Car wash?

[hfelknor]

I normally hand wash my car.
I use Zaino car wash on a Zaino's car and it works great!

But a couple of times a year, when we are out on the road, we use an automatic car wash.
We try to find a "no touch" but absolutely will not use a Car wash that has the spinning brushes. Thess WILL put "swirl marks" in your paint.

So, to the question.
I know everybody is not a nut about this stuff and use auto car washes all the time.

What do you do about the AM/FM antenna?
Can you take it off without a stage 3 hassle???

Seems like if you don't , it is begging to be ripped off.


Homer

[Enforcer]

I use Meguiar's Deep Crystal on a Mothers car and wash by hand.

The thought of any kind of "touch" car wash is too scarry for me.

[Murano_MDX]

DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO THESE AUTO CAR WASHES. STOP SOMEWHERE WHERE YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF. THOSE ARE THE BEST! DON'T RUIN YOUR MURANO!

[hfelknor]

I give up.
This board is too tough for me.

Homer

[pkhona]

Hi,

I have taken it to auto car wash couple of times. Didn't take out the antenna - except folded it down. Didn't notice any problem.

However I now wash my car myself with pressure washer and then hand wash or go to a detail shop that is 100% hand wash.

-pkhona

[Murano_MDX]

Originally posted by hfelknor
I give up.
This board is too tough for me.

Homer

lol no don't give up! don't give in to the temptations of going through a car wash... u can do it!

[jpburk]

Originally posted by Murano_MDX


lol no don't give up! don't give in to the temptations of going through a car wash... u can do it!

For me, it's not a question of whether I can do it, it's whether I want to do it. With the "bugs as big as Buicks" environment here in Florida, there's a need to wash a car at least weekly, if not more often, just to make sure the bug juices don't eat through the clear coat. I don't have the time or the inclination to hand wash my Murano that often, no matter how much I love the thing. So, I'm here to confess: I USE AUTOMATIC CAR WASHES!

There are two that I'll use. One is a completely touchless wash. The other uses soft cloths. My MO still sparkles with no swirl marks, and there even seems to be a spring in her step when she's all clean and shiny.

And now, remembering the opening of the old TV show, Branded, with Chuck Conners in the lead role, I'm waiting for Enforcer to come to me, strip off the stripes from my shoulders and banish me from the forum!

Jeff

[Enforcer]

LOL!

You guys are hilarious.

To each their own. If everybody did the same thing the same way, the world would be a truly boring place, and horrific. And the only thing I think I'm an expert on is my weight...and I'm not too sure about that!

Great topic to discuss Homer, don't give up. A lot of my fear is due to urban legend. Haven't gotten up my courage to use one myself from all the stories I've heard. Scratches, broken and bent antennas, even heard one story about a "burn" mark. I also wonder how my sun roof wind deflector and vent shades would do.

I hear you about the bugs. They are worse in Florida, but here in bama it ain't no picnic. Every once in a while, I get these big yellow splotches that if I don't get off right away, it stains the clear coat right through the carnuba. Don't know what bugs they are, but their guts are tough. Makes me wonder if they are acidic or something.

[hfelknor]

No. No stripes will be removed.

Love bugs here in FL, will etch a paint job in less than 48 hours.
You really need to get them off within 24 hours.

I went with the invisible bra as much for Bug Juice as for rock chips.

Touchless won't damage your "paint". It can't, It's freaking TOUCHLESS.

As to the hanging pieces of poly type they cannot hurt your "paint" either. The are very soft. Usually softer than what most people use when they hand wash a car.
But they may "grab" something like an antenna and pull it out by it's roots.
Of course, as I've already mentioned, a brush type car wash can really mess up your finish. And pull mirrors off, etc.

That's why I was interested in what people, who do this all the time, were doing about the antenna.
When you have a standard antenna, the attendent unscrews it for you before you go thru the car wash, and reinstalls it for you, at most places. I guess with the little sub-wavelength stubby on the Murano, all we can do is fold it over and pray.

