Hi folks,

I have an SE Plus with Amundsen and stubby roof aerial - is this OK to go through a standard car wash or should I remove it first? Many thanks Andy :-)

With the greatest respect I would not even contemplate taking my Yeti through a Car wash. The surface damage to the Yetis paintwork would be beyond belief, ( swirls and scratches).

Sorry but I am a firm believer in the rather mundane process of the two bucket hand wash, preceded by a liberal amount of Snowfoam.

Tony

I have put mine through a car wash several times and can find no damage to my paintwork. Not everyone has the time or the inclination to wash by hand or the facilities to pre-lather.

Andy, I always unscrew the aerial, just in case.

I haven't used a rotary machine wash for ages. If it is fine and I have time I do it myself and use a whole day in a really thorough in and out clean and polish and wax.

About 3-5 times a year!

Otherwise I use a local hand car wash -a better bet than a machine.

My new L&k in magic black will see several personal hand washes and applications of collinite before anyone else lays hands on it.

The hand washes in our area which are usually operated by eastern europeans do a very good and thorough job and are a much better bet than car wash M/Cs which over time will dull and poss damage your paintwork.

They usually charge between £5 - £8 for a wash and dry.which I think is quite reasonable.

As Llanigraham says not everyone has the time or facilities .

Hi folks,

I have an SE Plus with Amundsen and stubby roof aerial - is this OK to go through a standard car wash or should I remove it first? Many thanks Andy :-)

Andy don't do it...my last yeti's roof was damaged by a car wash...better to not wash the car at all.

JeZ

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

My local BP station has a touchless carwash.

Exactly the same as a normal automated car wash which you drive into but it doesn't have any rollers, just high pressure jets...

...and I'm guessing some pretty aggressive chemical cleaners.

Does a nice job though.

I have a high pressure jet wash.

I never touch it so I guess its also 'touchless'

I haven't used a rotary machine wash for ages. If it is fine and I have time I do it myself and use a whole day in a really thorough in and out clean and polish and wax.

About 3-5 times a year!

Likewise but frequency only twice a year.

I have a high pressure jet wash.

I never touch it so I guess its also 'touchless'

I find I still need a brush for the wheels, given the number of long haired cats in the area that's not a problem.

No cats were harmed in the making of this post and none will be harmed for cleaning my car. Post for the purpose of humour only

I appreciate that not everybody has time to go through a weekly regime of hand washing their Yeti, it,s probably me who is OCD with all my cars.To give an example of Car washers (this one was a non-mechanical type), my daughter was across in the UK last week and went to a garage to give the Merc a "hand wash.I gave it a wash a few days after her return.After snowfoam and wash I hosed it down, to find that all the previous waxing and detailing had disappeared from the surface coat. (No beading at all).What ever shampoo or cleaner they use in the jetwash completly obliterated the previous hours of prep work done to the Merc ( black metallic). I was horriefied and had to spend another 4 hours bringing back to some sort of decency.

Sorry to go on but I really don,t like Forecourt washers whether mechanical or hand wash.

Tony

Is your car not the dark blue? I would never in a million years but a dark coloured car through a machine wash. Nor any car for that matter. Do it a few times and you will see the tell tale swirls in the paint for sure. Get it hand washed. There are countless handwash places around London. I have only once been charged SUV rates as well! hehehe Since after the first time they charge me car rates! (Another reason to love the tiny Yeti!)

Snowfoaming is the way ahead gets rid of the majority of crud off the car by just spraying on, leaving then spray off.

You can then just leave it at that or go for a wash with a mitt to get the rest of the fine dusty dirt off.

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Many thanks for your views everybody - I think I'll probably use the hand wash at my local Tescos then. :-)

Many thanks for your views everybody - I think I'll probably use the hand wash at my local Tescos then. :-)

hmmm... If you refer to those people pushing around trolleys with water in from the last 10 cars they have washed in supermarket car parks.................. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They just move the dirt from one car to the next.

The "proper" hand car wash places might look shoddy but most have washing machines running the whole time to wash the cloths they use. They also have fresh water and decent pressure washers connected to the water mains. So no spreading of the muck from car to car.

Yes the car washing aficionados will tell you they still spread muck and the ONLY way to wash a car is a to snow foam at home and spend 12 hours solid doing it, yadda, yadda. Life is too short for me to wash a car (and it only gets washed three times or so a year). A Ferrari is also probably the most fun from A to B and all that, but for my needs an Eastern European hand wash fits the jobs nicely (and I've never found any scratches or had any problems taking any of my cars to them).

If the handwash that andyml is referring to is like the one at my local Tesco, then it is a full operation with bays covered with marquee and a portacabin with washing machines etc, so pretty much the same set up others use, but they just rent parking spaces from Tesco, rather than a less convenient site. I would still never let anyone else wash Kasper!

What an idle lot you all are.

Why pay when you can do a much better job yourself and get some fresh air and exercise. No risk of damage to paintwork unless you are careless.

Money saved can buy at least a couple of pints of good British ale better in your pocket than funding some illegal immigrant.

Auto washes never do a proper job anyway.

Cheers :beer: :beer:

Peter

And there speaks a tight Yorkshireman

Actually, to me, it isn't cheaper:

I don't have a pressure washer so can't "pre-lather" or power rinse later.

I don't have a hose.

If I did have a hose it would have to go through the house.

I don't have a drive.

I have to carry buckets up the garden.

I'm on a water meter.

I can spend £5 for Bebbs Handwash in Newtown to do it on my way home from work, which works out the same as £5 at Harry Tuffins Pressure Wash, but does a better job.

And similar to Johann, mine gets done normally when SWMBO complains loudly or the back number plate is getting difficult to read.

What an idle lot you all are.

Why pay when you can do a much better job yourself and get some fresh air and exercise. No risk of damage to paintwork unless you are careless.

Money saved can buy at least a couple of pints of good British ale better in your pocket than funding some illegal immigrant.

Auto washes never do a proper job anyway.

Cheers :beer: :beer:

Peter

I do 90% of my car cleaning/polishing but not everyone has the facilities to be able to do it.

And I take issue with you over the" illegal immigrants" as I've got to know the chaps (eastern europeans) at my local car wash , they are very likeable hard working guys who do a excellent all round professional job.

Points taken Graham.

You stick with your hand jobs when SWMBO insists!

Cheers

Peter :beer: :beer:

Peter,

Corner............................NOW!!

I do 90% of my car cleaning/polishing but not everyone has the facilaties to be able to do it.

And I take issue with you over the" illegal immigrants" as I've got to know the chaps (eastern europeans) at my local car wash , they are very likeable hard working guys who do a excellent all round professional job.

They have raided several carwashes inYorkshire and arrested folk who have arrived by devious means! All working for tiny amounts of cash and contributing zilch to the economy

They have raided several carwashes inYorkshire and arrested folk who have arrived by devious means! All working for tiny amounts of cash and contributing zilch to the economy

Can assure you our local guys are not illegals and work long hours for very little .

I can't imagine that the homebred youngsters would even consider taking these jobs

snowfoam (for those with pressure washers and hoses etc) is the way ahead, spray n, have cup of tea, rinse off. Job done. Then maybe once a year wash properly with a wash mitt and two buckets (or just keep snow foaming and accept it's not 100% clean).

My local car washers are all from EU Countries and are here legally; they pay their dues and work in weather that few UK youngsters would even get out of their pit for. I trust them implicitly and several of them have regularly offered to buy me coffees in our local Italian Cafe over the several years they've been operating. They have a work ethic to be admired.

Of course they contribute to the economy - they eat, have accomodation, rent their pitch and presumably buy their cleaning kit/consumables here?