Do they exist? I soooooo many petro points and finally drive a car that is high enough to go through a regular car wash. I cant bring myself to go though a "touch" carwash, and it seems that all the Petro Canadas near me are touch.
So I ask, does Petro have any touchless car washes? Id much rather get all my washes free over the winter as oppposed to paying like $12 a week for one
"Louis, you better watch who you call a child. Because if I'm a child,
that makes you a pedafile, and I'm not gonna stand here and argue
with a pervert" -- Peter Griffin
Everything at Petro I've seen is "soft touch" up here. I take my family cruiser througn but nothing else. One issue being the brushes but the other is the track scratching the alloy rims if you rub against the guides.
All of the ones i've ever seen have been with brushes...
Its some kind of weird foam brush they use, not like other ones. I prefer the Esso one though.
never really liked automatic car washes and i still dont understand how you wash a car without touching it lol you cant it comes out with dirt on it still
Ive been usign the Sonoco one near my house so far this year. It is touchless and has no rails. Rails arent a concern at al right now as I have my steelies on for the winer. I would NEVER even go though a car wash in the summer, nevermind one with rails that probably woudlnt be wide enough for my 10inch wide wheels to go though
So the thought here is that theres no such thing as a Petro touchless it sounds like... dammit!
and colby: They dont clean the car too well, but the do get the surface dirt off and give the car a shine for a day or so. Since I can't wash it myself in the winter I would rather have it kind of clean then dirty!
"Louis, you better watch who you call a child. Because if I'm a child,
that makes you a pedafile, and I'm not gonna stand here and argue
with a pervert" -- Peter Griffin
As a former gas station attendant, here's the lo-down:
Petro has just recently introduced touchless washes within the last five years. I believe Shell is the original chain who pushed the touchless scheme about 8-9 years ago. Back then, the touchless washes were almost useless except if you were washing your sunday cruiser to rid of that minute bit of dust on the hood.
Things are a bit different now, as touchless, and now, "hybrid" washes are surpassing old-style brush-only washers. When you put a solution of (what nowadays is typically) hydrochloric, bromic, and/or sulfuric acids, you can begin to get a picture as to how touchless washes clean so well nowadays. It's also the reason why nothing other then a factory-painted (not even collision-repaired) vehicle should enter an automatic car wash.
Hybrids are my preferred style, and they come in two varieties: fixed and mobile. Fixed is just like a rack-style brush, except that you get a 360 ring of extremely pressurized water prior to actually making contact with the foam brushes (more on these in a few). Basically, it eliminates the chances of 'someone else's rocks' scratching you paint by spraying them off before the brushes makes contact. When used in combination with foam brushes that dont trap any large particles of dirt, it makes it as safe as a touchless wash. The mobile hybrid is the same concept, except that the brushes and water jets are on a motorized rail system (exactly like a touchless wash). I believe only one, possibly two prototypes of the mobile hybrid sort exist so far.
Me: Oh hell I just buy one on my Shell fleet card.
--------------------------------------------------------
2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
there is a touchless petro in front of woodbine center...and im not sure about the one at 7 and weston but it might be too.
firemachine: thats great info for sure!!
steve: I never even looked at the one at weson and 7... i work literally at the corner there... I guess i'll check it ou, that woudl be sweet!
"Louis, you better watch who you call a child. Because if I'm a child,
that makes you a pedafile, and I'm not gonna stand here and argue
with a pervert" -- Peter Griffin
X 2 The most detailed description of car wash technology I've seen lol... I was gonna mention I used to go through some of those touchless washes years ago with a black daytona I used to own and the wash was brutal (spotty and grime left over). They would actually let you go through twice if you showed them it wasn't washed well. Other then the rail issue, the current Petro foam brush machines have never left a mark on my van and the wash is very good for an auto wash.
Great info....thanks.
Touchless car washes also leave a buildup of chemical with heavy use. I would actually find powder in the nooks and crannies of my car. I assumed it was a corrosive agent, so I gave them up for the most part. They were great for a touchup on my normally hand washed car.
That's typical of a poorly running / non-existent water softener/filtering system. As far as I know, the only item that could do that is the phosphorous used in a few select washes that havent been affected by local anti-pollution laws... Or operators simply not complying with them.
I can't speak for every wash, but even the stuff that found it's way on the floor and walls of our car wash never dried at all, even a year later still had that "slippery" texture.
--------------------------------------------------------
2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
why not just go to the coin wash?
firemachine69 wrote:That's typical of a poorly running / non-existent water softener/filtering system. As far as I know, the only item that could do that is the phosphorous used in a few select washes that havent been affected by local anti-pollution laws... Or operators simply not complying with them.
I can't speak for every wash, but even the stuff that found it's way on the floor and walls of our car wash never dried at all, even a year later still had that "slippery" texture.
I was using an Esso touchless on Derry. The buildup was lime green and crusty.
I have been told time and again that many coin car washes use recycled water. I don't knowif it's true or not, but the though of washing my car in liquid salt really bothers me. IN any case, I use them all the time in winter.
Yes, many places are actually required by bylaws to recycle the water. It's actually cleaner then tap water when it comes out, especially when it's hooked up to a water softener.
By the way, a water softener uses "salt", but not the kind you put on your fries or the type you spread on your driveway. It's the exact same type as a home tap-water softener... Just super-sized.
--------------------------------------------------------
2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
firemachine69 wrote:Yes, many places are actually required by bylaws to recycle the water. It's actually cleaner then tap water when it comes out, especially when it's hooked up to a water softener.
By the way, a water softener uses "salt", but not the kind you put on your fries or the type you spread on your driveway. It's the exact same type as a home tap-water softener... Just super-sized.
What I understand you are saying is that no real attempt is made to actually desalinate. Does a water softener actaully remove a considerable amount of salt. It seems to me that any salt content in your water would be harmfull metal. As I recal from chemistry, water can hold a tremendoes amount of salt, even with filtration.
I have always considered car washes the death of any paint job. This attitude certainly may be irrational. I still use them as time and weather don't permit hand washing all the time. I have been known to wash my car by hand in Jan and Feb. My neighbours think im insane.
My parents have a water softener. Every time I go home, I have to carry the damn bags down to the basement.
It removes the minerals that cause the crystalization of minerals - which eventually causes the rust. It aids in the breakdown and effectiveness of the solutions. If it's not present, it can actually cause a "layering" effect where the chemicals bond to the dirt on the vehicle, but don't rinse off.
--------------------------------------------------------
2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
