how many owners who don't always have the time to hand wash drive their S through an automated car wash??

last week i tried using a "Laserwash" station--drive in, put in neutral, a large angled foam-covered bar unleashes a dozen or so jets of high pressure soap/water/wax as the arm swivels around the car... blow dries as you exit the bay... quick, easy, decent job for under 7 bucks

problem was, a bit of water began to trickle in on the driver and passenger side windows as the water jets swept by during "rinse"... this occured where the upper window edge meets the rubber/foam frame edge of the soft top... nothing major; just a couple of napkins needed to dab it up but curious to see if it has happened to others and if this is something to be expected with soft top convertibles...

on a related point, there's a car wash operation in town known as "Red Carpet"... it's full service -- drive into the bay, leave your engine running, exit the car and walk through the building watching as your car is pushed along a rail through various spinning water jets and oscillating cloth "drapes"... the car is handed off once again to its owner after it's been hand dried to a shine... by far the best quality car wash in town and is only around 10 bucks for a "basic" wash...

problem is, the Honda dealership recommended against anything other than "touchless" for car washes in the S2000, which would place Red Carpet on the "do not drive through" list... my friend who owns a 2000 Porsche Carrera cabriolet has used that establishment over twenty times without any problems (and his car looks great)... they only ask that he wait at least half an hour after the wash before retracting the roof to allow for complete drying...

so, does anyone have any related experience or knowledge on whether driving the S through a full service car wash is safe??

 

Yes, I run mine thru car wash, then towel dry it off. take about 15mins. and your done. it leaked once. its a real time saver.

 

i used to be crazy about this stuff as well. the brushes can mess up your paint and cause swirls and stuff, so i'd be wary. as for other options, i'd ask in the wash and wax section.

 

Well, I have tried them all.

The place where you put coins in: 1.)Have you ever took a close look at the brush on those things. It's filled with everything. After I went through one of those, I noticed right away some small scratches on my brand new car. People who owns black cars....hehe....good luck. 2.)On the honda manual, it said that it's not recommand to "Power Wash" your car, because it might mess up your soft top. 3.)Next time, spray some water into a bucket. Look at those waters. It's recycle wash water. It's dirty as anything.

Royal car wash or drive-in car wash: The brushes on those thing have washed several cars a day. They picked up all kinds of dirt and nasty stuff from other cars. And that's taken the place wash their brushes everyday at the end. Even if they hand dry your car at the end. The damages are already done during the brush spin.

If you're driving the typical car....like camry and accord, I guess it doesn't matter. But if you're a true car freak, and want to keep your car in top shape, find the time out of the week and wash it yourself. Can't have the best of both world.

 

Have been sending my SA through this type of car wash for over 5 years. No problems with the top, back window, or paint.

 

i think almost all cars with frameless windows will leak a little bit.

 

I drive my car all year and in the winter, sometimes I have to wait weeks for an above freezing day to wash it by hand, even if that means I'm stuck taking it to a drive-thru wash with a bucket and mit. But I'd rather drive it filty, dirty, than take it through an automatic wash. The brushless ones either miss 50% of the dirt, or the combination of high pressure and heated water, strip all the wax off.

With cloth or brush washes, not only do you have to worry scratches and swirls because the guy who right before you, had taken his mud and rock covered 4x4 through it, you have to worry about your car getting destroyed. Years ago, my friend had his car dented all to hell because something went wrong with the side brushes and it basically acted like two big rolling pins and squeezed his car so bad both sides were dented from end to end. $4000 in damage, but at lest the car wash covered it.

IMO, half the fun of owning a nice car like this is in the time you spend washing, waxing and detailing it by hand, cause I get great satisfaction knowing my car is cleaner than the typical, lazy BMW jockey who pays $75 to let the local detail monkeys spray armor all over his paint.

 

It's a small car...in the time it would take to go to the car wash (mile and a half), wait in line, pay the $7.00 for the basic, wipe off the interior where water seeped in, dry it off form the water spots left from the car wash, I can pull it into the driveway, rinse off the dust, soap it up, rinse off the soap and dry it off. Waxing, obviously, takes longer 00

 

I think there's a note in the manual (possibly somewhere else but I'm pretty sure it's in the manual) specifically saying to avoid automated high pressure car washes due to potential leakage.

That having been said, if you really want to use them, you might be able to prevent or minimize the leakage by putting more Shin-Etsu grease around the soft top seals (i.e. on the rubber seals where they meet the window's upper edge).

 

Oh, the horror. You are better off not washing the car than using an automatic car wash. Personally I would never take my S or any nice car for that matter through one of those.

The guys in the wash and wax section would have seisures if you drove their car's through one of those.