Someone gave my husband a gift card to Auto Magic Car Wash. Is it good for your car to use a facility like this? I've heard that a mild soap is considered best. How do we know what these places use?

The best car washes are where you get out of your car and use their wands. There is virtually no risk of damaging your car. I believe its a myth that car wash soap can damage your paint. There are better waxes out there however.

Be wary of the washes where you sit inside the vehicle and their brushes do all the work. If a dirty truck went before you, the remaining debris WILL scratch your vehicle.

This place isn't really either of the ones you described. You get out of the car but it runs through the wash, rinse, wax car wash on a track. There are attendants along the way doing whatever they do as it passed them by. When it get done, the attendants dry it off and polish it up. They vacuum the inside before the wash if I remember correctly.

Does this sound like a bad place to get the car washed?

Hmmm...sound like a premium car wash actually.

Don't think I could afford that one. I'll stick with my bucket of dish-soap and a hose....ROFL !

Pongo, this is the kind of car wash that he has a gift card for. Since you say it is a premium kind of car wash, I guess it would be a great place to take the new car. Thanks a lot for your help! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I think you might check with the bbb and do a search online. Usually the premium washes are careful, but there is always a risk, and you don't want to damage a new paintjob for a freebie wash.

Pongo..I wasn’t aware of that! What I think is far worse is parking ..where people swing open their doors and nick your car. I have a 2006 Toyota and it is nicked on both sides!

I almost got stuck in a car wash once. Seriously...I almost got out to check what the hec was going on because I was stuck in there and nothing was moving for a few minutes...thankfully I didn’t, or I would have gotten my face scrubbed..LOL! hmmm tasty soap..NOT!

I kind of hate driving into the boot thingie. It always freaks my wife out because she worries the car will get hurt.

Thank you for all of your replies. I guess I'm similar to your wife Hoosier because I'm also worrying that our new car will get hurt.

I also hate trying to drive into that "boot thingie" in the car wash. I have a hard time getting the car in just the right spot.

She basically clenches the seatbelt and squints when I'm trying to drive onto it. It kind of rubs the bottom if I hit it wrong.

I'll admit to using the drive throughs but only when I'm trying to get a lot of mud and slush off
the truck. Laziness on my part and I know it. I've always heard it wasn't good for the finish.

The best bet is to do it yourself, at home, if you have the space and a hose. It sucks doing it yourself, but can eliminate bumps and bruises...on another note, I never had a problem at drive-thru's.

During mud season, there's no way I'm doing it at home! LOL. I want quick, fast and leave the mud somewhere not in the driveway!

True...it definately sucks in the winter doing it yourself, but it is the only way to ensure you are not damaging or letting others accidently put some damage on the car.

There's a limit about how much I tend to care what happens. I take care of my cars/trucks, but in the long
run, they are there for me not vice versa. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/460.gif)

I agree with Vickie, I love my car but it's not human. It will eventually be replaced and I'm not going to go all spastic worrying about the soap brand or water temperature (Yes, i know people who worry about the temperature!). It's just a tool. An expensive tool, but a tool.

Everybody has there own way to do things I guess and whatever works for them is probably best for them. I always try to bribe my kids o help me wash the cars lol

People worry about the water temperature????? Wow ...fat good that would do around here where it's frigid in winter and hot in the summer.