Keeping your Tesla clean is a priority for most Tesla owners. But handwashing your car takes a long time and you may find it tedious. Could you take it to an automatic carwash instead?
You don’t have to handwash a Tesla, but it is the best option. An automatic carwash with brushes can scratch the paint on your car. It can also break off parts like your side mirrors and windshield wipers, and damage the sensors. The harsh chemicals used may erode the paint.
So, what should you do?
In this post, I discuss the different methods of washing a Tesla, and their pros and cons. Don’t worry, you are not doomed to stand outside in the middle of winter with a bucket of frozen water, trying to clean your car!
Handwashing your Tesla has some clear disadvantages.
This can end up costing you quite a bit of money, depending on how often you wash your Tesla. If you often drive in conditions that make your car dirty, your water bill might start to reflect this.
When compared to an automatic carwash, handwashing takes significantly longer. You may not have the luxury of time to handwash your car.
If you do not have a big garden or outdoor space, you may struggle to reach all parts of your Tesla while washing it.
In areas that get very cold in winter, the water will freeze in your bucket while you are washing your car. Many areas turn off their water outside during the coldest part of winter. It prevents it from freezing in the hose. This makes handwashing impossible unless you fetch water from inside your home.
Some people love washing their cars. It gives them a feeling of satisfaction and they enjoy the process. But if you are not one of these people, you may quickly find handwashing boring and an inconvenience.
You will need to invest in quite some cleaning equipment to handwash your car. These costs can build up. (Although if you consider the potential cost of having to repaint your car after damage in an automatic carwash, these costs may be worth it.)
You need to be able to stretch and bend when handwashing your car. If you have back troubles or are simply not as flexible as you once were, you may not be able to handwash your car.
As you can see, handwashing has some definite disadvantages. Let’s compare it to an automatic carwash to see which option is better.
An automatic car wash is convenient and saves you time. It can even be the cheaper option when compared to handwashing your car. To handwash your Tesla, you will need to buy equipment such as microfibre cloths and soap with a suitable pH. It also requires a lot of water, which can get expensive.
However, you could argue that paying for cleaning equipment and water saves you from an expensive paint job in the future. This is because when you use an automatic car wash, your car may be damaged. This is explained below.
Automatic carwashes may use large brushes and rollers to wash cars. This equipment can scratch the paint on your Tesla; it holds dirt from previous vehicles. It may also break off parts like side mirrors and windshield wipers. A touchless car wash (without brushes and rollers) is better.
Touchless car washes are also recommended because they do not damage the sensors of your Tesla. However, even touchless carwashes may use harsh chemicals to clean the cars. These can also damage the paint of your Tesla. They can also strip wax off your car, which can lead to color fading. That is why handwashing is still your best option.
When driving through an automatic carwash, you also run the risk of your car sliding or skipping off the track. This can damage your rims.
You can take a Tesla through a carwash. You must make sure that it is a touchless carwash to avoid damaging the sensors of the car. However, there are several reasons why you may want to avoid an automatic carwash and rather wash your Tesla by hand. These are discussed earlier in this post.
I have listed them below as well.
Automatic carwashes:
When running your Tesla through an automatic carwash (make sure it’s a touchless carwash), you need to put it into neutral. The Tesla will automatically change back into park mode after 20 seconds, so you will need to stay in the car. Also, turn off your automatic wipers. There are some other tips as well.
You may want to turn on the inside air circulation while going through the carwash. This helps to avoid the smells of the soap coming into your car.
Note that if you have the Model 3 or the Model Y, you can use Tesla’s Car Wash Mode included in the 2021.24.4 release. This mode will make the process a lot easier. See below for more information about this mode.
Automatic carwashes have a conveyor belt that drags the car through. For this to work, the wheels should be able to turn freely. To put your Tesla into neutral, you need to pull the stalk down lightly for two seconds.
Your foot must be on the brake pedal at the same time. You’ll know you were successful when the display indicates that the vehicle is in neutral.
The Tesla Car Wash Mode is a feature brought out in the 2021.24.4 release. It quickly makes several changes to your car to make it ready to go through an automatic carwash. It can be enabled via Car Controls > Service > Car Wash Mode. Here’s what your Tesla will automatically do in Car Wash Mode:
Your display screen shows a list of the different features of car wash mode. If the feature is enabled, it will show in green. If not, it will be red (for example, if you left your trunk open, that will be indicated in red).
To exit Car Wash Mode, tap the exit button. It will also turn off if you put your car into Drive and drive faster than 10 MPH.
A Tesla can go through an automatic touchless car wash. Although handwashing your Tesla is usually a better option, an automatic carwash is convenient.
You will need to put your Tesla into neutral (for which you need to stay in the car during the wash). You must also turn off your automatic windshield wipers.
Also, make sure your trunk is closed.
You can wash your Tesla with a pressure washer. But you must make sure that you do not spray the water directly onto the sensors. This would damage them and make the collision warning feature inaccurate. Using a pressure wash to hand wash your car is still a better option than an automatic car wash.
This is because the pressure washer will not scratch your car as the rollers and brushes of the carwash can.
An even better option than a pressure washer is using a bucket of water (or two buckets) with a microfiber cloth.
Use two different buckets when handwashing your car. One bucket is for washing (contains water and soap) while one is for rinsing (contains only water). This helps prevent cross-contamination of dirt across different parts of the car.
Alternatively, search for someone in your neighborhood who can handwash your car for you to make some extra money!
