stupid car wash, foolish me.

so i was planning on washing my car after work, but by the time i got off at 7am, i was hungry, angry, and didn't want to do anything but sleep.

i was at 76 and figured hey, they have a car wash; but wasn't a touchless, had spinny brushes. soo anyways, thought id chance it, it had the big brushes that hit you from the side and underneath, they seemed to hit way harder then I remember, i was praying they wouldn't rip the mirrors off - flaked off a bit of the lighter wood trim on the driver wheel arch and liftgate corner.

no more car washes, i think i'll do it by hand from now on.


I tend to forget i don't drive a minivan anymore I could care less about, but drive a simulated wood "Premium American Motorcar" according to the manual  

oh well i had only a $1 for small bills so the 4 kids that cleaned my car had to split that among themselves. lol



Anyways, I assume your all smarter than I, not going through car washes and such, unless you have wood delete.

You are lucky you did not loose the antenna.

Interesting. I use the brush style washes and have not had a problem....but....I used one of those touch less (just water spray) washes and the water pressure was so powerful it flaked off side wood trim right off the car. It came off around the drivers side door handles and the gas filler door. Luckily the brown paint under shows so it isn't too bad from a distance, but now I have added re-woodgrain the sides to my to-do list.

Not only is it "Premium", but is also considered 2XL size

That's a bummer. I've use the drive-thru washes here with the brushes with no issues, but I fold in the mirrors and turn the radio off to lower the antenna for sure.

-Mike

Yup, i always retract the antenna, even folded down the little one (car phone?) Otherwise I bet both would've gotten enhilated. Cant fold my mirrors :/ I even go as far as turning the air off, my van would dump water inside thanks to the cowl/drainage design when you had the air on.

hmm, mayhaps its just the one I went to. I don't think it's been updated since the 90's. The new brown bear one downtown seemed gentler now that I think about it.

Eh either way, I like washing it, I just get a little ocd and take a whole afternoon cleaning every possible surface I can.

Hand wash when you can but you should be able to take these to either type car wash. If our vinyl denoc is old and brittle, it will eventually come off at some point anyway. I painted the upper wood grain trim on both my wagons which is the biggest aesthetic detractors on these wagons.

I've used both types in the past with no issues. For those Going to WF in NY there is a touchless 5 minutes from the Microtel. Pull out and turn right and it's on your left a few minutes down the road.

In 2010 when I went it was brand spanking new.

they are always an iffy proposition though if they are not set up right. I had a friend with a small japan car get the hood dented from the brushes, lol.