Originally Posted by Mistro

I know i gotta start spending more time detailing my car. It turns 1 year on the 25th but all this time ive been using "touchless" automatic car washes. I just made sure that i always took the "ultimate" wash (highest .. whatever it may be called) one. The carwashes i went through had clear coat pretectents but no wax (obviously). However the car looks great after one year. Although it has minor impurities that only a clay bar can remove and some water spots occasionally after each wash on the back bumper (hard to reach spot for most dryers) it looks pretty good: (yes i know the headlights aren't cleared )



and this is with no wax or polish and just automatic touchless washes since it came out of the dealer (quite dirty when it did i may add).

Oh and no swirl marks either and the paint dosn't look sand blasted ... yet

I should start washing it by hand but i don't have the facilities to do it. I live in an apartment and most of my freinds that have houses are water freaks and don't even turn on the taps unless they absolutely positively have to. So theres no way im going to be able to wash it there. And those self server park and clean car washes are ok but the soap brushes are usually filled with dirt that can scratch and theres no way i could do a full auto detail there with all those people waiting