[pberthoty]

I've taken my Sonata (2013-2021) and my Tucson since then through a local car wash (Mister Car Wash) and have had a $20/month subscription plan there since 2013 (they have never raised the price in those 10 years). They have 2 washes in the local area and I can use either. I use the car wash once per week, sometimes more than once depending on the weather. They are of the brush type. Sometimes I chamois leather wipe it down (including the inner parts of each door), sometimes not (if I don't have the time. I have not observed any paint damage (or any other damage) in these 10 years of use. I do NOT fold my mirrors in. Yes, as someone else mentioned...putting it into drive again is a little tricky when exiting the car wash. What I do find annoying is the amount of water that gathers at the top of the tailgate that seem to drip for a long time requiring several wipe downs.

Our logal car wash has just changed from Oasis to Whistle and the first month, they are giving a 1/2 price for the first month. Lowest is $20, the highest $30 for the full wash so the first month, I only paid $15 for the highest. They have quite a few in my city and are building more. We are only the 8th largest city in Georgia.
After the wash, I use an air pressure hose to blow the remaining water off, even though they supply towels, windshield cleaning liquid and equipment. They also have high suction hoses to clean out the car.
A full wash at any other place costs from $8 - $10 and if I do it 3 or 4 times a month, it cost me from 30 to $40 a month. Using Whistle is only $20 a month for as many times as I want.

 

[pberthoty]

I'm using voice recognition so excuse some of the bad spelling I don't catch.

 

[Starboy]

This is my first time owning a vehicle with so much technology, sensors, and cameras. I was wondering how everyone on here washes their Tucson.
Do you hand wash it or take it through an automatic car wash? If an automatic car wash, how was your experience, good or bad? Did it mess up any of the sensors or cameras?
I did do a search but did not find much.
Thanks.

I only wash by hand ✋️ My vehicles never go to auto car washes and use a ceramic spray. Also, they are in the garage when not driving 😳. I periodically buff them with a soft rag a few times a week. Can you tell I am retired and don't have much to do.

 

[blnewt]

I've taken my Sonata (2013-2021) and my Tucson since then through a local car wash (Mister Car Wash) and have had a $20/month subscription plan there since 2013 (they have never raised the price in those 10 years). They have 2 washes in the local area and I can use either. I use the car wash once per week, sometimes more than once depending on the weather. They are of the brush type. Sometimes I chamois leather wipe it down (including the inner parts of each door), sometimes not (if I don't have the time. I have not observed any paint damage (or any other damage) in these 10 years of use. I do NOT fold my mirrors in. Yes, as someone else mentioned...putting it into drive again is a little tricky when exiting the car wash. What I do find annoying is the amount of water that gathers at the top of the tailgate that seem to drip for a long time requiring several wipe downs.

10 yrs of use w/ a brush type auto wash will result in paint damage, just depends on your definition of damage.
Since it's probably only swirls in the clear coat it's easy to correct w/ a light compound.

 

[KevMeist]

I wake up early whether I like it or not. Harks back to 5AM starts at work. Had to do computer systems stuff after the west coast had gone to sleep and before the east coast really woke. Some of this stuff was updates to the custom communications software. Sometimes, had to IPL the mainframes because of IBM software changes. I've been retired for 10 years now and still wake up early. It's the washing the car as soon as I get up that I don't like!

 

[Tucspouse]

I'm using voice recognition so excuse some of the bad spelling I don't catch.

Yah I don't think they've developed an app yet to put red squiggly lines under misspellings with voice. But you might be able to rig up a lead to the phone battery that shocks you every time you don't speak clearly enough to please it.
Might be one of the functions of Alexa or Siri - both %^$@#es.

 

[KevMeist]

Our logal car wash has just changed from Oasis to Whistle and the first month, they are giving a 1/2 price for the first month. Lowest is $20, the highest $30 for the full wash so the first month, I only paid $15 for the highest. They have quite a few in my city and are building more. We are only the 8th largest city in Georgia.
After the wash, I use an air pressure hose to blow the remaining water off, even though they supply towels, windshield cleaning liquid and equipment. They also have high suction hoses to clean out the car.
A full wash at any other place costs from $8 - $10 and if I do it 3 or 4 times a month, it cost me from 30 to $40 a month. Using Whistle is only $20 a month for as many times as I want.

My car wash at Mister has been $20/month for the last 10 years. It was a different name when I first started 10 years ago and they have never raised the monthly cost even when Mister took over. There are 2 Mister’s in my area and I use either one.

 

[Crystaleyz23]

Agreed. I keep window-cleaner bottle and microfiber cloth in the cargo area to clean the tailgate window when it finally stops dripping.
[I also keep a small Swiffer there to do an occasional quick swipe of the infotainment screen and other bright, black interior surfaces. Works great, takes 30 seconds.]

