Workin' at the carwash

As a driveway detailer... NO AUTOMATIC CAR WASHES. My car does not go to the Swirl King 5000.

 

Any car for me. Auto detailing is an emotional thing for me personally. To answer your question, any car can go through a Auto Wash, I just personally don't do it to any of my cars because of the risk of swirls and scratches and spending a weekend to wash my cars is a hobby for me.

 

yes. no problem.

 

Just turn off all auxiliaries (AC, radio, etc.) and be certain the hybrid battery is near full capacity.

 

I pretty much eschew car washes in states where "muddin' is a thing...or in states where you have to ASK your serverperson for water.

So...states where off-roading is a thing are a HARD PASS for me because I'm not going to use a sandy-gritty pad that just got finished washing 142 pounds of mud and sand off of the truck in front of my car.....only to be "toweled off" by an indifferent graduate student trying to get another buck in the tip jar.....who "may" have used a different towel than the one that he used to scrape the road tar and other goo off of the cars in front of you.
They do any of that in LA?

Since I'm smart enough to live in a state that has sufficient rain fall, the car wash operators 'may' not filter and re-use the water between washes.
HOWEVER (comma!) water still costs money.
Robo-washes are either economically or legally limited to approximately the same amount of "fluid" per car that you're allowed to carry on an aircraft, delivered at a pressure that will strip rust off of a trailer hitch.....in a car with more wires and sensors than Skylab used to have.

All of those are cautionary considerations for NORMAL cars.
With Priuses you also have the joys of having to worry about your traction battery's SOC, making sure that the Game-Stop reject joystick has placed your car into "n" and whether of not you have to disable anti-collision sensors, pedestrian alerts, and yell at HAL to open the pod bay doors after your car has been sanded and salt water sprayed.....

Just because you CAN do a thing.....

 

Toyota does not recommend the automatic ones because the car is not charging when in Neutral. Some people have had close calls with a drained battery. Not worth the risk IMO

 

The first thing to remember is that most of us here at PriusChat are 'enthusiasts' and like to 'baby' our vehicles. So that might give some insight into many of the responses here.

With that said, I've become lazy in my 'old age' ( and I'm not that old )...and have been running ALL of our vehicles through 'touchless' car washes for years...with no ill effect. However, I only visit the stationary ones where the water jets move around the vehicle...in other words, no 'neutral' necessary.

 

As a detailer and enthusiasts, I wouldn't recommend the touchless ones also because they use high pH car soaps and will strip wax/sealants/coatings thats how its able to clean well. And isn't the high pressure just pushing dirt INTO the paint?

 

I have one of those monthly passes at a car wash and go almost everyday. I don't have a driveway or garage and only have street parking so don't have the option to wash the car myself. The car comes out clean for me and I haven't really noticed anything with the paint really. Maybe it's because the car is white? Also, they get to clean the undercarriage as well. They use a bunch of fancy-names soaps, sealants, or whatever but I like how the car comes out afterwards.

In any case, I occasionally get the warning light that the car is moving in neutral but it's rare. I've been going through those automatic washes maybe 6 - 7 days a week now for 6 months. I have to because on my block, there's cables and wires end to end and birds love to crap on cars. Like I think they specifically target cars and not in between them . Pics below of what I mean.... 1st and 2nd pic was just this morning, but you can kinda see the state of my paint and it doesn't look bad at all. Car has 24k miles already. They sh** on the cars here DAILY. sometimes even if im parked for 10min. Like it's a game for them. Anyway, last pic is how my car looks clean thankfully.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

As I said...it has been fine...for years. I also only 'detail' our vehicles once *per year* using 'Sonax Polymer Net Shield' and it holds up well...even when running the vehicles through the touchless car wash. The Sonax product is one of the most durable I have come across....but doesn't necessarily give 'the best' shine. In my book, durability comes first. However, three of our four vehicles are garaged so the experience of others may vary.

Edit: I want to reiterate that I only use the *touchless* ( water jet only ) car washes...NOT the ones with the 'flappers'. Stay far away from the 'flapper' ones.

 

Go through the automatic car wash. You’ll be fine. I have a hard time believing Toyota recommends otherwise. Just put your vehicle in neutral, no differently than any other.

Seattle is Prius central for Uber and Lyft drivers, and they all go through automatic car washes.

I resubscribed to Carista so that the parking sensors are disabled when in neutral, which makes for a nicer experience going through them.

 

I've never noticed an issue after the dealer wash, the automatic wash - towed through or rolled around. or even the self serve / soap brush and high pressure spray.

A local wash/detail chain had some interesting suggestions for me when our Prime was new.

 

If it’s a collector car, or one that you drive infrequently on weekends (e.g., sports car, convertible), I get avoiding car washes. They’re not optimal. But for daily drivers like Priuses, I have absolutely no qualms.