GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

You can easily unscrew the antena from it's base before you take the car through the car wash! Just for protection. Additionally this will improve your "drive" through the air dryer section. Just remember to put it back! By the way. The brushes look amazing through the sun roof

quote:There is also touchless automatic car washes and they do just a good of job or better so you do not have to revome the antena, plus I do not think it is going to move anyways...You are right, but it all depends on the particular car wash machinery (and there is quite a variety out there). Than tuchless are known for sending high velocity water jets which carry all the road dirt and whatever you have stuck to your car in winter and this scratches the paint a bit. Feels like sandblasting to me. Additionally I do not like high pressure water on my car in winter as it penetrates every gap quite deeply. Great on locks! Freezes them nicely. The problems I noticed though is firstly the fact that the antena gets abused and secondly it is this sudden drop of the air nozzle "thing" when it passes the antena and hits the roof. Ouch, it hurts!

quote:Wash the car yourself then, if that is the case, if the car is soaped and rinsed throughly, you have to take the time, then you are ok. Precisely! Plus I find washing the car quite relaxing. Helps to do regular overall checkup too! The only problem is the winter. I hate leaving the salt on my car for any prolonged period of time specially on the undercarriage, so in winter we are sentenced to car wash palces.

I have always been a big fan of the auto car washes with brushes until I forgot to unscrew the antenna on my Cavalier and the sunshine antenna ball got hung in a brush and ripped it clean off. Boy did I feel stupid!!!!!! Now I am a big fan of the touchless automatic carwash. It does a good job in Tennessee because we don't get the salt grime here like our Northern friends. Plus--the one by my house takes Visa--so I don't even have to remember to take change!!! Beware of antenna Balls. I think they are Evil.....

Washing it yourself would be the best choice but unfortunately not all of us have the time for it so we need to take it to a carwash. I usually take it to a 100% softcloth carwash where the workers are the one who scrub it down with soap and not a machine so it comes out pretty good but the only downside is the price(USD $14.95+tip) but that's ok since I only wash it maybe once every 2 weeks maybe even longer depending on how it holds up.

quote:Well, it doesnt always work when you live on a gravel road and drive a lot of side road and highways. The vibe gets washed every other day it seems, one reason why my choice was the two-tone. That sucks

I used to work at a car wash. At first it was 'brushless'. I saw an antenna get pulled off a car and caught in the works. Put a bunch of dents down 2 cars before we realized it. They later changed to 'touchless'. We had the paint totally blown off a quater panel. The girl just had it painted a week before. I've seen a lot of things happen at the car wash which makes me leary of bringing my Vibe to one. I have been washing it myself but it is getting too cold. There's a 100 % hand wash car wash by my job which I will be visiting soon to see what the prices are.

The touchless car washes I have used were useless in the winter. When it was done, it just looked like the car was rinsed off, not cleaned. Lots of salt residue remained. I have a favorite local car wash that uses only soft cloth on its brushes. No problems so far with taking my Vibe through. I didn't even bother to remove the antenna. No problems there, either. I also prefer to wash the car myself every chance I get, but in the winter it isn't always possible. I had my Grand Prix for 5 years and never took it to a car wash, always did everything myself by hand. The paint looked as good the day I traded it in as when I bought it.

The older touchless car washes are useless, I agree with you there. The new ones that are popping up in my area, they use LaserWash-brand equipment, do an amazing job, in my opinion. They have the underspray as well which cleans out all the salt and debris from under the vehicle.

I'm always using touchless car wash. I went in a brush car wash one (not with my Vibe) and it did lot of scratches on the clear.quote:Only thing I don't like is the fan/heater when you exit....the wind is so strong that the rear wiper goes flying everywhere...and I am always afraid that it will get damaged somehow!I know. Last time I went to the touchless car wash, I had to get out my car to put back the rear wiper. It was at 90 degres!!!!

i find that the Esoo touchless car washes do the best job. cost is huge though.... like 9 bucks for the protection wash

Usually, I take basic car wash in summer and medium or super in winter cause they wash under the car and can remove all the calcium stock under my car.

quote:The Ultramar carwash close to my place has an under washing cycle on the regular washesThe new Esso touchless carwash close to my place do the same on the basic cycle for 4.99 $ + tax with a 25 liters fill up.And it is very fine!

