I sometimes get my car washed by the guys at Tescos. I thought it might be better than a carwash. Any thoughts/experiences with how good or otherwise this type of washing has on the long term look of the car.

Thanks Tom

:eek: says it all really

Some of these hand car washes do a very good job - others don't , using the same bucket of muddy water to wash dozens of cars.

my mothers partner has his done in there every saturday morning whilst he gets the shopping (a cooked breakfast etc) his car (silver vectra) looks fine, but whenever i go to tesco's and see the equipment (dirt black sponges) no mitts and dirty water kinda makes me know how valiuable my valeting skills are to my car!!

IMHO it all depends what you want out of the money you pay and the process?

fiver and designer scratching.. remember every little (scratch) helps!!

Worst thing I ever did was learning to recognise swirl marks!!

In the past I would have been impressed with the results of a quick handwash - Tesco or other - and to the untrained eye the results can look not bad.

My eyes were untrained for years and I got away with it - but now I'm cringing if I walk past a swirl marked car in a car park!

But seriously - they almost certainly will be doing lots of damage - and just because you may not see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

It will probably be the beginning of a slide down the slippery slope of detailing, but have a look at the first few photos in http://briskoda.net/forums/styling-car-care/car-care-guide-how-polish-your-car-hand-machine/116125/ to see what is meant by swirl marks.

My Tesco near me are damn expensive for carwashing so i use the jet wash.

Thanks for the comments guys. I Dont think i am going to get it done by them anymore. I am going to have a go myself. I will read and digest some of the tips off this forum and never let an Elf near my car again.

Tom

My eyes were untrained for years and I got away with it - but now I'm cringing if I walk past a swirl marked car in a car park!

I second that..............

it depends on how fussy you are really most people don't care as long as the car looks shiny but others see every swirl and think my god!!!

And some colours show swirl marks much more than others , so it would depend on how susceptible your car is.

Black seems particularly bad , silver pretty safe.