Swifter is great. I also use an eyeglass cloth to clean my screen it works great for fingerprints. Lol

 

[garyahouse]

I've been researching the issue of preventing water spots lately. My white car doesn't show this stuff, but for those with dark paint, this is an issue. Water spots can and will etch themselves right into clear coat. Can they be polished out? Yes, but only so many times as our clear coat is only about 100 microns thick. Robots put an absolute minimum on modern cars. So, preventing water spots in the first place is important to those with dark paint. Here's a product that seems to actually work. It will be worth your time to watch this video by master mobile detailer Luke Wilson. CLICKY

 

[Tampa8]

Generally it can work, my experience with Formula 4....
In Connecticut with mildly hard water not extreme like here -

It worked somewhat well. Two issues.
1. I had to really douse every inch of the car with it. Not a fast step in washing the car, it takes time remember we are talking directly spraying everywhere the grill, wheels, all lights along with all painted areas and windows and using alot of product not a quick pass over. And notice he never shows actually spraying the product on the whole car just a quick view of one area making it seem like a quick process. Just my own opinion, the car he used in the video was freshly waxed or had ceramic applied.

In the remarks on the video someone suggested using a cannon, and I think that would work much better and just like that person says you would use more product but probably a quicker process.


2. There was always some spots but I can say nowhere near as much. However where the water sits on plastic - especially the grill area even lights spots seem to still form, but can be removed much more easily. But you still do have to spend time removing some spots.

If I had to wash the car more often I would be inclined to get a cannon and try the product again. But with such hard water and having a couple of really good car washes right here where I live, a 10 to 15 minute time period including driving there to get a very good auto wash with no spots and very good wheel cleaning is more tempting.
I then put on the quick detailing wax and it looks great for good amount of time.

 

[garyahouse]

Interesting that he said that car washes use this same type of stuff, this "rinse agent," though each utilizes their own choice of products. Gotta prevent those water spots, ya know.

 

[Tampa8]

Interesting that he said that car washes use this same type of stuff, this "rinse agent," though each utilizes their own choice of products. Gotta prevent those water spots, ya know.

For automatic car washes most do not use a rinsing agent. They use a spot free rinse cycle with the Reverse Osmosis system. Combine that with an almost immediate drying of the whole car at once and you don't get spots, or very few maybe. And even those spots are more likely a little soap remaining not calcium/hard water spots.
If you think back some automatic car washes had the drying cycle as an add on, I don't think you will find that on any newer car wash because a no spot rinse cycle using Reverse Osmosis goes hand in hand with immediately drying the whole car.

 

[Wytchdctr]

Disregard. Not waking up an almost 2 year old thread.

 

[garyahouse]

Too late, Doc

 

[frankmar]

I took the time and did a Ceramic coating on both of my cars, the Abarth, I do wash it more due to its Red, but I do wipe it. The Tucson being white, I only wash it and wipe the windows. I don t wax my cars anymore, but I do a Ceramic coating on them when new and I fend better then waxing.

 

[tucsonInLA]

Seems the popular forecast life expectancy is 2 to 5 years.

How Long Does Ceramic Coating Last? A Comprehensive Guide

But one of the most frequently asked questions is, "How long does ceramic coating last?" The answer isn’t straightforward

ceramices.com

How Long Does Ceramic Coating Last? We've Tried Them All

Ceramic coatings usually last anywhere between two and seven years, but there's more you should know about this topic.

cardetailingplanet.com

 

[ranovak608]

Anyone noticed this issue? After a car wash or a rain storm my 2023 spots the garage floor. Dark tea colored water at the rear drivers side and clear on the passenger side. Dripping from the fender liners both in front of and behind rear wheel.

 

[Tucspouse]

If 'twer me I'd just strum that up as a welcome excuse to pop them easy clips and have a gander at what's hiding behind there to cause it. It might be nothing more exciting than finding out what a half-eaten ham samwitch looks like after hidden in there a couple years from someone along the assembly-line.

 

[fdopsbc]

Anyone noticed this issue? After a car wash or a rain storm my 2023 spots the garage floor. Dark tea colored water at the rear drivers side and clear on the passenger side. Dripping from the fender liners both in front of and behind rear wheel. View attachment 6284
View attachment 6283
View attachment 6285

Yes, on a consistent basis. Looks like there is a root beer leak back there.

 

[KevMeist]

This is my first time owning a vehicle with so much technology, sensors, and cameras. I was wondering how everyone on here washes their Tucson.
Do you hand wash it or take it through an automatic car wash? If an automatic car wash how was your experience, good or bad? Did it mess up any of the sensors or cameras?
I did do a search but did not find much.
Thanks.

I have taken all my Hyundai's through automatic car washes. That is a 2013 Sonata Hybrid, 2022 Tucson Hybrid SEL and now a 2025 Tucson Hybrid Blue. I have never had a problem.