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As long as the Z06 tires are not as wide as 13.75 inches in I can fit it in.
I've measured my Zs rear tires & when sitting on the garage floor they measure 13" of contact on the floor & bulge out slightly above the "contact patch". The other problem some have spoken of on here is the "wheels" sometimes contact the "tracks" & get scuffed up if the car wash uses guide tracks. One last thing about the touchless car washes, I have also used them in a pinch on the road but seriously they don't remove all the dirt/grit especially down low & I WOULD NOT use anything to wipe it down dry & push that into my paint. Just have to haul *** & blow it off! JMHO
Last edited by madrob2020; 03-24-2018 at 04:39 PM.
Appreciate the comments. From all and my next question is if I put Xpel or some sort of clear coating would that effect that coating. Thanks again
Most say the Xpel film does give some protection from "swirlies", I have not used it. I did have mine paint corrected & CQuartz coated by a professional Car Pro dealer. It does not protect paint from swirlies according to the "PROs" since it is very thin & not self-repairing, to any extent, like Xpel.
Life is to short to spend all my time wiping on my car. I've used car washes for all my cars for decades and they all look great. The vette gets detailed with polish and zaino every 3-4 months.
I'd put my car's finish up against anyone. And it's a daily driver.
As LimeRay said much of those harsh chemicals will quickly break down/remove your wax. Also any of those large spinning brushes WILL scratch your finish & will only get worse over time. They pick up dirt/grit from previous car (off road truck) & some of it remains to mess up your fine paint. NEVER seen any type of car wash that removes all road grime & then you are drying, pushing that around on the car. Use a WHITE towel to see what I mean. Just because owners of other high end luxury cars use them doesn't mean it's ok (those cars have dumb *** owners too). By the way a lot of us would crap our shorts letting dealers detail our cars. They typically have their min. wage guys grab the nearest bucket, grab a dirty rag, & proceed to rub the hell out of the car going in large circles butchering your paint. Then use an old towel that's been used several times w/o washing & now rub hell out of the finish again with dirt trapped in the fibers. Several folks here have commented they put large notes on windshield when getting service done saying DO NOT WASH AFTER SERVICE. Your car wash, your beautiful Vette, your choice. There are much better/safer ways to wash our cars. Just go to any reputable auto cleaning supply web site to peruse the good stuff (Chemical Guys/Griots/etc.). Check out our How To tips at top of our own forum headers. Congrats tho on your new car!
Thanks for the comments and agree n getting a piece of paper when service work is done DO NOT WASH CAR
If the brushes don't create swirl marks and scratches, the final wipe-down by the attendants with the sandy rags they used on the last 20 cars certainly will.
The dealer offers each time to wash and I decline. They even told me that changing tires requires a lot of glop to lube the rims, I tell them it's due for a bath soon anyway, I'll deal with it.
Like others said, the brushes or floppy "rags" in an automatic wash have the reputation of inevitably scratching your paint, every time we sent one of our tin cars through an automatic wash it suffered.
OTOH, we have been using touchless car washes on our Corvettes for 17 years/200k+ miles total, never got any scratches from them and the wax may have disappeared a bit quicker but not much. Probably safer for your paint than hand washing with a bucket and a whole lot quicker/easier.
I use one all the time, at least 1 or 2 times a month during the winter and maybe once or twice during the summer..
We have one in small town Lawton, OK that has a belt that the car rides on, it can take vehicles with 40 inch rear tires.. LOL
I detail my car spring and fall doing some paint correction and using 2 coats of Rejex to top it off, looks better than 95% of other cars on the street..
Now I can not compete with an 11 month a year garage stored corvette but then I really do not own a corvette to store it that long, My hats off to those up north that have no choice 5 months a year, I don't know if I could handle not driving my girl for that long...
Picture from today Mar 25th 2018, at least 10 car washes.. (several different shots and exposures from the front left fender) To be completely honest there are some micro scratches that can not be seen in the pictures but nothing that won't be polished out in a couple weeks
Last edited by cowboy casey; 03-25-2018 at 10:53 AM.
I take mine though a car wash all the time, it is a professional car wash touchless but they cannot take a Z or GS due to the tire width (or a lowered car) due to the track. It is great for winter washes they do a great job and hand dry after the wash.
