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My jeep is literally caked in salt here in PGH. I was going to take it through a touchless - automatic car wash tonight after work. The only problem is the temp is supposed to be around 15 degrees. Now it does dry it before you pull back outside (place is indoors). My question is, do you think I should just wait till the temps warm up or should I be good tonight? I have a few coats of wax on her. I'm just paranoid if I leave the salt on too long, it will screw up my paint. Any tips are appreciated!
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
Salt really shouldnt hurt your paint in it on for an extra week or so. Im guessing that you dont have a garage? I put mine in my garage and have no problems, but my garage is always above freezing. I you decide to do it. Bring a towel with and as soon as you get out, open the doors and dry everything. Make sure to get the rubber gaskets good, hinges and the latches. Then I would drive around a bit just to make sure the heat from the engine drys the under hood stuff. Lock and unlock your locks a few times to get the water worked out. Good luck and let us know if you get frozen out... lolScott -
Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
No problem.
Dry all of the door jambs and sealing surfaces off. Then go over them with ASD, Hyperdressing, Armor-All, or anything that will leave a nice coating.It's only weird because it's not normal
www.project-one.usComment
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
My experience with the Mr. Magic car automatic washes in the Pittsburgh area is that they do not mar the paint at all. This has surprised me very much as I have always understood that these car washes are bad.
When I met my wife, she had a black Buick Regal that always looked very good. All that was done to it was a weekly wash at Mr. Magic.Comment
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
I am going to go after work. Where is Mr. Magic located in PGH??? I live out in Robinson by the airport.Comment
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
Cleetus.
I am from Akron, Ohio and recently bought a used car that spent it's life in Pittsburgh and was driven year round. The undercarriage and body is as clean and rust free as a car from the south, and it's a 1999 model year. The owner of a local detail shop told me one of the best kept secrets is that the best used cars are from PA because they use cinders in the winter instead of salt- apparently it isn't that way anymore!
Anyways- salt has never seemed to cause damage to paint, for some reason it's corrosive nature seems to only cause rusting. I always have my cars oil bathed in the fall, there are a number of shops in town here that offer this service, they get oil into every body seam and nook and cranny- it will preserve your body forever.
MattComment
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
There are three Mr Magic car washes: Castle Shannon, Banksville Road, and on route 51 south somewhere.Comment
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
Sounds interesting, have to wonder what kind of oil they use? Makes me think it would make working on the car very messing in the future, for example having to replace U-joints, or pulling the transmission to replace a torque converter, etc.Originally posted by OhioCarBuff View Post
we've worked on cars that were undercoated and you would have to chisel this stuff off the heads of bolts just to get a wrench or socket on the bolt. Anyone that's worked on an older car knows how messy it can be due to normal oil and transmission fluid that has leaked and traveled down the underneath of the car coating everything with oil that then collects dirt and makes doing any kind of work a big mess.
Took a couple of weeks just to clean and remove years of sludge off the front suspension of the 1960 Cadillac back when we were restoring it.
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Re: Automatic car wash opinions?
Mike,
There are a number of shops in my area that offer oil bath services- this is totally different from the rubberized & tar based undercoating/rustproofing. I have always suspected that that tar/rubberized products will indeed prevent rust in the short term, but in the long term make it worse and/or trap moisture and what not underneath as they age. The oil services vary from shop to shop & the lower end ones use used motor oil. I use a high end detailer (who passionately uses meguiars products by the way) that washes and wirebrushes the undercarriage and then uses fresh 60 wt. oil with a touch of beeswax mixed in, this shop gets the oil into every body crevice (even around the gas cap) and the undercarriage. They don't drill any holes, just spray up into the drain holes etc real well. It drips for about a week, so you need to put a tarp in your garage, and unfortunately you need to wash one time with dawn- any of the car wash soaps will just create a smeary mess.
Obviously you would not want to do this to a show car, but if you have an every day driver that needs to be driven in the salt it does preserve the body, as long as you religiously have it done every fall.
MattComment
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