Who takes their truck through a car wash?

Just like the title says.
I’ve been a hand wash guy forever but as I get older and busier I just can’t do it anymore.
Thoughts?

 

I do on a regular basis. I’m usually too busy. I will hand wash if tree sap or other stuff doesn’t wash off in the car wash. I don’t use a gas station car wash but use one that keeps better maintenance of the equipment so to reduce risk of damage.

 

I go through the touchless as maintenance wash and do hand wash when I can. My truck sees touchless once a week during winter as soon as they start salting the road to get the undercarriage wash.

 

Use the high quality drive through in the winter when it's too cold to hand wash. Otherwise, always hand wash if weather cooperates. I find that after a winter of automated car washes, I need to hand wash to get some kind of auto car wash funk off the finish. Desperate men do desperate things, like auto wash their tundra's when necessary.

 

Got the middle of the road $34 unlimited monthly pass, they revamped & modified it 180° last year and it's we'll worth it.

 

Touchless here, and detail later at home if needed.

 

Hand wash only for me.

 

I used to be a die hard hand wash type of guy. My priorities have changed and I take it through the car wash now. I would say I hand wash every 6 weeks or so. It’s strange as I used to be so picky about my truck being perfectly clean.

 

My black Tundra did not fare well in the car wash, but the cement color does alot better for marks/etc. It’s really only car washing weather a few months here and those summer months the vehicles don’t get dirty (unless offroad then it’s dust country) it’s the spring/fall/winter rain and snow that make it really dirty so I just send it through as needed.

 

Hand wash only for me on the Tundra, but I live in Tennessee so I can usually find a decent day to hand wash even in the winter. I've also lived in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, and I ran my vehicles through the automatic car wash there. I have an undercarriage attachment for my pressure washer that seems to work well. They don't salt the roads here a lot, but it's nice to have.

 

I'll do an auto carwash from time to time at the local spray bay with two auto lane car washes.
I'll forgo the drying blowers and hit a bay for a full spotless rinse for the entire truck.

I ALWAYS remove my antenna..

 

My last two Toyota trucks have been black. They have been run through a high end brush wash weekly since day one. I have found having them clay bared, buffed, waxed and polished twice a year keeps the paint like new and swirls out of the paint. Because I live in the snow belt I decided having the undercarriage blasted weekly was a must and I have not had any rust problems. Vehicle one has 284,000. My gen3 is getting same care. Ceramic coating is tempting but was told need to hand wash if ceramic coat and I know I can’t consistently hand wash in the winter.

 

Yea... I'm an antenna remover as well. My Toyota dealer recommended that I do that. I bought the appropriate sized box wrench at Menards. Cost me 3 or 4 bucks.

 

Hand wash for me… will do the self spray bay thing in the winter just to rinse the salt/brine off.
I don’t really need to wash it very often, but do use a lot of spray detailer.

 

Awesome responses. I have been through the entire cycles outlined above. Only handwashed weekly all the way to drive-thru car wash once every other month. The new truck is silver so it will fare better in the drive thru than darker colors. I just got the truck last Tuesday and hit a bunch of bugs on the way home. I will hand wash when I can, however we have recently moved and the water here is hard water. I hate trying to keep the whole vehicle wet during the whole washing process so I don't get those nasty white spots everywhere, including on the windows!

 

PS. Mods, sorry I posted in the wrong place, I didn't think to look for a detailing sub-forum.

 

Only took my 2013 Tundra through a swirl-o-matic once, right after a snowstorm years ago. The brushes bent my license plate in half. Since then, it's been hand wash only, except for once or twice have gone to the coin-op. Our winters here in southern NJ have been getting milder....so wash season is longer than it used to be. Will be getting into rinseless washing this winter if the need arises.

 

Hand wash, wax, vac, and fluid film here. Have a hot water spigot in the garage for daily rinse in the winter if any salty water exposure occurs on either the Tundra or 4Runner. Takes less than ten minutes to rinse down and the hot water dries quickly. Much better than dealing with icy car wash surface or extreme rust.

 

Do you have a floor drain in your garage or do you wash down outside in the winter?

 

Outside on the driveway. It's usually less than 15 days per year. Most years probably less than 10. Not a huge deal, just sharing what works for me.

 

Car wash here. Two kids in sports and work. No time to spend half a day hand washing and detailing. I hate it but it’s just life at the moment.

 

Don't hate it man! You have to put the family first. However, you might be able to get the kids to help wash their limo once every now and then.

 

Bought my 2010 Tundra new. Never been and I ain't going to.

 

I wish i could wash it using the car wash. I am undercoated due to living in the northeast (snow/salt) so i can't use undercarriage wash. Every car wash i have asked cannot disable it manually.

 

I absolutely hate washing cars but I hate automatic car washes more, so I won't use them, I paid too much and love my truck too much to subject it to that. This results in my truck only getting hand washed a few times a year. I'll hose it down when I'm bored and always after offroading though. Once a year before summer I'll spring for someone to wash, wax and detail.

 

I recommend hand wash only. It’s really better to not wash it at all than to use an automatic wash, but I do understand people have different priorities and time constraints. A touchless wash followed by a rinseless wash / detail spray is a happy medium.
Just know that it absolutely will swirl your paint up. I know it doesn’t seem to do it on lighter colors, but if you shine a light on the paint those swirls will definitely be there. It’s also cumulative. The more you do it, the more it’s going to damage the paint, eventually causing more than just cosmetic problems.
That said, hand washing is going to introduce scratches also, especially with bad technique. Even with good technique it’s gonna happen some. Nobody is more careful than I am, and I still get micro-scratches that are visible on my black trucks that require correction every couple of years.

 

Unlimited from Club Car Wash, minimum of three times a week for mine.

 

Agreed. I’m in the same boat as that guy. Got three young kids. I will do one hand wash/wax each year and the rest gets the local scratch’s and shine car wash.

My trucks a family hauler and I just can’t stress about these things anymore with all we have going on.

 

I couldn't agree with you more on all bases mentioned, time constraints yeah work 50 plus hrs. a week,side jobs and a relationship that's work too,and not to mention fishing
that's a major consumer of time.

All kidding aside my priorities have shifted for the better I guess I'm getting old I'm no longer in my 20's or thirtys for that matter and can't spend/make the amount time and dedication to keep it pristine to how I'd like to keep it,
but seriously even washing by hand with the cleanest mediums & environments and you will still get the lovely swirl marks/spider webs.
Back in the day I was just as guilty as most who detailed there vehicle every time a bird shit on it.those days are gone.
I have chosen to buy white vehicles and find them to be very forgiving on alot of blemishes, down side it doesn't show off all of the body contours like darker colors due

For me it has come down to this, it's all about personal preference as to what floats our boat.
This can be applied pretty much to everything in our lives it also can be justified on what we do because it boils down to prioritized dedication.

 

I don't have time to spend on hand washing my truck. Dealer gives lifetime use of its carwash free for customers.