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Washing The Tesla Model Y

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This is interesting. So I guess the ONR builds up a protective coat of some sort? Is this how you can go an entire season without a car wash? Or are you still handwashing weekly regardless?
Not a coating but ONR does a good job of getting the dirt to release from the vehicle surfaces (including the glass) and transfer the dirt to the sponge or micro fiber cloth, into the bucket. If you first apply a good ceramic coating to the vehicle this would make washing the vehicle even easier. I can wash my Model Y in under an hour using the ONR, one bucket and sponge. If I use the pressure washer and soap cannon it takes me ~2 hours to wash the Model Y the way I want.
 
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I use touchless car washes in the winter when it's too cold. They work fine, but it does discolor the trim giving it a rainbow effect. This is easily removed with WD-40. When it's cold but not freezing, I use ONR in my garage. When it's warm, I use a two bucket method on my driveway.
 
Never heard anyone mention a wait period. The car typically had more than enough time to cure in open air by the delivery time, I wouldn't think you need to wait. I foamed and clay bar'd 3 days after taking delivery - not because I needed to, but was waiting on ceramic coating - and coated it myself.
 
I hand wash only, about twice a week. and daily Touch up with detail spray.

Taking a trip to Florida soon, may have to bring buckets and towels with me lol. Still contemplating how to do this with least amount stuff to take with me.
 
Never heard anyone mention a wait period. The car typically had more than enough time to cure in open air by the delivery time, I wouldn't think you need to wait. I foamed and clay bar'd 3 days after taking delivery - not because I needed to, but was waiting on ceramic coating - and coated it myself.
Not always for folks on the West coast. I took possession of the car three days after it was manufactured. Waited another 10 days before clay bar and wax.
 
I have become a bit of a detailing anorak since Lizzie (MY LR) arrived. No one needs this many MF drying towels, wash mitts, buckets (2 plus one for wheels only), mains and battery power washers, plastic jerries full of demineralised water (so cheap) to avoid spotting.

As for Youtube Detailing videos.... I am looking for a twelve step Detailers Anonymous Program. Either that or it will be marriage counselling.....
..........but she does buff up well....as does Lizzie Y!
 
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I have become a bit of a detailing anorak since Lizzie (MY LR) arrived. No one needs this many MF drying towels, wash mitts, buckets (2 plus one for wheels only), mains and battery power washers, plastic jerries full of demineralised water (so cheap) to avoid spotting.

As for Youtube Detailing videos.... I am looking for a twelve step Detailers Anonymous Program. Either that or it will be marriage counselling.....
..........but she does buff up well....as does Lizzie Y!
Any good ones you recommend?
 
I just got a foam cannon adaptor to my pressure washer. Very excited to try it out this weekend (warm weather!).
First time using a pressure washer w/soap cannon on the Tesla Model Y?

Use a 40° or 25° wide spray nozzle when spraying water on the Model Y, nothing narrower. Wet the exterior before applying the soap. Let soap sit on the surface for a few minutes to help it work to loosen the dirt, dissolve the grime. (I recommend working from top to bottom, from front to back finishing up at the rear bumper. You can use the pressure washer and soap cannon on the wheels a little more aggressively than on the painted panels or glass but be careful when using the pressure washer around the rubber tire sidewalls.)

Don't let the tip of the pressure washer spray gun be closer than about 2 feet from the Tesla Model Y exterior. Spraying at closer distances risks damaging the paint, won't clean off road grime. To fully clean the exterior you need water + soap + friction (use a wash mitt or a sponge. Use a split end brush for the wheels).

Don't spray water or soap directly at the side repeater cameras mounted in the front fenders or the rear camera. Go easy around the headlights and tail lights, charge port. Lock the vehicle, else the spray from the pressure washer may cause the charge port cover to open if the Model Y is powered on, not in sleep mode. (Spray water, apply soap, hand wash, rinse; repeat on next section.)

You can put the wipers in Service Mode, manually move the wiper arms as needed to clean the windshield area. (Don't forget to clean the wiper blades by hand using a cloth or a sponge.)

Don't let the vehicle dry off before you are finished washing the entire vehicle. A cloudy day or after ~3 PM is best to avoid water spots. Spray more water on the surfaces you have already cleaned or treated to prevent water spots until you are ready to dry the whole exterior surface.

Open frunk afterwards as well as the doors, hatch and the area around the charge port (with the charge port cover open) to clean and dry these areas by hand. Water tends to collect on the sill of the frunk storage bin, a microfiber towel can quickly soak up this water.

I find I can dry the exterior of the Model Y using just 2 large size microfiber towels (Chemical Guys microfiber towels) using the towel like a chamois and dragging it over the just cleaned glass roof, hood and rear hatch glass. The second towel is for any water the first towel doesn't collect.)
 
