Maserati Forum banner

Car wash? Or hand wash only?

13K views 66 replies 28 participants last post by  jenifergomes 
#1 ·
My Alfa 4C is strictly a hand wash car.

But one of the dealers ran the GT through their car wash before showing me. (Cabrio).

Would love to be able to just run my GT through the car wash, what do you guys usually do?
 
#2 ·
Owned two Maserati coupes starting in 2004. Never once did they see a car wash, or rain or snow etc. I am fortunate to go from garage at home to garage at the office. The coupe was white and my GTS is black. However, I am a detail nut and will spend 10 hours or so just on my outside panels yearly. Wash, clay, remove swirls, polish, seal. lol

I hate swirl marks or any marks that obstruct a crystal clear panel reflection.

Car washes will only add swirl marks to your cars finish. You should hand wash only with micro fiber towels from top to bottom. You may also want to consider a two bucket wash.

Then dry with those huge blue or green micro fiber waffle towels. They do not leave streaks or marks.

All the best! C
 
#3 ·
Unless the auto car wash is one of those "touchless" sprayer types, I would hand wash. Any of those spinning bristle or rubber types can transfer debris from the previous vehicles it washed. I guess it really depends on how OCD you are about your paint. I have friends who use soap in a bucket, no pre-rinse, no separate rinse bucket and go to town. Swirl marks are not a big deal for them, as long as the car is clean they are good to go. As for me, I usually run a wool duster over the car once a week and then spend 15 minutes or so using a waterless wash solution. i do a complete wash every 4 months or so.
 
#4 ·
I too do not go through automatic car washes....not event the touchless type, as they often use harsh chemicals. I wash my QP as needed, sometimes weekly...sometimes every 2 or 3 weeks...just depends on the weather and conditions. I wash the wheels & tires first, then do the lower body, and finally the upper body. I use only 1 large bucket but I rinse and wipe it out before going on the the next wash stage. I always prespray the car to remove any loose contaminants, before applying the wash mitt. I rinse the car constantly, try not to "scrub" the paint, wash vertical sections up & down, and horizontal sections front to back. I also follow up the first wash with a second one, by this time the car is getting very clean and water beads off almost like it has a fresh coat of wax...but it is just clean.
 
#5 ·
Anytime you wash the car (whatever method) or let alone drive, you're gonna get scratches (big or small). It's inevitable and unavoidable. Every year, I clean, clay, and prep the paint. Use machine polish to reduce and remove swirl marks and lastly, ceramic-coat the car. Once your car is ceramic-coated, washing becomes a rare and simple routine....and you can toss out all your waxes and sealants.
 
#6 ·
Foaming cannon made from ISS plastics, powered by the breath of 300 angels using filtered water from Lake Garda, sprayed in the pattern of a tertiary (triple) rainbow!!! Only this will suffice
 
#8 ·
I have her wrapped and have never brought her through a wash. If it's your DD and you live in a weather volatile area I get it, cause my DD is an '18 M5 and I solely drive her through the wash.
 
#9 ·
I drive/drove my Maserati through the car wash every other week. Mostly with the highest quality and most extensive cleaning program. Once a year the car is/was being polished up.

You won't believe it, neither melts the car, nor does it rust and it does not lose the color either.

A Granturismo has a very high color quality. Therefore the use of the car wash is no problem at all for this car. On the contrary, a really good car wash removes any dirt very efficiently, even from below. When I sold the car with 148'000km I got above average money for it and the dealer could sell it again immediately. This because the car was very well maintained and looked like that.
 
#11 ·
The 18" rims on my 1996 Carrera 2 got scratched from an automatic car wash many, many years ago. It was before plastic covered rails were widely used. I had to have them repainted because it bothered me when I glanced at them. I've not taken one of my "keeper" cars to an auto car wash since. I did not feel that way about my 2 Hyundais, which are fine cars and kept for 10 years each. They saw auto car washes. My 2012 QP5 GTS is a "keeper". I would think many auto car washes are safe, or safe enough, however. Its obviously a personal choice for me.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all of your advise!

Still not sure ............ but leaning toward washing myself most of the time ..... once in a while through a car wash.

Not my DD and will be covered in between uses, so washing will not be that frequent.

It arrives tomorrow morning!!
 
#14 ·
My daughter just started working at a car wash.. 1st time I didn't know what the deal was, so it went through the automatic wash. Wasn't bad, but they sucked on getting the rims done. They are black, so it's pretty obvious. The next time I had them do their "hand wash" only to watch in horror as they used one of those scrubbing brooms.. :( I'm on the hunt now for a good hand wash place locally and will probably get her detailed soon so I can undo the stupid scratches they put in with the broom.
 
#15 ·
Love my car clean but really not a fan of washing and/or going through a car wash. Discovered a product called ONR, now with 2 gallons of water in my garage and a nice scotch, I can get her nice and shinny in about an hour.
 
#16 ·
You're right.

I don't use soap. I spray the car with Groit's Garage quick shine then go over it with a bucket of water. Don't want any swirls then this is what you do. Entire car is done in about 30 min. The paint is like glass after 14 years and 116K miles.
 
#18 ·
Wish I had the guts to run it through the auto wash..: we have a Mister car wash chain here (5 locations in town) that I think really do a great job. 35$ / month subscription for unlimited washes including wax , underbody wash and tire shine each time and is very fast and efficient. I have for my Hemi Jeep and just love it... afraid to take the carbon mirrors and door handles through though as I know will scratch the heck out of it. Now when I’m at the self serve wash in the mornings with the Maser I get weird glances as I stand and hose her down in a button-down shirt and slacks... oh well :))
 
#19 ·
In the UK we have a plethora of car hand washes usually staffed by European immigrants. They first power wash the dirt off, spray with cleaning detergent, hand wash with sponges, Hand wash the wheels, rinse off with power washer, clean all the door jambs, dry off and chamois and dress the tyres. All this for £7. My bucket and sponge are now redundant although I do wax it once a year with Collinite
 
#32 ·
Yep. Although many of them are 'staffed' by trafficked people from Eastern Europe (apparently)

More concerning to me after a couple of experiences is how often the sponges (bad anyway) have been dropped and the power of some of the jet washes....

