Extras At The Car Wash Only Jack Up The Price

Read This Before You Purchase Wheel Cleaning –Clear Coat And Rust Protection During Your Next Car Wash... by Jack Swint

A trip to the neighborhood car wash presents you with multiple choices. Do you want the basic wash, the better wash with a special paint sealer, the express wash with triple foam and finally the pristine treatment with rust inhibitor. You can even have your wheels cleaned. The list and costs go on and on. Which do you choose? Do these extra offerings have any validity? Lets look at it. Keep in mind that each car wash seems to have their own terminology for the extras they are offering to spray on your car.

The Basic Wash

This basic treatment usually involves just what it says, a wash and rinse by high pressure washing the exterior of dirt, grime, mud, salt, etc. Then, when the vehicle goes into the spray and wash tunnel, a "pH neutral" washing solution is sprayed onto the vehicle exterior that promises not to etch into the clear coat finish of the vehicle. Next, the whole car is wiped down with either non-abrasive brushes or cloth strips. Sometimes a basic wash involves an undercarriage wash as well. This is a great idea because it will hopefully flush out the salt that has gotten into the undercarriage cracks and crevices over the long winter season.

Now, as far as most people are concerned, this is all you need at a car wash. When offered more than this, decline for reasons that follow.

Wheel Cleaning

Usually, when one goes to the car wash, they offer a step up from the basic wash that includes wheel cleaning. Car wheels get dirty as a result of super-heated semi-metallic brake dust that comes off the brake pads as they squeeze the brake rotors. This metallic dust impregnates the wheels clear-coat finish permanently staining the wheel. No exterior car wash/water-solution will clean it. There is a product on the market called ‘Wheel Shield’ that repels 60% of all brake dust and offers protection from corrosive road clearing chemicals like liquid sodium, magnesium chloride and rock salt.

But, can you really keep your wheels clean after its been contaminated with this nasty stuff? Nope. The only way to actually restore the finish to original condition is to have the wheel sand blasted, painted and clear coated again. Then, you can apply Wheel Shield on a regular basis. This kind of trouble and expense is usually reserved for luxury cars, and not Ford Focuses and Toyota Corollas. The other option for some added protection and cosmetic good looks is "Armor All." But again, this has to be worked onto the tire by hand.

Clear Coat Protector

In addition to wheel cleaning, consumers are also often offered "a clear coat protector." Clear coat protector products protect the clear & base color coat from the UV rays of the sun, moisture and oxidation, all elements that fade the paint. A sealer applied by rubbing it on the vehicles finish will always give you better protection than a product that’s sprayed on at a car wash.

Car wash waxes give a nice temporary shine, but don’t provide much ongoing protection. How could they given the price point? A typical professional paint sealant application costs anywhere from $100 - $200 because its labor intensive along with the cost of the actual product versus $2 or $3 at the car washes. If you want this treatment, either pay the right price at a detailing shop or buy the product and apply some elbow grease yourself on a clear, bright Saturday morning.

Rust Protection

Rust protection is a touchy subject, because so many companies have fallen by the wayside from fraud over the years. Presently, There are only a few good companies that offer genuine rust protection, and they do not offer their services through the car wash network of the US. In order for rust protection to be effective, someone has to open up body panels, door panels, get under the hood and into trunk areas, and finally inside the boxed areas of the vehicle frame or uni-body construction. True rust protection costs on average $100 - $250 per vehicle depending on whether its a car, truck or SUV.

The extra few dollars the car wash wants is for spraying a solution on the vehicles exterior that washes off in short order after a rainstorm doesn’t accomplish anything.

Car Wash Guarentee??

Finally, some car washes offer a 5-day guarantee! Guarantee of what? That you’ll need all these services again in five days? That’s usually what such a guarantee means. This alone is evidence that all you got was a $6 wash two times with a few extra chemicals thrown in to make you feel better.

Bottom Line

By all means, get a weekly basic wash and help a local business. However, we don’t all have that kind of time, or interest. As for these extras offered by the neighborhood car wash? Skip them, and put the money in the piggy bank. Do, however, spend the appropriate amount of money to have a few of these things, like wheel cleaning and clear-coat protection, and rust-proofing (if you are inclined), done at a proper detailing or body shop using the proper products and application methods.

End Of Story…

Jack Swint-Publisher
West Virginia News
E-Mail:　 WestVirginiaNews@gmail.com
Website: http://WVNewsOnline.com
Blog: http://WestVirginiaNews.blogspot.com
Twitter:　 @WVNewsOnline
LinkedIn: Jack Swint
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