gkb

2-3 times a month is def not enough, unless you barley drive, garage and bring it to a pro to be washed and heavily waxed.

jfbhd4

I use the touchless in the winter about every other week to get the salt/crap off.

During the spring, I use a place down the street that hand washes.

Agreed with the comment on the black A6 earlier, prior owner of my car must have loved the brushes, as I cant seem to get rid of the swirl marks.

BeeMack617

ha i thought you would've been the first to post in this thread!

gkb

lol, I was like oh **** beemack even got in here before I did

The_Mizarc

Allow me to chime in here. I've even heard that touchless style automatics can be detrimental as well. Small perhaps micron (not sure) sized abrasives are mixed in with the detergents/waxes so that they act as a scrubbing/polishing additive to aid in the cleaning process when the solutions jet out. Not sure how true this is it was something I heard. Pretty slick way of making your product stand out from the others. Actually makes a lot of sense.

Ynnekdude

The soaps in touchless carwashes are very harsh. Water may also be recycled water.... It's generally best to wash by hand with the two-bucket method. However, I will admit to using a touchless car wash in the winter occasionally....

JBDinTX

Ok my parents own a two bay self serve car wash. We stock it with the finest products available. For instance the soap cost $300+ for 25 gallon. I feel a hand wand high pressure is necessary when the car is muddy to clean off the heavy sand/mud. I always spray off the heavy stuff then hand wash. I never use the brush even though the are boars hair. And I use spot free even though I full dry. I would never take my car to the soft touch/ brush auto car wash.

TVR1977

Those "Mr.Clean" hose attachment things are very helpful for hand washing.
Not good enough by itself but speeds up the whole process of hand washing.
Best part is the water filter that is used for the rinse. Sprays a fine mist of filtered water that sheets right off the car. No need for hand drying.

gkb

even though I have a auto car wash pass. I say the best combo is.
New brake pads,(stock pads will make you clean your wheels everyday), a 1800psi+ pressure washer or(hose attachment), 2 bucket method, quality soap, a leaf blower, and quality wax. (for winter thats a toss up because a touch-less is almost useless when the slat & grime is already stuck to the car, you need something physical to remove it) I say a golden nozzle wash pass for the winter.

r1racer

Audi's clear coat are among the hardest out there. You need a dual action polisher and some abrasive polishing pads/polish to get them out...hand polishing won't work.