But each to their own.

C
 
#25 ·
Could not find one with a Maserati in it...I tried . Heck, it was challenging enough to find a single photo suitable for posting, nine out of ten images would even make Stormy Daniels blush :wink2:>:)

Yeah, Bay Area is far too PC to permit anything of the sort ..:|

As for my GT, I do take it to a full hand wash place close to home, runs about $ 20 but they're extremely careful and consistently do a great job .. Including cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the wheels which many car wash places typically miss ( those who just clean the outside of the rim and the top of the spokes but superficially so..). These guys get to all the tight edges, rings around the valve stems, damn near giving it the "toothbrush treatment".
 
#31 ·
I'm so far behind the times! I use 3 different wash mitts, one for each section of the car. I start by blasting the wheels and tires to remove any dirt, and then wash carefully, doing the outside and then inside, constantly rinsing of the wash mitt, etc. Then I blast and wash the lower body, again constant rinsing of the wash mitt, etc. Then I blast the rest of car with water to remove all possible dirt and grit, and wash from the top down. I start with the roof, windows, rear glass, and windshield, hood, trunk...again multiple rinses. Then I wash each body panel and rinse. After the entire car has been washed, I do it all over again - although at a faster pace. I constantly keep rinsing the car, never let soap just sit. After about 2.5 hours, the water beads and runs off as if the car has just been waxed, but it is just very clean. I wash using straight strokes, no circles. All horizontal surfaces I do front to rear, and all vertical surfaces get up and down. Based on what everyone else is doing, it sounds like my technique is overkill...
 
#33 ·
I do have ceramic coating on the car, and I know there is a school of thought which suggests you should not use anything but one of those “ waterless wash “ or “ quick shine “ spray bottles and a microfiber cloth to simply wipe any dirt off, but that method has always left film on the surface when it dries, and then I have to wipe it multiple times before it actually clears. I talked to the shop that did the coating and they said it’s perfectly ok to take the car to a hand wash place , just make sure they don’t use abrasive cloths to dry it . The place I go uses mild detergent soap ( I think it may be dishwashing liquid ..) and I checked out the rags they use to wipe it dry ; they are very soft though not microfiber . I also watch the entire washing process in case someone happens to drop the sponge and then try to use it right away on the car so I can stop them before they even think of doing something that stupid..
 
#35 ·
Yikes, I’ll have to check with them to verify exactly what soap or detergent they use . The car does get rinsed right away but there are plenty of places where salt can get in and linger . I only have the car washed once every 4 to 6 weeks ( the ceramic coating keeps it pretty clean and it’s also very easy to clean without much effort so I don’t always take it there ) but maybe that’s still too frequent if salt or other unwanted elements build up on it.
 
#36 ·
1 capful per gallon of Optimum No Rinse in a bucket of distilled water with an Optimum Big Red Sponge [emoji3476] in the comfort of my own garage is how I wash my car followed by wipe down with Rag Company Korean microfiber towels. Takes 20 minutes. No water spots. I’ll never do 2 bucket method outside again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#37 ·
“It’s an Italian sports car not a piano”! That was what I posted 10 years ago to a thread similar to this one. I had recently purchased a QP and just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Until...a day later, I was looking out my front window at my shiny new QP when the sprinkler system came on. This was in Indio CA. where the water is so alkaline that if left to dry on a car it will etch into paint forever.

That was the epiphany, when I realized it was more than a piano. From that day on, the Maserati QP was clayed, polished, carnauba waxed and covered. That car is gone but my new GT Cabrio is garaged and pampered even more so.

These cars change us.
 
#38 ·
After a drive, you can go over the car with a wool duster and then when necessary, use water-less wash and clean the car in 10 minutes. You could apply a topper like Bead Maker if you want that added shine and your all done in less than 30 minutes. Wheels and tires are different story. The factory pads create a lot of brake dust, which also coats the tires. I'll clean them once a month which usually takes 40-60 minutes. Especially if you have the Neptune rims as you have all those added details you have to address.
 
#40 ·
Finally found a good wash place! $20.. yes $20 and he has a garage that he does a hand wash in. Takes an hour or so with the car, but it came back beautiful!


He even cleaned my calipers because he said he had too.. couldn't leave them dirty with the shiny black rims.


Thank goodness! Have to make an appointment and drop the car off, but for $20, totally worth it.
 
#42 ·
I've been using Edgar who owns a mobile service. He's great and uses very high quality Chemical Brothers products.

He also did a great job with a color correction polish when I first bought the car.

His number is 702-848-9442

Tell him Scott with the Red Maserati referred you.
 
#43 ·
Most of the car wash places ( at least here in the Bay Area ), even those who are all hand wash but the car is still on a track while being washed , have non-track wash options which are typically between 50% to 100 % more than the usual price ; so $ 30 to $ 40 . I don’t mind the regular $ 20 full hand wash considering the car’s ride height clears the track without any problem, the job is just as good as the other more expensive option which I tried a couple of times . Just my experience ..
 
#44 ·
I'm fortunate to have a hand wash spot around the corner that will use my own products if i bring them with, usually just my preferred wash soap and mitt. They even keep separate empty buckets for such clients.... $20 for wash and vacuum. I usually wash in my driveway, 90% of the time
(y)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top