At the car wash...

[smorgasbord]

In Ohio winters, who has time to hand wash a daily driver?

Hand wash != Your hands washing.

There are places in CA that do hand washing for you. Here's one link: http://www.pleasantonhandcarwash.com/

We use soft lamb's wool mitts, NO Brushes and NO cloth that could damage your car's finish. We use hand-held air guns to remove excess water from your vehicle's exterior trim and mirror areas.

Are there no places like this east of the Rockies?

 

[jerry33]

Are there no places like this east of the Rockies?

No places existing and places I would trust are two different questions. Bear in mind that lamb's wool mitts can have grit in them from the last car.

 

[Jaff]

Agree completely!

If you really prize the finish on a car you would never take it to an automated car wash of any kind, brushless or otherwise. A careful hand wash is the only way to go.

 

[smorgasbord]

If you really prize the finish on a car you would never take it to an automated car wash of any kind, brushless or otherwise. A careful hand wash is the only way to go.

If you really prize the finish on your car you would never drive it anywhere. You could hit a dust storm, a sand storm, someone could brush against it while walking by, a cat could jump on the hood, the sun could shine on it....

 

[LuckyLuke]

It all depends whether you will treat your as as a Garage queen or as a drivers's car. I always hand-wash my weekend car, but machine wash my daily driver.
For me personally hand-washing my weekend car is a twice a month "meditative" moment, it allows me to spend some quiet time with one of my biggest hobbies. I'm not sure how to explain but hand-washing that one car you invested lots of effort/patience/cash in really adds in appreciating in what you got in front of you. Side note: in bad/cold weather I'm not driving it much, it just sits in garage those months so not much washing needed.
On the other hand, my daily driver never gets that amount of attention, I'll drive it through a brush car wash once a month to keep it clean, and that's it.
I will use the S as daily driver, but if Tesla recommends hand-washing the car I will do that, I'm sure this will make me appreciate the car even more.

 

[artsci]

There's a local shop that hand details my Volt for about the same cost as the local brushless car wash. I take it there about twice a month. They keep the car for an hour and it comes back spotless. Looks better than new. that's where my Model S will go once I have it.

Hand wash != Your hands washing.

There are places in CA that do hand washing for you. Here's one link: http://www.pleasantonhandcarwash.com/


Are there no places like this east of the Rockies?

 

[artsci]

And I wouldn't even leave my house for fear of being struck by lightning.

If you really prize the finish on your car you would never drive it anywhere. You could hit a dust storm, a sand storm, someone could brush against it while walking by, a cat could jump on the hood, the sun could shine on it....

 

[bonnie]

Bored much? You guys are getting carried away. (Which rarely happens on this forum, so it was a surprise to see!)

While no one would ever accuse me of being overly careful of my vehicles, I'd never take one through an automatic car wash with brushes. You may feel confident that those large spinning brushes contain no gravel or broken wire, but I'd rather use up my share of risk on on-ramps.

 

[jomo25]

If you really prize the finish on your car you would never drive it anywhere. You could hit a dust storm, a sand storm, someone could brush against it while walking by, a cat could jump on the hood, the sun could shine on it....

"It could get wrecked, stolen, scratched, breathed on wrong"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVACbEHkV2Q