Never, ever through a car wash with fabric or brushes. Not even our Hond Odyssey gets that bad treatment. I will do the self serve spray but no scrub brush. Hand was in driveway.

 

Very occasionally I take, my MACAN thru a carwash
It’s OPTICOATEd,
My OPTICOAT guy tells me it’s not a problem.
Never the BOXSTER
It does have a ceramic coat

 

Why would you ever consider doing such a thing?

 

I would never take it through a wash with brushes, but I will occasionally take it through a touchless wash. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong, I an open to be educated.

Cheers.

 

As far as marking the paint the touchless is fine. Unfortunately it won't get your car clean.

Of course if the car is really dirty, then it would be a good start to a hand wash at home.:laugh:

 

Never.


I always wash it myself.

 

Cleaning one of the pleasures of performance vehicle ownership and a great opportunity for a proper visual check. Not a fan of automated car washes.

 

Just finished!

 

Not a chance! I don't even let my dealer wash the car.

When I collected the car my detailer had to single stage machine polish the paint to correct the fine scratches/swirl marks caused just from the dealer prep.

 

Oh **** no.

 

no way. do it yourself...

 

Some context: mine is my daily driver. I do work from home, so it doesn't get daily-commute-dirty; that being said, I hate it when my beautiful Miami Blue Cayman is dirty, so I'm washing it almost weekly (by hand). Not sure I can keep doing that, though, and winter is around the corner. Wanted to get fellow Cayman owners' perspective. (And, no, I have not taken my car through a car wash with brushes. I've done the brushless car was a couple times, though.)

 

Why is this a thread? With all due respect, that’s never an option for any decent car.

 

Also @grasmere @Scubaregs @wriggly @Zydi @timlaw and a few others:

This is a thread because there are those of us who do not have an option to wash the car personally by hand. I am one of those people. I live in a small, LEED-certified condo building in the downtown of a major city. Washing cars on the property is not allowed.

That said, I work somewhere for which I park in a parking garage that has a car detailer on the ground floor. I have them hand-wash my car every other Friday. They do a good, but not great, job -- I often need to touch it up with waterless wash & polish the following morning.

During times when I need to wash the car somewhere else, there is one place I drive 20 miles to one-way to have it done. It is a touchless conveyor wash with hand-wash as a (significantly more expensive) option. Two times out of three I run it through the conveyor; no major issues so far. (I've seen R8s, AMGs, GT500s and Aston Martins go through this wash. If those folks are using it, I can.) I have to touch this up after the fact as well, but not as drastically as the parking-garage place primarily because I do it immediately after I get the car back.

Is my car pristine? Nope. Would I prefer to hand-wash it myself every time? Of course. Do I 'sweat' not being able to do that? Nowhere near as much as I used to because it's a choice to live where I live and not be able to. I take reasonable measures to keep the finish in good shape, such as having it detailed/waxed/polished every 4-6 months or after a long road trip. But I bought my car to drive it, not keep it in showroom condition. YMMV.

Heck: On road trips I use power sprayers to wash the car! Talk about a no-no! But often, in Podunk, U.S.A., that's all that's around, sooooo ... you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Hand wash the Cayman myself.

Our Honda and GMC cargo van go to the car wash.

 

I like to drive by carwashes with my hand washed/detailed Night Blue Metallic with ceramic glinting like nobody's business. >

 

?

Would you thrash your Porsche with a multi string plastic whip?

Errrr no ��

Ceramic coating this week, then experiment with minimalist touch free washing.

 

@_Juan it's your car and you have every right to utilize the services of a car wash automated or not but as you can see from most of the prior posts the closest many of us get to these establishments is when we happen to pass by them in our travels. At this point, I have become fairly knowledgable and capable at car detailing, and would not even allow a professional car detailer to take care of my Porsche for two reasons......one it's kind of a hobby at this point, and in most cases, no one will take care of your car or do it as well as you can.
That is especially my feeling about the dealership courtesy "free" wash.

 

@_Juan and would not even allow a professional car detailer to take care of my Porsche for two reasons......one it's kind of a hobby at this point, and in most cases, no one will take care of your car or do it as well as you can.
.

+1 on this. There is a satisfaction gained by putting in the care and effort oneself. After an eleven hour shift today, I drove home and gave her a hand wash at sunset.

Good way to end the day and will have a clean car for an off day mañana.

 

I'm sure everyone has seen the floor drain in your local touch less car wash. The drain does not go to the sewer. The water is recycled and goes through a series of pits underground that allow the sediment to settle out before being tapped for use at the last pit in line. In other words, in the winter your washing your car with all the road salt and other chemicals in soulution washed from all the cars before yours.

 

er NEVER EVER!!!

honestly its your choice but you have made a huge investment and I wouldn't if I was you

are car washes sponsored by car detailers to drum up new business?

Tim

 

.....not to mention, the harsh chemicals they use in the touchless strip the finish off your car. There’s not one good thing that comes from taking a car through an automatic car wash.

 

Hand wash only with no machines outside of blower. Detail every 6 weeks or so

Rippey

 

In the winter I will do as Wriggly does (CaymanS, M4 n IS350) and also use this gizmo when above freezing:sun joe spx6001c-XR (let’s see how it works). None of the above cars have seen a car wash, fortunately I can wash in my driveway ( I do not have a touchless nearby but would like to try, then bring out the swirl light n see if any damage).

 

I picked up my brand new 718 Cayman, and started researching how people wash the car since my car is getting a little dirty. I was so shocked to know many people wash the car by self. I don't know how to wash the car by myself. I usually use touchless wash. But, I have a concern if high pressure water from side impact engine. I checked I can see something from side (see picture)...engine? not sure... Is using touchless wash safe for the engine?

 

Regarding the engine, it's just water with soap. Nothing really exciting, If you can't wash yourself, then I think a touchless wash is next best.

 

The side intakes will be fine in a car wash. Think about driving in heavy rain at highway speeds.

 

Haha! I'd like to see someone washing their car (Porsche or otherwise) in circular driveway at the entrance of my condo building in Manhattan. Just the look in the face of the liveried doorman would be priceless. I doubt that you can find a water faucet there that you would be allowed to use.

People are just bloody minded. I used to live in the 3d floor of a 4 story low-rise. I knew that I would invite a fight if I used the garden water and power for my pressure washer, so I hung an long extension cord and a hose from my 3d story balcony. I still got a belligerent neighbor, cursing and threatening because there was water in the parking area. He threatened to sue! I asked him whether he sues the Lord or his church every time it rains... He left cursing and muttering.

I use touchless when I can find them. I will use a brush carwash rather than leaving plastered insects on the paint after a long trip.

My 718CS is a car, not a shrine...

 

My 718CS is a car, not a shrine...

Blasphemy! Stone him!! ..... just don't hit the car!!??

 

By hand in the driveway. Have never been a fan of drive thru car washes except when I lived in Michigan winters.