i dont trust those types of car washes so only go to the touchless washes.

 

I remember going to a fancy touchless car wash that had the wands that whisked around the car to clean it with high pressure soap and water.

For the guy in front of me, it went hairwire and those spinning magic wands beat the crap out of his car. I decided not to go through.

 

Never had that issue at Mister Car Wash Express after probably 50 washes in 1 year. That damage looks like the kind you can buff out by hand with the right polishes.

 

What did the car wash management have to say about the damage? If it was my car I would have made such a stink that they would have lost all of their customers for the day, possibly longer.

There are two problems with the touchless car wash, it leaves a film of dirt and seals it in with polish, and the high-pressure water gets in places where it can do damage in the long run (i.e. the tail light lenses). The one near me with the spray wands going around the car were bumping the front license plate (the Volt has a long nose). Good thing they were heavily padded with foam and did not do any damage.

 

The one i go to doesn't have wands,,,no such issues, its cheap and I then towel dry it and polish it by hand at home. A wash should be to get the grime off not polish your car. Now that spring is here in force ill be washing it at home too.

 

I don't like those spinning car washes as I always worry the fabric has various junk stuck on them, especially in the winter. That might be what happened to you. It might buff out as an earlier poster said.

Personally, I either wash it myself or go to a touchless car wash (though touchless to me simply means moving the dirt around so it's equally distributed ).

 

Sorry to hear that HOUSTONVOLTAGE. To my knowledge no one else has reported car wash damage similar to the kind your Volt had. I would definitely try your approach and fold you mirrors next time you take it through. Hopefully this will prevent any further damage.

 

I went through an automatic car wash once. It did an awful job at drying the rear of the car. So I just ended up washing it again myself when I got home. It's the last time I'm using an automatic wash. If I pay for a wash, it's going to be a hand wash. I hear you should avoid automatic car washes during the first year of ownership anyway. To let the paint harden.

 

That's ugly and though the picture isn't that great it doesn't look like anything that is going to buff out. The car wash will likely try to claim that they don't accept liabilities for damage and that there's an assumed waiver, but that's a bunch of crap and you should lead off with that conversation. If their system was a risk to your car, they should push the mirrors in themselves. I'd tell them to make it good to you or just file a suit in your local small claims court.