Hi there, I am curious as to how everyone washes their cars in winter? I’ve used a few different places like a hand car wash which is great but it’s not cheap. What do you guys think of Holiday gas station car washes ? Pros & cons? They have buy one month get one month free. I’ve also been researching a number of waterless car wash products where you basically spray it on and wipe it off and you’re done. McGuiars has one I was thinking of trying. This seems a little to good to be true , and I’m wondering how one of these products would hold up to the weather we have here in winter. Love to hear your thoughts & what you are all doing. Thanks Craig
I have had the car pass to holiday for years, but I only go to the one in White Bear off of 35E and Hwy 96. It's a soft touch but it only touches your car once and doesn't have those stupid brushes. It also has a underbody wash too. I haven't had any problems doing it this way. I don't have any experience with waterless car wash products but I'm guessing using those wouldn't get enough of a deep clean wash you need for the winter. And you wouldn't get the underbody with those which is needed during the winter.
Depends on how much you care about your paint finish. Waterless/rinseless wash is fine. You still need to use the 2 bucket wash method unless you want to just smear grime around and swirl up your paint. IMO you're better off spraying 10-20 pumps of quick detailer into your normal car wash shampoo bucket as it's pretty much the same thing. Biggest upside to this method is skipping the rinse cycle or replacing it with a really mild mit rinse. Wash mit and bucket is the only way to get all the grime off the paint and I trust it over water pressure high enough to strip off grime without taking paint with it. In general, the less you can physically touch painted/clearcoated (including drying) surfaces, the better the finish will look. All that said, on our current DDs one gets holiday touchless washes and annual polishing and the other gets weekly $2.25 self service washes with the very occasional mit pre-wash. Both of them are ceramic coating and I don't care about swirls on either. Past DD's that I actually cared more about got a much more involved car care protocol.
Just signed up for the Holiday unlimited wash pass last week, the middle choice for $29.99 per month. I will only use their touch-free locations...closest one to me is 4.5 miles away. Currently there is signage up where new customers get a month free when enrolling.
Waterless washes are not for soiled/salted cars. Unless you don't care about scratches I wouldn't use it. It has it's place but not for dirty cars. If you want to get salt crust and dirt off in the winter you're better off just pressure rinsing at the coin-op. Also I've never had bad experiences at the touch less car washes around the gas stations other than it diminishing the paint sealant that's been applied to the car. If you still want to try the waterless/rinseless wash products I detail on the side in the warmer months and have tons laying around (Ultima Waterless Wash+). Feel free to come pick up a bottle to see if you like it before going out to buy it.
Pretty sure that i am going to go with the Holiday unlimited wash this winter. I was asked what i would like for my birthday...that is what i asked for.
Kwik Trip has a pretty good touchless wash as well. I like them because they also have the auto air pumps there for our finicky TPMS.
Touch less washes are the way to go. I go to the one in Champlin off 169 by McDonald's. It does a decent job. Do not ever go to one of the washes that has the rails that scoot your car along. I had my rims scratched by a Holiday wash that had the rails.
The newish hyvee in (technically) Lakeville off pilot knob has a touchless wash that doesn't have wheel rails. It will start with a prewash soap spray followed by a good 15-30 second delay for the soap to soak a bit. Seems to work better than the other touchless washes I've been to. Cons, undercarriage wash and drying suck.. Also, why can't the designers of the car wash put a decline on the exit? Why do us stick folk need to burn up a clutch when we want a decently dry car.
Ive always really like Kwik Trips car was, and its not too expensive either. Also Buff 'N' Glo in Buffalo has an automatic washer that works pretty well, but its a little bit more expensive.
