Should You Run New Luxury Cars through a Brush Carwash?

Considering how much new luxury cars cost, owners tend to spend any amount of money to maintain their pristine beauty, but washes can be dangerous. Dirt and grime looks terrible, and the status symbol people just purchased instantly disappears under the brown layer of dust. Luxury car owners tend to avoid this by washing their cars regularly. Usually, that’s great; some professional carwashes, though, continue to use techniques that permanently damage vehicles. The safest approach is caution: be wary before you pay to get your car fully serviced.

Some owners of new luxury cars prefer to wash and wax their vehicles themselves. It’s a way to connect to their beautiful machines, and it can be a method of relaxation. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the most dangerous ways to keep a car clean. If owners don’t use enough water, buy cheap soap, or wash their vehicles in direct sunlight, the paint can lose its gleam—or outright fade. Really, automatic carwashes are the safest option, as long as people avoid brush carwashes.

Fortunately, a lot of these have disappeared, but a few carwashes continue to use brushes to apply soap and then wash it off. Instead of working like a more complete wash, these brushes often scratch the finish off of new luxury cars, something only repainting can fix. Professional hand wash operations, too, can hurt a car if the drying rags aren’t regularly replaced and cleaned. The dirt pulled off of other cars works like sandpaper on a car finish. This final service, thankfully, is often offered as an option. So, if attendants approach a car with dirty towels, owners can simply tell them no thanks and drive off before they scratch at the new, pristine paint.