To all G35C owners do you take your baby to the car wash or do you wash it your self. I'm alittle concern with the car washes here in S. Cal. " scratches on the rims, on the body, the interior". Should I just wash it myself or should I just chill and take it to a car wash ? Happy motoring.

 

No. If you don't want swirlmarks don't go to the car wash.

G35C 6MT / E55

 

its not safe because of our wide wheels.....they will get scratched, so just try and wash it yourself either in your driveway or in those $2 Do-It-yourself places
oh and dont forget to wax!

<font color=green>-Rambo</font color=green>
G35c 6MT DG/Willow

 

I can't believe it- SoCal, and you're thinkin carwash! Fine for us Canucks when it's 20 below, but California. )
Recommend doing it the old fashioned way- other posters are spot on, carwashes are hard on the car for all the reasons they've said. Many of us are Zaino freaks (www.lazaino.com for those of you handy to the city of angels). With Z or CG, the other forum favourite (note the spelling- threw that in there as a bit of flag waving ;o) ), the dirt will jump right off the car anyway. Recommend if using the Zaino that you do the wheels- incredible how easy the brake dust comes off the front wheels especially. Don't know about CrystalGuard in that respect. Here's a couple pics- I know this is not possible at a carwash.

DB

73002-DCP_1659 (Small).jpg

 

Oops, here's the 2nd pic

DB

73004-DCP_1646 (Large).jpg

 

I rather leave my car dirty for weeks than go through a car wash.

 

I washed it once myself and did a bad job on it... Some parts were still left dirty and after a hour of sitting in the sun I gave up. Got off my *** and drove to our local car wash place and paid to get it vaccuumed and cleaned for the 10 bucks. Well worth it unless you want to sit for hours doing your car... No problems, but I get compliments from the car wash guys on my car so they make sure they do a good job... oh and it doesn't take them 3 hours to wash my car...LOL

All done in a matter of 10 to 15 minutes...

G35 Mafia Member # 01

 

Your car can be damaged in any car wash and you will have a hard time to get any satisfaction.

Scoop

 

I think the entire "car wash" community gets a bad reputation from a few horrid washes. I've travelled across the US and have found that yes, they SUCK as a whole- however there are a few diamonds in the rough.
For example, there is a car wash co. in Indy that uses reverse osmosis filtered water, washes with scratch-free soft pads, doesn't have a "swirling" motion anywhere in it, and blasts loose dirt off with pressure hoses (hand-held) before even thinking of letting you into the wash.
If your car is extremely dirty, they take you aside and hand blast/wash it before allowing it into their wash so you don't leave all kinds of dirt and debris for the people behind you.
They even shut down the wash every 20 cycles to make sure the pads are 100% clear of debris, and if you get a scratch or damaged paint, they will have it mended by your choice of dealerships, free of charge... so far, they've not had to honor that in 10 years.
You drive into an extra-wide, shallow track that pulls your through (doesn't scratch wheels), and half of the 40 yard building you're pulled through is a wind tunnel to dry you off. It's a little on the expensive side, but you can do the whole "buy 4 washes, get 2 free" thing... This is the ony place, other than my own driveway, where my car would get washed.
Oh... they also have a "we just spray purified water on your car, then you go through the wind-tunnel" if you'd just waxed and want to get rid of waterspots, etc.
We get a lot of rain, and recently it's rained EVERY day for a week... yesterday was the first sunny day in a while, and there was a line of bimmers, mercs, and of course, infinitis lined up ready to get some lovin'.
Anyone else have an excellent wash in their town, or are they all crap?
G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
Indianapolis, IN

 

Well I've been taking my car to the car wash for about two months. Once a week and no problems. Don't know what car wash place you guys are going too... but over here there's 5 Points Car Wash that has a good rep, so along with that good rep they get my business and will continue to.

G35 Mafia Member # 01

 

so you say it is always busy???

How much is it ??

and what if the paint is "damaged" before the wash ..but covered in dirt so the wash people cannot see it ... say at night and then they complain ... due to the supposed bad wash??

does this happen? .... I'm wondering because its not a bad idea to open one up here considering the winters etc

 

unless you know the entire process used in the car wash i would stay away from it. my main problem w/ car washes is swirl marks. sure it's convenient, and in the end, it all about how meticulous you are with your car.

 

Always busy in the summer, and in winter people go there ALL time (underbody wash, rustproofing, etc.) It's $6 for the
"spray, soap, and dry" and I think $13 for the Works... wheel-washing, simonizing, rocker panels, clear coat, etc.
On Fathers' Day, they have a "buy a book of 4, get 2 free" deal. We just buy about 50 books at that time and don't worry about it for the rest of the year...As for scratches, etc. they're pretty thorough in the pre-wash, so they notice most problems, but there is a pull-off area just after the wash; you can look over your car, and if it's not to your satisfaction, they'll rewash it for free... that's where you can look for paint problems.
Not to say problems don't happen- A few weeks ago, a guy said "I got this vertical scratch on my door from your wash!" but when they inspected the car and wash, they realized at NO point was there that movement made on his car, and the scratch was made by metal-to-metal contact with significant force. Translation: he keyed his car by accident when he was getting in and tried to blame it on the wash. So far, though, no one has reported large scratches or "spider web" scratches... the pads they use, as I said, are soft have a power-washing between every car.
G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
Indianapolis, IN

 

My biggest problem with the reputable hand-wash places around here is cost, you can easily spend 20-30 bucks to get your car washed and the interior cleaned. I can do it in an hour myself and don't really mind doing it, so that's what I do. Maybe if I get tired of it at some point in the future I'll consider going to a carwash place, but right now the G35 is still my new toy so washing it is not a chore (yet).

Jeff Kohn
H-Town, TX
2003.5 Automatic Sedan, Desert Platinum/Willow, Premium, Nav, Tint

 

Where in Indy is this wash? I have a black G w/ willow too...