You cannot readily fix acid etching. It eats right thru Zaino, Klasse, Carnauba wax, etc. So in some instances you are far better off running the car through a "poly flap" place than letting it etch away.
Of course a true Touchless is the best if you can't hand wash the car. But a Touchless won't give you as good a job.
Remember, when you hand wash it, it aint't touchless.

BTW.
Although I have no problem with people referring to the exterior color of our cars as "Paint", and frequently do it myself (Old habits die hard ), technically what we have are "coatings".

"Paint" hasn't been used on most cars for several years now.
"Paint" is made from naturally occurring stuff found in nature.
Look it up.

The stuff on your car is a "Coating" or a "finish".
It is a synthetic with Acrylic (Plastic) as the base.

Go look at the big guy's sites, like PPG.
They call it automobile coatings nowadays, and have for some years now.

That is one reason why the Acrylic polishes, Zaino, Klasse, etc work so well. The acrylic in the polish is made to bond with the acrylic in your coating. (A clear coat is just the came as a color coat, without the color and maybe some UV blocker added.

Wax, on the other hand, which used to fill the pores of paint, just lays on top of coatings. It can still look good, but it is not bonded to the finish, like an acrylic polish. It will wear off much faster than an acrylic polish.
Some people like wax however. I mean they really like the looks.
Carnauba wax, even the "clear" type, is not optically clear. So Carnauba wax imparts a "wax glow" to a car. Sort of a warm glow.
Many, many people like that effect.
More power to them.

Acrylic coatings are much harder than paint.
Paint was easy to put swirls in, because it is "soft".
But it didn't chip as much, because it was a bit like rubber. It actually "gave" a bit when struck. Now enamals were mucgh softer than laquers, but you get the idea. Most cars, except show cars, were painted with Enamel.

Acrylics are very hard. But they shatter more easily when struck.
That's how you get a rock chip.
Acrylics , because they are synthetic, are also more easily integrated wiith additives. Like UV blocker.
It was only a few years ago, that the Sun would bake Silver and Red cars, and their paint would fade and "chalk up".
Especially on the large flat areas like the Hood, roof and trunk.
Today you hardly ever see a late 90s car, up to the present, with Sun problems.

And Zaino even includes a UV component in their "polish".

Now, Polishes have changed also.
At least ones like Zaino and Klasse.
They call them "Polishes" because they are not waxes.
But they don't have anything abrasive in them like old time "Polishes" did.
So when you go to buy a "polish", read the label carefully, because there are abrasive polishes and there are non-abrasive polishes out there.

I've been all through this before with my show cars and my street rods. It is facinating stuff. But it goes way beyond what the average guy cares about.

Homer

[Enforcer]

Wow!

Great post Homer. I've got about 200 questions...but getting back to your original question before we started the great auto-wash debate...from the SM looks like the antenna unscrews?

[hfelknor]

Yep it does unscrew.
But.
But, I should have realized that there would be an amplifier up there, or somewhere . That little stubby has quite a bit of loss compared to a standard antenna and they are trying to make it as efficient as possible.

I wouldn't remove the antenna and let water get in there.

Thanks for the PIX. Very Helpful.


Homer

[Enforcer]

Yeah but I wonder if it's just drilled and tapped metal where the antenna screws in, if not you could put a plastic plug in? Hmm...let me go look. brb.

[Enforcer]

Looks like drilled and tapped metal to me Homer:

[hfelknor]

Yep, I expected that too.

Now when your radio loses its sensitivity, you know right where to go to clean the corrosion ccaused by moisture...........

Homer

[jpburk]

The guys at the soft cloth car wash that I go to have, on occasion, unscrewed the antenna. The biggest challenge so far has been trying to find where they put it, as they never remember to reattach it. I spent the better part of a day looking for it, only to discover they put it in the driver's door map pocket. I haven't noticed any degradation in FM sensitivity as a result.

What happens more often, though, is that the car wash simply flattens the antenna against my sunroof wind deflector. I normally have it pointed slightly toward the rear of the vehicle anyway, so the cloths just push it back. I've not found any problems with the antenna, sunroof wind deflector, XM satellite radio antenna, or the rear bumper guard even though I've been through many car washings. Maybe I'm just living on borrowed time, though!

Jeff