No, thrice No!

I recall a guy who had just been on the beach with 2 dirt bikes on a low trailer pulled by his 4x4. Drove it through an auto cash wash, the following car was a spanking new Mercedes AMG.....when it came out I was stunned at the paint damage! Sand blasted

 

That was an extremely poor selection by the AMG owner knowing what he knew. Do you recall if that was an attended wash or a cheap self drive through Sean?

 

Size was precisely why I updated to the XF instead of the newer XJ; closer in size to the X308. But while exterior styling is a bit common, I absolutely love the X250's interior styling even if it is a bit "cavernous". Will be washing both Jags plus a pickup truck this weekend. I'm not quite as meticulous as you. With a total of five vehicles to take care of, speed is of the essence. I've got this special car wash mop on a long handle that helps make quick work of it.

 

What I described is a quick wash If I were being meticulous the wheels would come off for cleaning inside, the wheel arch liners would be removed and cleaned behind, the headlamp rings would come off for polishing and the rear lamps would be out for cleaning inside and out.

I've got three vehicles in my little fleet, one of which gets washed either with the wash brushes in work or in an automatic wash. It's a biffabout car which already has battle scars, so no need for RAF standards here. The Jaguar and Triumph both are used infrequently, the Triumph covered in a garage and the Jaguar kept under an all season cover when not in use helps too.

 

The AMG driver drove in just moments after the 4x4 and dirt bikes left the scene, I'm across the road talking to a pal dressed in work clothes I waved but but to no effect, the next thing the car is in and those mops started spinning, you know they start fast, I just cringed. Merc paint is one of the hardest, so whoever got the job of polishing it was in for an all dayer it looked matt like one of those silly wraps people stick on new sports cars!

 

Car covers can scratch paint too if not put on clean and not unfolded correctly. Two of mine are insured as classics and very infrequently driven. They sit inside under lightweight covers until show time.

The two Jaguars are being rotated right now. They usually get too dirty being driven to put covers on them. I have a generic outdoor cover for the sedans in case for some reason I have to park one outside overnight (there's a tree over that part of my drive) but they are never covered inside. That outdoor cover has a soft lining, but is incredibly heavy so if there's any trapped, sharp particles, it could scratch. I don't use it unless the cars are freshly washed.

The pickup truck has to sit outdoors under a carport and thus it will get very dusty, very quick if not covered. I'll wash and dry it and immediately put the cover on it to keep it from getting dusty (now THAT's a heavy cover, custom fit for a crew cab truck). Ironically the next time I drive the truck might be because the weather is going to be bad. But I might need to use the truck to actually haul something on a sunny day so I like to keep it dust-free. I'll take the cover off to drive it but then its usually too dusty to put the cover back on until it gets washed again.

If its not too dusty, I'll use a California duster, then put the cover back on, but I hate to use that very often. It too can trap particles that will scratch. Some people swear they'd never use one, but like I said, with so many vehicles to take care of, some compromises have to be made. The truck doesn't seem to get any more swirls than the classic cars so I guess its not doing any undue harm.

 

This cover was owned by a friend of mine and previous forum member, he had it custom made for his XJR. It cost over $300 new and offers the highest weather protection. It works very well, rain beads off it when it gets wet. I'm always careful about how I fit and remove it, although with the amount of wax on my car it's a mini workout running round the car trying to beat it sliding off before I hook it under.

Getting it to the UK was a mission though, USPS wanted over $75 for the postage, and FedEx and UPS weren't much better. Luckily a friend from the UK was visiting the same city as my US friend lives, so it was brought back in a suitcase.

But yes, like you I only fit it when the car is perfectly clean. Currently she is without cover as she's had a few journeys in wet weather and is dirty. I just haven't had a chance to wash her yet.