My neighbor has a 2 week old black A4. After getting dirty from a recent snowstorm, he decided to take it to a low-budget car wash. After he went through, there was tiny scratches all over his car. Very noticeable. I guess the sand and dirt from other cars got cought in the fabric of the washers and went to work on his car like sandpaper.<p>I felt bad for him, but kind of chuckled inside wondering how someone could be so stupid. I've always known never to take my car through one of those.<p>

I've got a black car and take it through the local car wash all the time. It does get scratches now and then but I polish them out. I used to be one of those wash once a week by hand types but work just doesn't permit that. I'll admit it is hard to find a good carwash. In the long run I've found the low-paid people working there to be moslty more trouble than the machines washing the vehicle. Best advice is to find someone who likes your car and tip them well.<p>stuart

That's my quick fix, or sometimes I do it as a prewash if I know I will soon wash my car.<p>NEVER a carwash with brushes, agreed!

I am lucky enough to live by a self service car wash with individual washing bays. Granted on a cold day it may not be the best thing to do but a lease you have peace of mind.

I have used them here in Colorado when you get a period of subfreezing weather that lasts for weeks. I use the brushless kind and I have not had any problems on my A4 or my wifes Jeep GC Ltd. Other times I will wash in the driveway at home. Once this year I washed the car when the air temp was around 40F and the ground was still frozen such that the hose water froze on ground and made walking around the car dangerous. <p>98.5 2.8QMS (White)

is worth doing well. Perhaps I am preaching to the choir here, but I would never have someone else wash my car or take it to an automatic car wash. Think about it, no one else is going to care about your car the way you do, and no automated machine is going to give a damn about it either.<p>IMHO, If you can't take the time and trouble to wash you car properly, you are better off just leaving it dirty until you can.

Well I don't know how cold Colorado winters are, but they can't be any worse than Minnesota's. If the temperature is 10 degrees above or higher, the do-it-yourself car washes are open. Granted, you can't do a great job of washing your car and you have to take care not to spray the locks and such, but you can get the salt, slush and crud off. <p>I've never gone more than a week in the winter without washing my car. I always use the plain water and use a soft cotton mitt to remove road film. Usually, if it's cold, you can't effectively dry the car but not sure if this is even worth the effort during the winter.<p>Ever since a "deluxe" brushless car wash ruined the paint on my brand new maroon car, I have vowed NEVER to put my car through a commercial car wash.<p>

where the only automatic function is to spray soap and water on the car. They have people wipe the car down with mitts. I don't think this is going to do much damage if not used regularly. Of course, the detergents used by commercial washes might cause problems over time.

(nt)

Is this at a location that has a line of cars waiting to be hand washed? I had my SVX washed at a location where everyone went to get their cars handwashed. Sometimes there would be a line about 25 cars long. The problem with this is that they very rarely change their wash water, and they use wash mits that appear to be made of lamb wool. Basicly the dirt from the cars in front of you stay in the wash water, and worse get stuck in the wash mitt. Then when they wash your car, and others, they scratch the paint with the dirt, thus swirl marks. I haven't taken my A4 there at all. I would rather go through a touchless carwash than go to a hand wash lineup.

Wash it yourself, even if you have to go to a DIY wand wash and spend $4.00 or $5.00 in quarters!<p>When I am on a trip, I put a 1-gallon jug (for water), several wash towels, several dry towels, my favorite wheel cleaner, a sponge-on-a stick (designed to wash dishes, but I have found it to be the best tool for the stock 5-spoke rims), and a bottle of my fav car wash soap in a 3-gallon bucket.<p>Before I leave for the car wash I fill the 1-gallon jug with water and squirt in the soap.<p>Get LOTS of quarters, you don't want to run out mid-wash.<p>Rinse the car with the wand, use the full 4-min getting off all the crud you can with only rinse water (this also helps 'soften' the dirt and make it come off easier).<p>Dump the 1-gallon of soapy water into the 3-gallon bucket and use the cotton wash towels to wash the car starting at the top. When the top of the car starts to dry, dump in a load of quaters and rinse. Repeat untill you have worked from top to the bottom of the car. <p>Use the sponge-on-a-stick (don't buy the ones with the rough scrub stuff on them) and the wheel cleaner to wash the rims. <p>Rinse.<p>Dry using the towels (or chamis, if you prefer).<p>Dump the bucket out and put all the stuff back in the bucket.<p>It's the only way I know to do the job right outside of my driveway.<p>Robert Jordan<br>'97 BLACK 1.8t w/ no scratches<p>