Auto car wash for the day to day washing

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Reaper308

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2020
Posts
531
Reaction score
686
Location
Texas
I hand wash mine when I have time but if I get jammed on time, I have a local car wash that will hand wash it for $55 so probably once every two or three months I go there. The rest of the time it’s in the driveway and finished detailing in the garage. But to each their own!
 

pat247

FRF Addict
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Posts
2,259
Reaction score
6,025
Location
Oklahoma
I've tried every kind of carwash there is in the 10+ years I have owmed my RaptoR and always chose the wax and sealant cycle. I enjoy hand washing the truck so that is how it has been done 80-90% of the time and I use Meguiar's wash&wax only, the stuff is amazing.
 

Speedy3

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Posts
22
Reaction score
25
Tried and FAILED. I was desperate to get the salt off after an icy snowy week in NJ and attempted a local car wash. The pic speaks for itself. It had to be backed out and created havoc for them.tempImageUMFCH1.jpg
 

Don S

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2020
Posts
165
Reaction score
155
Location
Moorpark, Ca
We live in Southern California and water use is always an issue. I use a local automatic car wash about every ten days. It's the brush type. After I drive through, I jump out and towel off the few spots that are still dripping and inside the door frames. Every so often, I use the same car wash, but allow their guys to do the inside and quick detail of the outside.

About every two months I do the DANG black plastic stuff that always looks like crap and 303 the BacFlip tonneau cover. One of the toughest things to keep looking nice is the black plastic hood scope. I fixed that by adding a carbon fiber unit and carbon fiber vent covers to the front fenders.

The only pain in the butt now is the rear tailgate piece and bumper. I tried Cerakote on these recently, it lasted longer than other black plastic products, but is expensive.

About every 4-6 months, I do all the inner fender wells while detailing the other black plastic products.

Edit.....Just went out and detailed it.
 
Last edited:

Truckg1rl

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2024
Posts
5
Reaction score
9
Location
Peoria AZ
I just tried my regular wash place for the first time today and they told me Raptors don’t fit…my landrover has a membership there…sigh for like $30.00 a month . They said it’s $119.00 for these in hand wash and its best on a Monday, he said the other ones come on Mondays and there is no membership. So I came home and hosed off the dirty parts and hand dried with a towel. I guess I will have to figure something out.
 

New recaros

FRF Addict
Joined
May 23, 2019
Posts
2,947
Reaction score
4,691
Location
Colorado
Be careful if you’re gonna ceramic coat then take it to a car wash.

Everything I’ve read and have been told that after you ceramic coat your vehicle, you need to make sure the shampoo is close to a zero ph shampoo or it can eventually lessen the amount of years of protection from the ceramic. I’ve switched everything over to a zero ph shampoo for my 2 cars. I’ll NEVER run my vehicle through a brushed car wash. The spiderweb swirls the brush’s leave from other vehicles dirt is terrible. I’d only use a laser brushless wash if my vehicles weren’t ceramic coated but they are. No light scratches or swirls on my cars!
Zero ph is highly acidic, like hydrochloric acid. You want a 6-7 ph.
 
Top