Its not the soft cloth or the sponge pad that scratches your car, its the particles left behind from the previous wash that scratches your car or the particles on your car.
what ever the soft cloth or the sponge pad picks up during a wash goes right back on the surface to scratch your paint.
if you have a light color car dont worry about it, however if you have black or dark color car dont ever get in a automatic wash unless its touchless

-Jay

I have been using the car wash more frequently in recent months, first to avoid wasting water and being fined, and then because it's been too cold, it is a touchless, and I have been happy with the results, IMO it's far better than leaving all the winter road mess on the finish. I sometimes use the self serve hand wash bays too if it's not too cold! I like dcmidnight, drive home and "detail" the car myself and I've been pleased with the results, sure better than driving a filthy car. I agree though, avoid any wash that touches the car with a brush or anything, those can be bad news!

Be a man use your hand! Dn't be lazy!

Btw Kevin, I ordered QEW from eshine and have been using it for about a month on my QX4. That product works extremely well! I'd recommend it to anyone for washing their car in the winter. Thanks for the recommendation.

+1 My family can always tell when I'm getting ready to sell my car, because I start running it through a regular car wash instead of hand-washing. And I HAVE picked up scratches because of it (almost all can be buffed out, but still...)

sorry for my ignorance, but what's an LSP?

ditto everyone on the grill be really flimsy, by the way

An LSP is a last step product. An LSP is typically a wax or polymer sealant that you use after your car has been washed and polished. The LSP that I use is Zaino Z2 Pro.

awesome, thanks!!!

also, you mentioned QEW - how much is it and is it easy to use?

It depends on your LSP. If it's a wax then bi-weekly to monthly unless it's a high durability wax like Collinite or Megs #16. If you're using a sealant then you're probably ok for 3 months or so (depending on which one you use, but most will withstand the detergents). A good indication as always is slickness of the car; if the paint starts feeling tacky or not sheeting water as well it's time for a re-application. Sealants like Zaino, Klasse HGSG, JW Acrylic Jett are virtually un-phased by detergents.

Marv - ONR/QEW are rinseless washes, here's a post I made on them:

https://g35driver.com/forums/showpos...2&postcount=22

I personally love them, when used properly they will not induce marring and of course only take 2 gallons of water. In the winter I use ONR on every car I clean. Cheers.

It's quite cheap. I purchased mine from here, however this is CDN pricing and you can probably find it locally. http://www.eshine.ca/proddetail.php?prod=QEW

I find it very easy to use. Take a look at the website below for some details of how to use QEW.
http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-p...?highlight=qew

Another product is ONR (I haven't used this one).
http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-p...ash-shine.html

Awesome Kevin, thanks!

QEW and ONR are virtually identical, the only difference is ONR can be diluted into a quick detailer, which for most guys doesn't matter at all. So pick whichever is cheaper.

Shane, what ever happened with that wash product you had ordered, to make cold weather washing easier? I can't remember the name now.

Hey Tom, that's actually the QEW product I was talking about in this thread. You would definitely get some good use out of it with your water restrictions in Albequerque.

thanks, much appreciated!!!!!!!!