convertible + Carwash

kirk107

New Member
May 28, 2005
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I recently got a '03 GT convertible and got it sprayed with a teflon clearcoat. I usually like to wash it by hand, but I was wondering if it was safe to take it through a carwash that does not wax.
 
Absolutely not, you must hand wash convertibles or use the spray wand type wash booths. The air blowers on the drive through car washes will blow out the rear window seals. That is just one example of the bad things that can happen.

Sure the person running the car wash will tell you that they will turn off the blowers, but they never actually do it.
 
I dont know why everyone says it will ruin your seals...I have an 03 vert, been through the car was at least ten times, even the ****ty ones they have at exxon mobile that are five bucks and never had a problem at all.
 
TrueBlueNJ said:
I dont know why everyone says it will ruin your seals...I have an 03 vert, been through the car was at least ten times, even the ****ty ones they have at exxon mobile that are five bucks and never had a problem at all.
It will slowly seperates the top from the rear glass...then you could get a leak and ruin your day.
 
I'm scared of the blowers going through the wash in my coupe. My hood scoop and rear wing sure get bounced around quite a bit. I don't even notice them bouncing at 100+ on the highway.

I only go through the carwash in the winter. Come summer time i handwash. No matter how good a carwash is, it cannot compete with a good handwash. I even pop the hood and wash the engine with a rag and degreaser and then gently hose it away. Sometimes i ever pull the wheels off to clean the backsides and inside the wheel wells and brake components. A little overboard i know but my car still looks brand new 3 years later.
 
Mustang5L5 said:
No matter how good a carwash is, it cannot compete with a good handwash. I even pop the hood and wash the engine with a rag and degreaser and then gently hose it away. Sometimes i ever pull the wheels off to clean the backsides and inside the wheel wells and brake components. A little overboard i know but my car still looks brand new 3 years later.
+1
 
Mustang5L5 said:
I'm scared of the blowers going through the wash in my coupe. My hood scoop and rear wing sure get bounced around quite a bit. I don't even notice them bouncing at 100+ on the highway.

I only go through the carwash in the winter. Come summer time i handwash. No matter how good a carwash is, it cannot compete with a good handwash. I even pop the hood and wash the engine with a rag and degreaser and then gently hose it away. Sometimes i ever pull the wheels off to clean the backsides and inside the wheel wells and brake components. A little overboard i know but my car still looks brand new 3 years later.
+2 hand wash your car if you can it's worth it.
 
Mustang5L5 said:
I'm scared of the blowers going through the wash in my coupe. My hood scoop and rear wing sure get bounced around quite a bit. I don't even notice them bouncing at 100+ on the highway.

I only go through the carwash in the winter. Come summer time i handwash. No matter how good a carwash is, it cannot compete with a good handwash. I even pop the hood and wash the engine with a rag and degreaser and then gently hose it away. Sometimes i ever pull the wheels off to clean the backsides and inside the wheel wells and brake components. A little overboard i know but my car still looks brand new 3 years later.

naw, it ain't overboard, it's just right :nice:

I hate living in the barracks, now I'm limited to those coin-op pressure washer stalls on the base. They don't want you to bucket wash, but to hell with that rule! :D
 
If you take your vert through an automatic car wash your just asking for trouble. I would rather ride dirty awhile longer than do that. I do stop at coin op washes and spray my car off from time to time, but it will never see an drive through wash. :nonono:
 
McTeague said:
Sure the person running the car wash will tell you that they will turn off the blowers, but they never actually do it.

My friend works at a car wash (Mikes Express) - if they don't turn it off/do what the customer wants, they get in big trouble and/or written up/fired. But yeah, vert + carwash = bad idea. :flag:
 
'01 convert...I lived in Buffalo, NY for 7 years. Had the stang for 3. During the winters I would go to this place called Delta Sonic to get that salt crap off. I always got nervous cause of the blowers, but nothing happened. Now that the car is 5 years young, I will hand wash. Those things blow really hard and it would shake and shake, but nuttin' ever happened. I probably went through those blowers at least 40-50 times. Maybe I was lucky. So you're rollin' the dice when going through those things. But from now on...no more blowers. I'll be hand washing...:p
 
Poisoned Pony said:
naw, it ain't overboard, it's just right :nice:

I hate living in the barracks, now I'm limited to those coin-op pressure washer stalls on the base. They don't want you to bucket wash, but to hell with that rule! :D
I had to do the same thing when I lived in a Condo. I would just go at night during the week when it wasn't busy. People would look at me funny when i would break out the bucket in the spray stall.
 
I was in a hurry to go somewhere and my car needed a wash and I went to one of those auto washes that you drive into and they have the thing that sprays and moves back and forth around you car and then dries it of. Big mistake and I'll never do it again. Somehow water leaked in on the drivers side and I ended up having to soak up a bunch of water. :nono: Hand washing and .25 spray off's from now on!.


*Once in a great while I'll go through a drive through wash and have them wash the under carriage only. Some auto washes can do this without washing the rest of the car. Ask your car wash if they car!