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Well, I get lazy during the winter months and even during most of the year actually and take my car to brushless car washes in between my hand washing/waxing/detailing all day washes. The thing is, when I wash/wax my car by hand I make sure to do all the anti-swirl mark things possible (i.e. different sponges/mitts for top and bottom of car, drying car off with microfiber towel, using zymol a couple times a year, etc.) yet I've noticed I still get the swirl marks in between hand washes(they do disappear after the wax initially). Granted they're not obviously noticeable if you were to stand a bit aways away from the car but if you get up close they get real noticeable in bright non-cloudy days. It sucks because I thought the brushless washes would help prevent this but now I'm suspecting, for some strange odd reason, that maybe the brushless is promoting it? Anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I not zymolling enough? Am I not washing enough?
P.S. I drive a BRG '05 MCS. Could it be the metallic paint?
P.P.S. Oh before I forget, my dealer washes my car every time I take it in for repairs also.
Use a Lazer wash (touchless) and follow up with Hydro and get zero swirls. The only time I got swirls was when I forgot to tell the dealership to NOT wash my car when it was serviced......
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P.P.S. Oh before I forget, my dealer washes my car every time I take it in for repairs also.
Two choices:
1. Tell them not to wash it thank you very much.
2. Stop going in for repairs.
Even brushless washes can swirl your paint. They recycle their water and you are relying on the quality and effectiveness of the filtration system to keep all the solids in the used water from blasting your paint at high pressure.
My guess would be most of the swirls are from the dealer washes - cotton towels with pebbles in them will do it pretty fast ;) The brushless probably isn't helping though - between the filtration that was last changed/serviced who knows when and the chemicals they use I've been told they are almost as bad for the paint as brushed auto washes.
When I used to live in the great white north(Manitoba) I would sometimes use a touchless car wash, and I never had any swirl issues. Normally I went to coin wand wash places, that are indoors up there, and hand washed my MINI, during the winter.
By brushless do you mean that there are cloth flappers hitting the car, if so, that, and the dealer washes are the problem.
they also use harsh detergents. so if you had something like carnuba wax filling some minor swirls and then went through "the Touchless" it could lift out your fillers and expose your dirty secret.
Thanks for the tips, yeah and by brushless I did mean touchless so its just high pressure water. I'm guessing its the combination of the dealership(which I dont go to THAT often ) and the touchless. I do go through the touchless wash at least twice a month so I guess thats the price I pay for being lazy, D'OH!
05 MCS BRG/W 229WHP-198TQ||OEM:Premium,Cold Weather,Front&Rear Fog Lights,Rally Lamps,Bonnet Stripes,R84's||Mods:M7 SRP's,50% Tint, Madness CAI & Cowl, Kumho Ecsta ASX 215/50/16, Madness 15%, NGK Iridium Plugs, Super 33+ Beltline Blackout, Reflector Tint, Madness Poly Engine Bushings, VIP Engine Stabilzer, Madness V2 Header & Cat-Back, Magnaflow Cat, LVS Headlight Rings & Front Grille Blackout, Rota Grids 16x7, RMW Cam, DDM IC Diverter, JCW 380's, RMW Tune||
) and the touchless. I do go through the touchless wash at least twice a month so I guess thats the price I pay for being lazy, D'OH!
