Car wash warning in manual

I would go out on a limb and say parking under a bird-filled tree will be more harmful on your paint. I'm hoping that the brushes at the car wash will wear off my black paint and give me silver side-stripes.

 

I was very hesitant to run my 01 thru the wash. I just DID, though, and it survived.

 

Better any wash than no wash, but I hate to think of those beaters beating on the finish. Try to find a touchless wash, or consider hand washing (Mr. Clean Autodry is pretty easy and works well).

 

Yes, this is typical for all cars, not just the Prius. The reason being that the brushes and rubber strips and such used in the typical automatic car wash can pick up sand and grit from the dirt on other cars. This can stay stuck in the material of the brushes and when they spin against your car they act like sandpaper on the finish - fine scratches, swirls, etc.

No car wash should be so bad as to destroy the paint on your car with one pass through, but also no car wash that uses brushes can be 100% guaranteed not to do some damage no matter how visible or not.


The best bet to avoid the risk (other than just playing the odds and going for it as it hasn't been a problem for many cars out there) is to find a touchless car wash or to wash your car yourself. Just make sure if you do it yourself that you're using the right tools and they're properly maintained or you can do as much damage as any car wash brush.

 

i get mine washed automatically every 2 weeks (that's roughly 26 washes thus far) and no problems from brushes. rocks on the highway, however, are another story.

 

Rocks from the highway have not happen to me. I put a clear bra on and its working great.

 

The owner's manual is correct, it will put swirls in your clearcoat. If you are OK with that, go to a car wash. I wouldn't do it, but I am very particular about my car care.

 

I wouldnt take my car to a carwash, but thats just cause i am obsessive and baby my cars. My Prius is getting a nice wash with Meguiars Gold Class, Meguiars clay, and a coat of Meguiars Cleaner Wax and a top coat of Gold Class Wax.

I would say if you use the automatic washes, to try and spot the scratches and do a handwash every so often using some Scratch-X or other scratch remover

 

Just hand wash on my end too using a brush specifically for cars. I think the problem with car wash brush is that they tend to stay dirty after washing so many cars during the day...the dirt on the brush will eventually scratch up your Prius' paint job and it gets worse and worse in the long run.

 

Ya, i think the part about dirty brushes is right on. I also found it funny that when i took my Prius to Poway Toyota for its oil change, i told them not to wash it. When he asked me why and told me they use good stuff, my response, "I dont care if you use good stuff, if you're brushes are from Home Depot, you're not touchin my car..." He shut up after that.

 

I never take my cars through the automatic car washes if they have brushes or those huge flapping cloth things. They will scratch your car at some point and time it will happen and you will be very pissed off.

That happened to me one time and only one time, it was my first car, an '89 Toyota Tercel, I loved that car!! The very first time through the car wash I got some real big scratches on the hood from those stupid cloth flaps that smack your car. I vowed never again to do that.

In the winter I will only take the car through the brushless car washes where it is just the strong stream of water that washes the car and air dries the car with huge blowers.

I think there are enough of those brushless car washes out now that you should not have trouble finding one of them.

 

I got free car washes for LIFE from my dealer (unlimited..can go every day if I want) when I purchased my 2008 Prius. I save $416 a year by getting free car washes ($8 a week X 52 weeks a year). I'm taking FULL advantage of this regardless if it leaves micro-swirls that you have to get an inch from the paint to see in bright sun light from a certain angle.

 

The dealers washes may or may no be brushless. I would rather go where I know the job is done well and safely. One could always ask the dealer however...

 

My dealer uses those huge flapping cloth things. So far so good. No problems and it's all FREE.

 

I always take my Mercedes to the roller brushes car wash about once a month with not too much trouble.

I haven't had this car washed as yet, but I worry about the antenna on the roof center. It might be why many seem to be buying a shark fin antennas.

I think that the roller brushes could really damage the antenna but then maybe I am just being paranoid.

 

You can take the antenna off the base if you are driving thru a carwash with the brushes. The owners manual suggests that you do this to avoid damage. It just unscrews from the base.

I either go to a touchless car wash or do a hand wash at home.

 

Yes this is typical for most car washes, and a badly kept car wash can scratch your paint and cause noticable swirls on your paint also, for this reason i only use the touchless car washes, the ones without any brushes and just basically pressure washes the car.

 

Run from auto car washes. Those car washes with brushes ........ you can't run fast enough. :fear:

The very harsh chemicals used in these auto car washes will rip the wax right off your auto. They are also not nice on trim pieces, etc.

Wash your car the right way if you want to keep the finish nice. If you don't care about the finish .... heck, don't wash it at all and save the money.

... Brad