Hey guys, I live in chicago and this is my G's frist winter. Iam not sure if I should go to a automatic wash, all summer I hand washed and waxed it and now Iam not sure what I should do. What do you guys do?

 

Automated touchless washes (pressure spray) with the spot free rinse and I use those with laser sighting (vs presure plate) to protect the wheels when possible.

Don't have much of a choice do we?

I guess you could maybe bring your Mr. Clean autodry kit to a do it yourself place and still handwash, but I haven't seen any that have hose hookups and then you would have to deal with people who have to wait for you to take the 30 min to do the job.

2003.5 Sedan Black/Black w/ sport, premium, aero, and winter packages. See my profile for updated mods list and pics.

 

There's a detail shop that hand washes the cars, wipes down the interior, windows, and vacuum for $12.

Diamond Graphite/Graphite/Prem. pkg./Navi.
ASG 7-wire grounding system
Tint
Z-tube
K&N drop-in
Volk GT-C
Eibach Springs
http://ekaz76.home.comcast.net/G35x.htm

 

I've gotten reasonable winter washes using touchless, high pressure car washes. But I'm lucky in that as a high school teacher I can use the school's shop area to get a good wash and wax in the comfort of a 75º environment.

I'm curious about this "laser sighting" washes. I go to one where the rails guide the car. And, yes, the tires/wheels sometimes rub. How can I tell without having to go through the wash whether it's laser guided?

 

Maybe laser 'sighting' is the wrong term, can't recall what they actually call it. The ones I've seen advertise this on their signs, but you can tell by looking in the actual wash area and there won't be any rails on the ground. They work by being activated when your car breaks a laser beam, similar to how garage door safety beams work.

2003.5 Sedan Black/Black w/ sport, premium, aero, and winter packages. See my profile for updated mods list and pics.

 

I usually just try and wash mine myself, I can usually do it in the afternoon on a nice day here, the one problem I usally have with a car wash is they don't get the wheels as clean as I like.


Brilliant Silver/Graphite/Premium/Chrome Wheels '04 Sedan/5AT

 

Chicago G, do you live downtown or the Northern Burbs?

 

I am from Chicago also and in the winter I always take mine to a hand wash. You can easily get one for like 10-12 bucks. To me thats work it seeing you r payin 6-8 for for a "spray down automatic one" If oyu stay out south I h ave a few places to recommend.

 

I'd sure like it if we had a couple of hand washes here, that would be nice, I really don't like the automatic car washes around here. May be a bit nicer tomorrow, I will try and wash mine myself!