Automatic car wash

Is it safe to take the FL through a typical automatic car wash? Any FL owners who do this regularly. Any horror stories? I know you need to remove the aerial, which I haven't managed to do on mine yet but I'll be out with the pliers today.

i take mine through automatic washer at tesco no probs soo far

just remember to tape the doors on

When I first bought my freelander I couldnt wait to get it nice and shiny and took it through the car wash at tesco's on my way home from buying it. I ripped the aerial off and the aerial scratched all the way down the roff of it.

i SHOULD OF KNOWN BETTER

I use these car washes all the time, maximum is about 7ft and FL is about 6FT. Only problem i have is they do not wash the tailgate very well because or the spare wheel location,

Moose1 said:

I use these car washes all the time, maximum is about 7ft and FL is about 6FT. Only problem i have is they do not wash the tailgate very well because or the spare wheel location,

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just dont look at the back
tesco doing BOGOF on their platinum wash

use a bucket and sponge yer lazy get.
car washes ruin the paintwork and miss great chunks.

Treworgey 90 said:

use a bucket and sponge yer lazy get.
car washes ruin the paintwork and miss great chunks.

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more worried about keeping my 1.8 engine going
than state of paintwork which looks grat at mo.

Treworgey 90 said:

use a bucket and sponge yer lazy get.
car washes ruin the paintwork and miss great chunks.

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Got to agree with this! Never go near the damn things. Scratch yer paintwork. Use a soft sponge and a good quality shampoo and polish. A good resin polish every few washes will reduce the number of scratches you get hoikin' it through the "bush" too !

Washing by hand also gives you the incentive to check for those little loose bits and faults that normally don't transpire until the thing starts to go wrong. Attention to detail when cleaning could save you dosh!

I brought one of those home carwash things a few years ago, you just attach it to a hosepipe and it sprays bubbles all over the car, you then wash it and wrinse it like normal then change the settings on the carwash thingy and it spray a wrinse aid on to the car, no smears and no drip stains. I think it's great, but then I like hand washing my car. Carwashes scratch the paintwork too much.

I have a valeting company wash my motor every week !!!!!

Cat's Eyes said:

I brought one of those home carwash things a few years ago,

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I just picked one up from Halfrauds and I'll give it a go. Thanks

if you've got a good paint job to start wiff they don't scratch as much as people say. and when you polish it any little scratches that are there will be buffed out...

course if yer yer paint is crap and not hardend properly it will get scratched to ferk

Rob501 said:

Got to agree with this! Never go near the damn things. Scratch yer paintwork. Use a soft sponge and a good quality shampoo and polish. A good resin polish every few washes will reduce the number of scratches you get hoikin' it through the "bush" too !

Washing by hand also gives you the incentive to check for those little loose bits and faults that normally don't transpire until the thing starts to go wrong. Attention to detail when cleaning could save you dosh!

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You have got too much time on your hands

Moose1 said:

You have got too much time on your hands

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Believe me! I haven't. If you read my post re:"Pulling over to chat", you'll see I have little time at all on my hands. Since 18th Jan this year, I've driven nearly 3,000 miles up and down Britain, mostly business miles. Weekends are precious if I'm not working of course! So I enjoy the car, I look after it. After all, it's an expensive investment worth looking after. I reckon I've collected a tonne of road salt in the last week alone already corroding it's way through my wallet (er...bodywork).

If you view it as a chore, then that's a personal thing. It takes half an hour to wash the thing and about 1.5 hours on top of that to do a full polish every few washes. Best to clean after you've been off-road especially as you don't know what you've collected in the chassis along the way .

Nothing wrong if you can afford a valet, go for it. But will they let you know if something's not quite right with the bodywork, brakes or chassis. I'm guessing not on account they might get blamed .

Drive through automatic car washes are a waste of money. Use the jetwash machines first and finish off properly when you get home. It's even easier that way.

Rob501 said:

Believe me! I haven't. If you read my post re:"Pulling over to chat", you'll see I have little time at all on my hands. Since 18th Jan this year, I've driven nearly 3,000 miles up and down Britain, mostly business miles. Weekends are precious if I'm not working of course! So I enjoy the car, I look after it. After all, it's an expensive investment worth looking after. I reckon I've collected a tonne of road salt in the last week alone already corroding it's way through my wallet (er...bodywork).

If you view it as a chore, then that's a personal thing. It takes half an hour to wash the thing and about 1.5 hours on top of that to do a full polish every few washes. Best to clean after you've been off-road especially as you don't know what you've collected in the chassis along the way .

Nothing wrong if you can afford a valet, go for it. But will they let you know if something's not quite right with the bodywork, brakes or chassis. I'm guessing not on account they might get blamed .

Drive through automatic car washes are a waste of money. Use the jetwash machines first and finish off properly when you get home. It's even easier that way.

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You have just shamed me into washing my FL by hand. Went for a bit of an adventure today off road on my friends farm and it performed brilliantly although it got very muddy. Blasted it with his jetwash then bucket and sponge when i got home. Looks great now.
And i never got it stuck once - Well only a little bit........
Cheers..

Moose1 said:

You have just shamed me into washing my FL by hand.

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Ahh! My work here is done!

i wash mine by hand ever since my wing mirror cover broke off through the car wash cos my mirrors dont fold,