Last year I went on a tour of Yellowstone with 15 other Vettes. It took me two or three days to just get to the rendezvous point from Seattle. I use a Novistretch for long trips and the thing was just clogged with all manner of bugs--REALLY bad. But all the other Vettes were pristine and their owners were using those "Finish" spray bottles on them. I was quite embarrassed at the state of my car that I resolved, "Never again!" One of the guys turned me on to the touchless system, so now I scope out the nearest one whenever I'm on a trip so I can show up as clean as all those other guys.
That stuff is great. A friend of mine (he has a '69 Camaro he bought new) turned me on to the waterless spray last year. Now admittedly you don't want to use that when a car if grimey dirty, but if just a coat of dust, or some water spots it's the best thing since sliced bread. I used to carry a canvas bag with all types of washing items with me on road trips, but not anymore. If it's bad bad I'll find a car wash without the brushes, but for a quickie you can't beat the waterless wash. Quick and easy with a dynamite shine.
I was at the dealership yesterday as ordering my car in a few months and saw a tag in the car saying not to take though a car wash, that said I had just built a brand new state of the art car wash with all the bells and whistles in it and have taken my C5 in it (know tires are smaller) and I have customers with Lamborghini's, Bentleys, etc in my wash. So my question is that will it be ok in it or is there anything on the 2019 Z06 that would effect getting it done in my wash as I have clearance of 13.75 wheel base for tires. Anyway does anyone else wash there car in a tunnel and know hand wash is better but owning the wash and easier to just run it though when I want. Thanks
That looks like one of those Sonny’s brand tunnels...I would never take my Corvette through one of them. The Sonny's cloth holds grit terribly. It "will" scratch your cars finish badly. Also depending upon the chemicals used it can dry out the paint finish. And those Sonny’s conveyors “will” scratch the wheels.
Bottom line NO WAY!!!
Last edited by 2cnd Chance; 03-25-2018 at 04:46 PM.
I have always used the car washes with the hand wand. I use nothing but the wax cycle which keeps the hard water spots to a minimum and wipe it down with a towel when done.
1) Black cars that I dust only, or waterless wash, that never see water
2) Cars that I carefully hand wash
3) Cars that I drive through the car wash twice a week
I live in Seattle, so figure 100 drive through washes a year. I've had my black Range Rover for 10 years almost, so that's perhaps A THOUSAND drive through washes. BUt even if I'm exaggerating the math, it's several hundred times for sure.
And each spring and fall it buffs out like new.
My C7Z is in the "no water" group but my C6Z was a car-wash-tunnel car and the paint was still flawless when I traded it (and got $40K against my C7, no less).
So while I'm also one of those people that would never take my "good" car through a drive-through car wash, I think the worries are vastly overstated. At least my Rover still looks good... once polished, there are no swirls and I sure haven't gone through the clear or anything yet!
FWIW I use one with brushes, not a touchless one. Chemicals are less harsh in theory.
1) Black cars that I dust only, or waterless wash, that never see water
2) Cars that I carefully hand wash
3) Cars that I drive through the car wash twice a week
I live in Seattle, so figure 100 drive through washes a year. I've had my black Range Rover for 10 years almost, so that's perhaps A THOUSAND drive through washes. BUt even if I'm exaggerating the math, it's several hundred times for sure.
And each spring and fall it buffs out like new.
My C7Z is in the "no water" group but my C6Z was a car-wash-tunnel car and the paint was still flawless when I traded it (and got $40K against my C7, no less).
So while I'm also one of those people that would never take my "good" car through a drive-through car wash, I think the worries are vastly overstated. At least my Rover still looks good... once polished, there are no swirls and I sure haven't gone through the clear or anything yet!
FWIW I use one with brushes, not a touchless one. Chemicals are less harsh in theory.
I hope you are successful with your automatic wash. I would not wash my C7 in an auto car wash if it was free. Part of owning a corvette is to enjoy and wax / polish it. It helps me release my stresses of the day or week. The finish has been corrected and sealed with Xpel and Cquartz coating. The rotating brushes and strong chemicals would not be good for the shine or finish. Maybe Corvette owners like to work on the car.
03-24-2018, 04:37 PM
JMHO
