Hi all,

[WBM41857]

I’m a new Model 3 owner in Lancaster PA and loving the new experience. Quick question about cleaning your cars. Does everyone hand wash them or are there ways to get through an automatic car wash? Automatic car washes seem to be a no-no for Tesla’s. Not something I’d even considered before the purchase.

 

[DriveMe]

I mostly use automatic touch-free car wash for both of our cars. Too lazy to wash them manually, especially in winter. However, I do have ceramic coating on both of the cars.

Welcome aboard!

 

[hcdavis3]

I’m a new Model 3 owner in Lancaster PA and loving the new experience. Quick question about cleaning your cars. Does everyone hand wash them or are there ways to get through an automatic car wash? Automatic car washes seem to be a no-no for Tesla’s. Not something I’d even considered before the purchase.

I was told it’s not a good idea to put the car through the car wash because the paint on our cars is very soft. If you aren’t too concerned about this you can run it through the car wash. I’ve only had my car for a couple of weeks and I ran it through the car wash twice in that time period. I have a local guy who does mobile detailing. I’ll use the car wash as needed and my mobile guy as needed too. I went through the car wash initially to check for leaks. There were none. Enjoy your car.

 

[TampaRich]

Ceramic coating will help keep it clean and minimize scratches.

 

[hcdavis3]

Ceramic coating will help keep it clean and minimize scratches.

Good advice Tampa. I’m giving HydroSilex a shot. From Amazon. My detailing guy can do ceramic coating for 160 bucks. Only lasts a year. It’s not the top PPF.

 

[jkoya]

My detailing guy can do ceramic coating for 160 bucks.

Wow, nice price. Does that include a paint correction also ?

 

[hcdavis3]

Wow, nice price. Does that include a paint correction also ?

You know J I’m not sure about paint correction. My guy said he could do full ceramic PPF for 500 which he said would last much longer than
the stuff he would use in the 160 application. I need to spend more time with him to fully understand the process. After I ran my car through
the car wash twice I had him do a full inside and exterior detail job for which he charged me 149 bucks. The car looks like new. Man I’ve got al a lot of learning to do about paint and coatings. Enjoy your weekend.

 

[jkoya]

Man I’ve got al a lot of learning to do about paint and coatings. Enjoy your weekend.

I was looking on Autogeek.net for ceramic coating and there is quite the price difference between the different brands. Enjoy your weekend as well !!

 

[Dre78]

Welcome!

As mentioned by @DriveMe , touchless seems to be the way to go if you go automated

Mostly depends how much it matters to you. I've seen older Blue Model S with swirl marks that would bother me but obviously doesn't bother owner.

 

[ewoodrick]

You will hear a lot of people who absolutely have to the car cleaned and wrapped.

But there are a LOT, I'd probably say the vast majority, that wash the car like they've done any other car. It's just a car.