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No, he is saying if you weekly (or every other week), do the ONR hand wash, it gets enough of the dirt that you only have to do a full car wash occasionally (or hand wash using a pressure sprayer, foam cannon, etc). Basically, ONR doesn't get all of the dirt out of every nook and cranny like a pressure washer can, so a lot of people do ONR as a maintenance wash. I like ONR washes enough that yeah, only maybe once a season will I do a "full" "lots of water" type of wash.
Our MY arrives in a couple of weeks and this is the regimen we are probably going to employ after reading lots of advice on the internet and since we live in San Diego and need to conserve water. One question, do people still wax or polish their cars? My dad used to make us do it a couple of times per year, but I've never done it on any car I've owned since we have mostly used car washes on our previous cars and haven't cared that much. If so, what do people use? After reading a bunch of forums, the general consensus is to never wash/dry in circles or it will cause scratches on the paint. Does that apply to waxing? We always attached a buffer to the drill when I was a kid.
 
Given most Teslas have very little tire protecting the rims, your biggest car-wash concern is any track-system that might be used to pull or guide the car thru. Almost 100% chance of curb rash.

I use a touchless car wash place which you drive yourself into, it tells you to stop, and then uses sensors to guide spray and foam and rinse all around. This doesn't clean quite as well as some options, but it's easy to use a microfiber towel post-wash to hit some nooks and crannies, and it supports the local mandate to use recycled water (otherwise I'd wash on my driveway)
 
First time using a pressure washer w/soap cannon on the Tesla Model Y?

Use a 40° or 25° wide spray nozzle when spraying water on the Model Y, nothing narrower. Wet the exterior before applying the soap. Let soap sit on the surface for a few minutes to help it work to loosen the dirt, dissolve the grime. (I recommend working from top to bottom, from front to back finishing up at the rear bumper. You can use the pressure washer and soap cannon on the wheels a little more aggressively than on the painted panels or glass but be careful when using the pressure washer around the rubber tire sidewalls.)

Don't let the tip of the pressure washer spray gun be closer than about 2 feet from the Tesla Model Y exterior. Spraying at closer distances risks damaging the paint, won't clean off road grime. To fully clean the exterior you need water + soap + friction (use a wash mitt or a sponge. Use a split end brush for the wheels).

Don't spray water or soap directly at the side repeater cameras mounted in the front fenders or the rear camera. Go easy around the headlights and tail lights, charge port. Lock the vehicle, else the spray from the pressure washer may cause the charge port cover to open if the Model Y is powered on, not in sleep mode. (Spray water, apply soap, hand wash, rinse; repeat on next section.)

You can put the wipers in Service Mode, manually move the wiper arms as needed to clean the windshield area. (Don't forget to clean the wiper blades by hand using a cloth or a sponge.)

Don't let the vehicle dry off before you are finished washing the entire vehicle. A cloudy day or after ~3 PM is best to avoid water spots. Spray more water on the surfaces you have already cleaned or treated to prevent water spots until you are ready to dry the whole exterior surface.

Open frunk afterwards as well as the doors, hatch and the area around the charge port (with the charge port cover open) to clean and dry these areas by hand. Water tends to collect on the sill of the frunk storage bin, a microfiber towel can quickly soak up this water.

I find I can dry the exterior of the Model Y using just 2 large size microfiber towels (Chemical Guys microfiber towels) using the towel like a chamois and dragging it over the just cleaned glass roof, hood and rear hatch glass. The second towel is for any water the first towel doesn't collect.)
Wow, this is truly helpful. Thank you.
 
Our MY arrives in a couple of weeks and this is the regimen we are probably going to employ after reading lots of advice on the internet and since we live in San Diego and need to conserve water. One question, do people still wax or polish their cars? My dad used to make us do it a couple of times per year, but I've never done it on any car I've owned since we have mostly used car washes on our previous cars and haven't cared that much. If so, what do people use? After reading a bunch of forums, the general consensus is to never wash/dry in circles or it will cause scratches on the paint. Does that apply to waxing? We always attached a buffer to the drill when I was a kid.
There is not that much surface that needs waxing on the Tesla Model Y when you consider how much of the exterior is glass. I apply car wax, by hand, 1X per year (I probably should do it 2X or 3X per year since it only takes about 30 minutes.) I don't wax the plastic parts (these include the front, rear bumper, mirror housings or wheel covers.) That leaves only the hood, front fenders, top rails, doors and hatch that I wax.

A drill with a buffer wheel is not recommended as it can score the paint. If you go that route you want an orbital polisher (can still damage the paint if you are not skilled, careful with the orbital tool.) There are dozens of auto waxes to choose from depending on your need. The latest thing is SiO2 (Silicon Oxide) added to wax, sometimes the car care products are labeled as hybrid ceramic coatings; whatever. (A true ceramic coating application requires full prep and paint correction before application and can take up to 2 days for drying and second coat.)

I admit I am lazy and only willing to do the minimum required to protect the paint and know that water will bead on the car finish when the vehicle gets wet. My go to auto wax for many years has been and continues to be Meguiar's Cleaner Wax (Meguiar's has many other wax and protect products but I always go with this Meguiar's product as it is inexpensive, easy to apply, remove from trim if you accidentally get some wax on the black trim or door handles.) I apply it in October knowing it will last through the winter.
 
