Picked up our Avalanche painted F250 today. We have a subscription to a local Tommy's car wash which we use fairly frequently for our F150. The salesman advised me not to use the type of wash with the spinning brushes on the new truck as it will create swirl marks in the Avalanche paint. The F150 is star white and he said it's fine with that paint. He suggested a brushless car wash which the only kind I can think of is the ones with wands and eats a bunch of quarters. It sounds like good advice but wondering if anyone has any info to back up the salesman's claim. I would think it should be clear coated like all the paints so not sure why it would be any different from any other color. Or, maybe it isn't clear coated and that's why extra care is needed. Not sure. I won't give away my age but I'm a Vietnam vet with some disabilities and hand washing just isn't anything I care to do. I used to but age has creeped up on me.

On edit: Found this on Google. Ford's Avalanche is a base coat that is applied with a clear coat. The color itself, when sprayed without a clear coat has a flat finish that requires a 2K clear coat on top for gloss and protection. Also found this on the 2k clear coat: Clinically cures into a very hard and durable finish that is resistant to scratches, chemicals and UV rays.

 

White is very hard to find swirl marks on. Darker paints will show them. I have Ruby Red on my F150 and have gone through those type of car washes and I have swirl marks if you look really close. From a distance you can't tell. It comes down to how much you care to see them or not.

 

Think about it - the car with all the road grit that just went thought ahead of you left that grit behind embedded in the brushes that are now grinding away at you brand new truck. If you are asking the question, I think you know the answer, but car washes with brushes will damage the finish to at least some degree. Some colors will hide the damage better, but all are incurring some amount of damage.

 

Have you considered having ceramic coating applied, properly done. It's expensive but well worth it in my opinion.

 

I haven't. I'll have to research it.

 

Good morning and happy Sunday

I had my new '26 F250 in avalanche ceramic coated as soon as I picked it up from the dealer - it already had some imperfections in the paint, which were corrected before the coating was applied.

Picking her up from the shop:


Well worth it, and I won't be taking the truck through the local brush wash either.

My advice (also given by the ceramic shop) is find a trustworthy place you can take your truck for a good hand wash. If you're not up for doing it yourself, find someone who will take care of your new investment properly. The place I go charges $45 for full interior and exterior wash, which is usually followed by a $10 tip.

Adding to what the previous poster said - even with the ceramic coat, those brush washes will cause some damage. Whether or not that damage is worth the convenience of the drive-through refresh is up to you.

In any case I highly recommend the ceramic, which will help protect the paint no matter how you end up keeping it clean...

 

You will get a variety of responses to your question, so here is my take. Shortly after buying my F-250, it needed a wash and I took it to the car wash that I use when I don't feel like handwashing, or during the winter. The car wash uses spinning "special material" brushes (not sure what that is and don't relly care), sprays on some soap, rinses with recycled water and uses a "huricane" wind to dry at the end of the tunnel. I think I used the car wash about three times before I took the truck to my regular detailer for the semi-annual in and outside cleaning that all my vehicles receive. After they finished their wax and buff, I asked the detailer if he noticed any "swirl" other indications of car wash effects as cited by many, when offering their reasons not to use a car wash. The truck was sitting in a detail bay with a "special" light that they use to view the paint (whatever that is). Any way, he pointed out "swirls" that he said were consistent with car wash brushes. IF.... he hadn't pointed out the "swirls", I would never have noticed or seen them!!!! (ps my truck is Iconic silver) Anyway, from a few feet away, my paint looks "show room" new. I use my my truck, it is not a garage queen although it's always garaged. I am meticulus in maintenance and cleaning, and that includes washing when it gets dirty. Over the years, I've had "toys" that lived under a cover, in my garage, and would never see anything other than a hand wash, my truck isn't one of those. Your truck, your dough and your time, your not likely to find a consensus here.

 

Will create swirls on any paint nothing a good polish here and there won't fix

 

I go through those with my antimatter blue all the time, once a week at least, sometimes as many as 3 - 4 times a week. This paint would show things, and it isn't showing anything. No ceramic coating or anything like that on it. I get the idea about the dirt from the previous vehicle, but the brushes material is slick and doesn't hold on to things. Everything is flung off from the spinning. The concern is reasonable and I had a similar one but after a year and somewhere between 100 and 200 washes it hasn't proven to be an issue. At least, not at the brushed wash that I go through.

 

I use Tommy's all the time. No issues. By me the Tommy's also does interior on a monthly membership basis. Truck stays spotless.

 

I have some paint protection thing the dealership has done when they first get their cars in. It has an annual service where they clay bar and reapply whatever coating they do. I asked about car washes with brushes and they said to check with the car wash to see when they do cleaning cycle on the brushes. They said try not to go in the middle of day after a bunch of cars covered in dirt, salt, or other road junk have gone through and all that junk is now embedded in the brushes. Ask the car wash if they have a cleaning cycle they run to clean out the brushes. Our local car wash runs a cleaning cycle first thing in the morning, so I take my truck through first thing in the morning especially in the winter with all the salt and sand on the roads. Like others have said, the swirls marks may be there, but they are very hard to see. If you are planning to take your truck to a car show where someone is going to look at the paint really really close, then stay away from car washes with brushes.

 

I said brushes in my post but the spinning things at Tommy's looks more like some kind of cloth material. Not brushes with plastic bristles.

 

Here ya go ^^ if it was a major issue, it would show up on this truck. These washes are literally popping up everywhere; they pay good and most of them are well maintained. If they had a widespread issue of ruining paint, it would be well known. I'd worry about something else. I don't have a subscription to any car washes but I stroll thru them about once a month. The one thing I look for is, do they have a track or belt that moves the truck down the line. I prefer the belt as it won't mar the wheels. But everything else is fine.

 

I've been going thru those automatic car washes for 15 years. I work construction and my truck is often coated in dust at the end of the day. I've been fortunate that there are Duck Duck Go car washes near most of the jobs I've had over the past 10 years and I just run thru the car wash after work and let it air dry on the way home. Probably at least once a week and often twice a week. Yeah, there are probably some swirls. But my trucks look so much better than being covered in mud, dust etc.