Z through car washes

Originally Posted by Z057

Hello fellow Z'ed Heads-

I wanted to chime in real quick with my car wash experiences. I drive a 2011 base and I was told by the US Nissan Motor Corp. that automatic car washes were not recommended. I asked, "So the Nissan Motor Corp. is telling me that I cannot take my car through a car wash?" "Yes", was the reply. This had just come off the heels of me purchasing the vehicle and the first time I drove it through a car wash. I was also told by the service personnel at Nissan service dept. not to take it through a car wash with a undercarriage wash. It seemed that the undercarriage wash was shorting out electrical somewhere and I would lose all my gauges. The car would still run, but if I turned it off, then I could never restart the vehicle. This ended up happening twice and each time it was towed back to the dealership to have the ecu reset. Eventually we found a grommet on the firewall passenger side that was being blown out by the pressure of the undercarriage wash. They popped it back in and so far so good. So regardless to say, I have heeded these warnings and I hand wash my car now. The other day a pack of unruly, wild birds flew over my car and desecrated it with a shower of...well you know. I was scrambling and nowhere near my house, so I pulled in to a car wash and asked that the undercarriage wash be turned off. They obliged my seeing my awful predicament. This would get me by until this weekend when I have a hand wax scheduled. I went through and everything was fine. I do think there is another issue with automatic car washes. Our sheet metal do not take the air dryers well. I could hear the roof waving with the dryers movement...not good!! I only use them now if I absolutely have to....just my 2cents...

Originally Posted by happytheman

Carry QD an a microfiber cloth with you. That should take care of the dreaded bird onslaughts.

I have yet to even consider taking her through a wash of any kind.