Watch those so called touchless car washes...

[RazM]

Ugh, yesterday was a pain in the a$$

Beautiful day, thought I'd go get the truck cleaned. I go to a Sunoco where I regularly get it washed. They have one of those 'touchless' car washes. Supposedly, the carwash has sensors that measure and make sure the car won't get hit with the arm that shoots the soap/water/wax. I've used this place before, and with no incididents, until yesterday. It worked normally during the soaping and soap rinse passes, until the wax pass came around.
The way the machine works is it has an arm that first does the front of the vehicle, then the arm rotates 90 degrees, does the drivers side, rotates again, does the back, rotates again and finishes off the passenger side. On the wax application pass, it went by the vehicle with no problems, then came the wax rinses. On the first rinse, the arm slightly hit the passenger side mirror, I didn't think much of it, since the arm is wrapped in some foam material so it won't scratch. Then came the second rinse, goes around the vehicle, no problems, until the passenger side, where I noticed it wasn't cleaning the wax off the windows, then bam. The damn arm rams the mirror and flips it forward (and we all know, our trucks mirror is NOT meant to flip forward!) and that horrible sound, like a bone breaking.

I drive out, and notice all the wax is still left on the passenger side of the vehicle, while the drivers side was completely clean. I go in to the owner of the gas station, I show him both the damage and the mess of wax on the passenger side. He goes checks the machine, says nothing is wrong. I tell him there's something majorly wrong. Not only did it not clean the passenger side of the wax, it broke my mirror.

To make a long story short, he agreed to pay for parts and labor (I have it in writing) to get it replaced. Right now the mirror is loose, the plastic casing is broken, and my poor H3 has its first owie.

Also, we came to the conclusion that on the final wax rinse, the arm didn't rotate 90 degrees after doing the back. That explains why it didn't clear the side mirror and also why it didn't clean the wax off the passenger side. So a warning to all of you, watch these car washes, and always fold your mirrors in (even tho I was told no worries, the machine will clear it no problem)

Now there's a couple weeks wait on the new mirror. DOH!

[RazM]

Ugh, yesterday was a pain in the a$$

Beautiful day, thought I'd go get the truck cleaned. I go to a Sunoco where I regularly get it washed. They have one of those 'touchless' car washes. Supposedly, the carwash has sensors that measure and make sure the car won't get hit with the arm that shoots the soap/water/wax. I've used this place before, and with no incididents, until yesterday. It worked normally during the soaping and soap rinse passes, until the wax pass came around.
The way the machine works is it has an arm that first does the front of the vehicle, then the arm rotates 90 degrees, does the drivers side, rotates again, does the back, rotates again and finishes off the passenger side. On the wax application pass, it went by the vehicle with no problems, then came the wax rinses. On the first rinse, the arm slightly hit the passenger side mirror, I didn't think much of it, since the arm is wrapped in some foam material so it won't scratch. Then came the second rinse, goes around the vehicle, no problems, until the passenger side, where I noticed it wasn't cleaning the wax off the windows, then bam. The damn arm rams the mirror and flips it forward (and we all know, our trucks mirror is NOT meant to flip forward!) and that horrible sound, like a bone breaking.

I drive out, and notice all the wax is still left on the passenger side of the vehicle, while the drivers side was completely clean. I go in to the owner of the gas station, I show him both the damage and the mess of wax on the passenger side. He goes checks the machine, says nothing is wrong. I tell him there's something majorly wrong. Not only did it not clean the passenger side of the wax, it broke my mirror.

To make a long story short, he agreed to pay for parts and labor (I have it in writing) to get it replaced. Right now the mirror is loose, the plastic casing is broken, and my poor H3 has its first owie.

Also, we came to the conclusion that on the final wax rinse, the arm didn't rotate 90 degrees after doing the back. That explains why it didn't clear the side mirror and also why it didn't clean the wax off the passenger side. So a warning to all of you, watch these car washes, and always fold your mirrors in (even tho I was told no worries, the machine will clear it no problem)

Now there's a couple weeks wait on the new mirror. DOH!

[Walter_Cronkite]

No sympathy for lazy bums that don't spend the time to appreciate their rigs by washing it by hand.

Like paying another man to pleasure your woman.

Hummer punks.

[RazM]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Walter_Cronkite:
No sympathy for lazy bums that don't spend the time to appreciate their rigs by washing it by hand.

Like paying another man to pleasure your woman.

Hummer punks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hah, you cranky old man. Viagra not working for you anymore?

[HummerJim]

You have to watch the car washes with whirling cloth brushes if you have a brush guard, because I had one wrap around my brush guard. No damage to the the Hummer, but it pulled the car wash drum out of it's mounts.

[hmrlvr]

If you want it done right, always, always, always just do it yourself!!!

[Ipedog]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hmrlvr:
If you want it done right, always, always, always just do it yourself!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats all very well and good to say. But when its 10 degrees out and the water you send through the hose will be an icicle before the "water" gets to the truck...

Well, you get the idea. Hand washing is not always an option. Especially for those of us not blessed with balmy So. Cal weather.