

Ceramic Coating does put a tough barrier in between, but there's Pro's and Con's on that process as well.

 

[CanRebel]

My view, 1 wash is too much, either at car wash or by hand. My cars/trucks get washed when it rains/snows.
Don't care if it's 'clean' , I don't eat off it.
Also way too lazy.

One of my children... "Dad why is your truck so dirty already you only had for 2 hours"

 

[LouM]

You must have much better eye sight then I do,
after a hundred or more washes on my 2015 Granite Gray the only scratches I saw were the ones from the brush that grows along field roads, driveways and back roads and such, then a couple of scrapes from the mail box door, and a long one down each side from the drive through
gate that had lost it's soft end (that one bothered me for awhile, actually buffed much of it out).
I didn't see anything that I would attribute to the car wash brushes

 

[Socalramfan]

Car washes or not, the fact that folks are concerned enough to "clean" their Rams, and keep the appearance up is worth something in my book.

OP's original question referred to the "quantity" of an automatic style car wash

 

[mikeru]

The micro-scratches that occur from most modern car washes are easier to see on some colors than others. Lighting source and angle are also important. It's not a simple answer to the question of how many car washes. The answer depends on too many factors such as age of the brushes, type of brushes used, duration of wash, to name a few. Remember also that just because you hand wash your truck doesn't mean you aren't doing damage to the paint. There is a potential for micro scratches any time you touch the paint with anything. The only car wash that you can guarantee will not damage paint is a true touchless car wash. But at around $14 per wash, it does have the potential to damage your wallet.

 

[JoeCo]

From what I've seen, (as a Concours Judge for a few marques) the brushes will certainly "scratch" the paint, only correctable by a full paint correction if not too deep. The blowers they use that "roll over" the top of your vehicle to dry it, leave wear marks that error the clear coat, repeat is the only option for that one.

How long? The scratches can start right away. I've seen clear coats as soon as 12 months for failure. From a "standing 10 feet away from the vehicle" my personal experience has been about 3-4 years. That's where the phrase, "your car looks like a 10 "comes from. Meaning, from 10 feet away it looks great.... but as you get closer, all the visual flaws stand out more. Of course conditions, frequency, and care all come into play.

Ceramic Coating does put a tough barrier in between, but there's Pro's and Con's on that process as well.

Thanks for the info, I will certainly keep an eye out and see if I get any of this on this truck (my first blue truck), never seemed to have issues like that on my last 3 though (black and then flame red and delmonico red). Albeit I'm not exactly looking with a magnifying glass, but when I occasionally hand dry it after the auto wash I get a good close look at things. As you said, different parts of the country too, I'm looking to keep the rust off and when I've traded those last 3 trucks in, there was no issue with the getting dinged for the paint/body condition. Around here I think they are just happy to get rust free bodies without any major or noticeable damage.

Somewhat related, a lot of people have had issues with the painted bumpers not holding up very well. Two of my first three had the color matched bumpers, and they held up better than the chrome bumper the third had. I'll be keeping an eye on that on this new one as well.