I just clean mine myself. I actually like to do it. It gives a sense of accomplishment and I get to check my car over thoroughly for any problems. If I have to go somewhere to clean it I would go to one of those do-it-yourself spray and wash places. That way it doesn't get any scratches, dents, or dings.

quote:The older touchless car washes are useless, I agree with you there. The new ones that are popping up in my area, they use LaserWash-brand equipment, do an amazing job, in my opinion. They have the underspray as well which cleans out all the salt and debris from under the vehicle.I went to the touchless car wash this afternoon, and I found that the one I prefer is a LaserWash like you said. There is more information about this: http://www.pdqinc.com/laserwash-4000/splash.shtml

Never went to any touchless carwash yet but I can tell you that regular old-system with brush carwash are the worst thing for any paint. I had been working in a carwash as student-summer-job (long long time ago) and I know that. Washing with recycled water many months... the only fresh water was on rince cycle! Torture for a new car, for any car. I usually go to those with hand gun washing during winter otherwise I do it myself, right here with "Sponge Bob"

Go to the Esso touchless carwash near the Galeries de la Capitale and I'm sure you won't regret.Very nice job on a car!!! I went there one time with my last car.

quote:would that be Square Pants Sponge Bob?Of course... my kids watching Sponge Bob Square Pants all the time...

quote:The brushes look amazing through the sun roof I love watching the wash through the sunroof, especially when the soap and rinse spray on the glass.

I just leave mine dirty!! Pray that a Indian summer day falls on the weekend. I always vacuum the inside though, I like to keep the interior nice and clean.

i only do it the right way....by hand at home. i stick the vibe on ramps and get underneath with a nice 5hp pressure washer and blast away the junk. then a thorough hand wash followed by a full detailing with a chamois leather...including the door jams and seams around the rear hatch and the hood...then a good vaccuming inside and a run down the dash w/ the chamois....nothin quite like it!!!full carnuba handwax before winter and then before summer.its a beautiful thing

I only go to the spray washes to blow all the junk off of my car during the winter. There is also a touchless car wash near me that has an underbody blast as well. I will not take my car through one of the automatic car washes. They never get it as clean as I like and when they dry your car, they are taking all the dirt that the car wash didn't get off of the previous ten cars and rubbing it all over yours. Just not a good idea if you want to keep your Vibe's paint looking good over the years.And definately do a wax job by hand before summer and winter.

I took my Vibe to an automatic car wash Tuesday, and forgot to take the antenna off. I was in a near panic as I watched it start through the brushes and those big strips of what looks like carpet hanging down from above.Panic was unnecessary as it turned out. No damage at all. In the future, though, I'm still taking the antenna off just to be safe. - Earl

What do you mean?? Did the press accuse him for not being hetrosexual or something?? I think the guy has made a Killing with spongebob squarepants!!!

My next investment is to get one of those Kraco Pressure washers...I also do it most of the time like you, at home a t the End of my work week....unless its like -25 below 0 or over that limit then I wil wait or use the Ultramar touchless pressure wash system 2 times since I put my car on the road....just like the other guy's mentioned..

I just saw you posted something thats why I asked..I heard of something in the press.around fall time. I just wanted to confirm.

Tried the touchless auto for the first time today...and WOW was I impressed. It's brand new, they just put it in...and I'm going to take back the telescoping arm car washer thingy I bought today because I don't need it anymore if I can just do this every now and then. It really did dry "spot free" too. And it takes check cards...a big plus for someone who almost never has cash. No moonroof leaks, no problems...but that was the coolest thing I have ever seen.

Our local Esso "touchless" really is! It doesn't touch the car or the dirt....

I hear ya, MadBill. The touchless carwashes around me are pretty useless, too. Still nothing I have found beats the old-fashioned hand wash at home in the driveway.