How is the Paint Quality of the cars?

[Lucken]

No, it's the commercial washes which use those giant cloth curtains that will scratch you car. A coating and wrap can only do so much against that stuff

I’ve been using those washes for many years and never once got a scratch. I see many pricey cars going through them with no issues. Frankly I never understood the paralyzing fear that some seem to have regarding these washes. It’s far preferable to get your car washed, living in an area prone to snow & road salt, then not getting it washed. I use them all year round since I hate hand washing a car. I don’t mind waxing, but washing not so much.

I’ve always believed if you keep a good coat of wax on the car you should never get scratches from a good commercial car wash. In fact they’d have a hard time staying in business if scratches were common. Word of mouth is a pretty powerful incentive to use decent equipment.

 

[CLTGT]

Yep, I have a garage full of Griott's products I use on my M5 and my Mustangs. The Lucid will get the same treatment.

 

[hmp10]

I’ve been using those washes for many years and never once got a scratch.

I agree that the worries may be overblown. I've read as much as I can find from credible sources on the topic, and the age of the carwash and its equipment and practices seems to have something to do with the risk. So, too, does the color of the car, with lighter colors less likely to show fine scratches.

The better commercial carwashes have staff who rinse mud and heavy dirt off cars before they enter the mechanical wash area. They also use filtered water that constantly floods the brushes to flush away any dirt they may pick up off the cars. Such steps significantly reduce the risk of damage. The brushes also generally sweep the car in a linear motion instead of a circular motion, thus reducing the risks of swirls that are more visible than fine linear scratches.

However, there is still the issue of the high pH of the detergents these car washes use to break up oil surfactants on the cars. A ceramic coating definitely produces an advantage here over a factory clear coat -- probably not significant over a few car washes, but certainly over a period of years.

Frankly, I just avoid all this worry by having a professional with foaming and other proper equipment come to the house to wash our sedans.

 

[PhotoEye]

The scratches are often micro lines and swirls you can see when looking at your finish at an angle in the sun. It's pretty much inevitable as grit from prior vehicles adhere to the cleaning and wiping material. It is what it is. It's either OK with you or not, depending upon one's own level of tolerance.

Hand washing is also subject to these swirls and scratches unless the micro fiber clothes and/or sponges are replaced during the washing, itself. After all, it's only a car. If you want a museum piece, garage it forever.

 

[hmp10]

Hand washing is also subject to these swirls and scratches unless the micro fiber clothes and/or sponges are replaced during the washing, itself.

Yep, and it's against these kinds of scratches that a ceramic coating offers at least some protection.

My view is do what you can to add protective coatings, choose a car washing pro or method based on the best information you can muster, and then drive the car, knowing you did the best you could reasonably do and that you'll just have to live with the outlier events.

 

[Lucken]

The better commercial carwashes have staff who rinse mud and heavy dirt off cars before they enter the mechanical wash area. They also use filtered water that constantly floods the brushes to flush away any dirt they may pick up off the cars. Such steps significantly reduce the risk of damage. The brushes also generally sweep the car in a linear motion instead of a circular motion, thus reducing the risks of swirls that are more visible than fine linear scratches.

You’ve described the car washes in my area to a T.

 

[Lucken]

The scratches are often micro lines and swirls you can see when looking at your finish at an angle in the sun. It's pretty much inevitable as grit from prior vehicles adhere to the cleaning and wiping material. It is what it is. It's either OK with you or not, depending upon one's own level of tolerance.

Hand washing is also subject to these swirls and scratches unless the micro fiber clothes and/or sponges are replaced during the washing, itself. After all, it's only a car. If you want a museum piece, garage it forever.

And again, I’ve found a simple coat of wax together with a good car wash, mitigates swirls or light scratches. I’m pretty anal about this and have looked for this kind of damage in the sun. I can’t attest for car washes with poor equipment or attendants that don’t properly pretreat the cars entering the wash.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

I was a big user of Zymöl when I had my Porsches.

 

[pam4_AGT]

For folks in the Bay Area, could you please recommend a couple of good car wash places that you take your expensive cars to?