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Our MY arrives in a couple of weeks and this is the regimen we are probably going to employ after reading lots of advice on the internet and since we live in San Diego and need to conserve water. One question, do people still wax or polish their cars? My dad used to make us do it a couple of times per year, but I've never done it on any car I've owned since we have mostly used car washes on our previous cars and haven't cared that much. If so, what do people use? After reading a bunch of forums, the general consensus is to never wash/dry in circles or it will cause scratches on the paint. Does that apply to waxing? We always attached a buffer to the drill when I was a kid.
I use sealant every time i wash the car. Something like a Optimum Opti-Seal. Wipe on, walk away. The sealant lasts about 3 months and takes 10 minutes to apply. If you purchase a ceramic coat for the car, then you won't need sealant or wax for 3-5 years. I also have paint protection film on my wife's car and it makes washing even easier because you can't scratch the film (self-heals). No two bucket method or even caring about scratches...just take a bucket of soap or rinseless soap and wash quickly.
 
So much out there on how to wash a car. It's...a car. I do agree with much of the comments above and I do try to avoid mechanical car washes if at all possible. If I must use one, I don't ever use the gas station un-attended versions. I've had pretty good luck with some of the attended ones on past cars; I prefer the kind where you sit inside the car while it goes through, then dry it and vacuum yourself. But I find it's so easy to wash the MY (and we have an even smaller i3) that I can wash and dry in the driveway in way less than half an hour. I find that washing and drying the car myself allows me to look over the car for dings/dents/other.

I don't know the rules in SD, although I'd love to live there. If you're allowed to wash the car yourself, I'll jump on the bandwagon with my average joe wash tips. FYI, while I've never measured I'm pretty sure I can get the whole car washed with far less than 10 gallons of water, and it's probably closer to 5. Someday I'm going to measure. Someday.

I'm currently using:
  • Meguiar's Gold Class car wash for a soap - but it's just a reasonably priced soap that was well-reviewed on that online store everyone loves to hate...and still uses. I'm not a soap nerd, but I do use car wash soaps and not dish soap.
  • Turtle Wax Hybrid Ceramic Polish and Wax. Smells awesome, and works pretty darn well. I seem to need to use it about twice/year.
  • I've also used Nu-Finish, the stuff in the orange bottle that claims once/year. Yea...it's a twice/year product too. And if you even look at the black plastic while you're holding the stuff you'll have grey streaks forever. It's OK. Nice shine.
  • For the glass, you just can't beat Invisible Glass and a regular bath towel or hand towel. Someone on here (or was it Reddit?) recommended the Invisible Glass kit that has a roughly 18" handle with a 6" triangular pad and microfibers on it for the inside of the windshield. I just got this and Holy. Cow. This. Thing. Is. Awesome. I'm going to find that post and shower whoever that was with compliments.

To wash, I use a brush that I found at an RV shop back when I had one of those money pits. It's all plastic, no metal, with soft rubber edges to the brush part. It's on a roughly 4 foot plastic pole. Folks, this is the way. As long as there's no metal on either the pole or the brush, you can cover some serious ground in a very short time without ever getting yourself wet.

For the inevitable bugs on the huge front painted mouth of our cars, I brush that first, then while it soaks I do the top and back of the car; brush the front again. Rinse. Brush the front again, and while it soaks do one side of the car and wheels; brush the front again. Rinse. Do the other side. This means you're brushing the front six times and letting it soak just a bit. Everything comes off with very little effort. And this whole process takes minutes. Did I mention that the brush on a stick allows you to move very, very quickly?

I use one of the car squeegee things from Abstract Ocean to get the majority of the water off before I use a towel. Using that, I can use one towel to dry two cars...almost. Might have to break out a second towel at the end of car number two.

With the brush on a stick and the squeegee, I spend more time unrolling/rerolling the hose and getting stuff out and putting it back than I do washing and drying the car.

Particular me says: please dry the inside of the door frames, trunk, and frunk every time. Takes minutes, makes the car look far cleaner.

Finally, I'm embarassed that I spent this much time talking about washing a car.
 
Got the car on Tuesday and ordered my supplies last night from Amazon:

ONR Wash and Wax
Chemical Brothers buckets (2)
Chemical Brothers grit filters (1 red, 1 black)
ONR Big Red Sponge
Chemical Brothers El Gordo MF clothes (6 pack)

Should all arrive this weekend and I’m looking forward to giving her a bath as she already has some bugs on her grill :)
 
Got the car on Tuesday and ordered my supplies last night from Amazon:

ONR Wash and Wax
Chemical Brothers buckets (2)
Chemical Brothers grit filters (1 red, 1 black)
ONR Big Red Sponge
Chemical Brothers El Gordo MF clothes (6 pack)

Should all arrive this weekend and I’m looking forward to giving her a bath as she already has some bugs on her grill :)
I'm sure you know but.... cold water for salt and bugs.