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Thread: Car Washes

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    Car Washes

    I washed my Jelly Bean for the first time today at an auto-wash. I noticed that the radio antenna did a ton of rattling on the roof of the car. Has anyone noticed long term damage from this?



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    I've run mine through car washes quite a bit, with the snow and ice we've had recently its hard to keep the car clean. I haven't heard any noise from the antenna, but it should be mentioned my antenna is on the rear of the car and about 8" long - do you have a 2014 with the front antenna?

    I worry about the high pressure from the auto car wash blowing the rear spoiler off eventually. The one nearest my house uses crazy high pressure.

    Also, something to check for when you wash the car, is the little "Shelves" in front of the rear tires, inside the fenders. They collect sand and salt. A automatic car wash with an "Underbody Wash" will miss these.

    http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...-watch-out-for

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    Yes, it's the 2014 with the front mounted antenna. I'm already looking in replacing it with a stubby, just trying to figure out which one.

    And I pre-washed those areas before sending it through the wash since I noticed that thread earlier.

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    Senior Member Cani Lupine's Avatar
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    I always hand wash mine. Used to work for a couple different car washes, though. The first one was a fancy new one with expensive equipment, but older cars with loose parts frequently left with something broken. Second was a small mom-and-pop type where we hand-scrubbed them first, then sent them through a short tunnel, and gave MUCH better results than the fancy place.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 49.2 mpg (US) ... 20.9 km/L ... 4.8 L/100 km ... 59.1 mpg (Imp)


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    Carmageddon m4v3r1ck's Avatar
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    You have to take it off before going into a car wash, really

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Mirage 1.0 manual: 47.5 mpg (US) ... 20.2 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 57.0 mpg (Imp)


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    DemiRage (03-08-2015)

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    I use an automatic wash that uses a large blower at the end to remove water from the car as you drive out of the wash.

    I raise the antenna to it's upper most position before going into the wash and this eliminates the banging on the roof during exit from the wash. No problem during the actual wash, regardless of where the antenna is positioned.

    My Mirage is the 2014 model with the stock antenna.

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    Mine did the same thing. Bought a Prius antenna (12", same threading) on eBay for about $6. It doesn't flop around and hit the roof.

    Edit: More correctly, a cheap knock off of the 08 Prius wire wound antenna. Same threads as the Mirage with .5 inch faring, slightly larger than oem. Reception is not quite as good but sufficient most of the time.
    Last edited by DemiRage; 03-07-2015 at 12:44 PM.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 automatic: 48.1 mpg (US) ... 20.5 km/L ... 4.9 L/100 km ... 57.8 mpg (Imp)


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    m4v3r1ck (03-10-2015)

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    Cool

    You have to be real careful , how ruff the car wash is. It can brake parts on your car. And the ones you do your selve that's a pressure wash can peel the paint off your bumpers. If there is a chip from a rock that pressure of the water will get under that paint and chip it off. So be careful . I do my bluejellybean my self. I like washing it twice to make sure I didn't miss anything.
    hello from bluejellybean

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 automatic: 38.4 mpg (US) ... 16.3 km/L ... 6.1 L/100 km ... 46.1 mpg (Imp)


  11. #9
    Aren't you afraid that those car washes will scratch the paint? I doubt the car washes care much about what happens to a brand new car's paint after having used the brushes on hundreds of cars over and over. I would want to wash it myself by hand but with cold winter weather that doesn't seem possible. I suppose I could find a hand car wash but even then there's no guarantee that it'll prevent paint scratch/damage completely.

  12. #10
    Senior Member IchabodCrane's Avatar
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    New car washes are "touchless" so there's nothing to scratch the paint.


    Will weld for beer.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)


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