So I was desperate to get my XK looking like normal after driving a long dusty road then getting caught in the rain so I ventured into a touchless car wash.
Safe right? No touching of the car with brushes?
We the car came out beautiful with no complaints.......until this morning
I went outside to find that all the trim around the side windows has gone from a beautiful polished aluminium to a tarnished blotchy white mess!!
I've done nothing with it as of yet
Anyone gone through this?

 

I literally did the exact same thing yesterday. I got leaks around windows and door and the wash did a pretty shitty job anyway so I've already vowed never again. Here's hoping you get it pretty again. I haven't noticed any permanent issues with the wash myself though.

 

Any pictures? I'm not sure what happened if nothing touched it other than the soap and water.

 

I will take pics later
It looks like the trim has been acid etched, maybe some corrosive ingredient in the soap??

 

Not a great photo but.....

 

The trim looks etched.

Problem #1 - In areas with water use restrictions or where water is expensive, a lot of car washes recycle the wash water by filtering and then re-use it, so you never really know what soluble agents may have come off of another vehicle and into the wash water before you brought yours in.

Problem #2 - The "touch-less" washes tend to use more aggressive detergent agents because there will be no mechanical help to get the dirt off like the brushes found in a conventional car wash. The same detergent that is designed to get the dirt and crud off of a pick up truck could be used on your Jag.

IMHO, you are better off rinsing the car off with a garden hose at home if you can't hand wash it right away.

"Quick, cheap and easy" are words that seldom go with "good results" in any endeavor.

Vector

 

Any advise as to what to try to polish it out with?

 

Get some metal polish (I use Mother's metal polish) and lightly rub it up and down the length, not circular. It should take all of that stuff away.

 

First thing tomorrow!
Thanks

 

Good advice. Thank goodness I have never nor will I ever take my Jag to any automatic car wash. It's a pain, but when it's cloudy and the car needs it, I wash it myself.

 

Lesson learned

 

Make sure not to get metal polish on your paint, wipe off, not rub off immediately if you do.

That haziness on your metal is most likely the result of a liquid wax that is probably included in the "touchless" carwash rinse cycle. I don't think you'll have a problem removing it with the metal polish.

Let us know the result.

 

Thought about plastidipping it to update the look?

 

Good luck with metal polish on the trim. I could never get my trim to the level I wanted. I used "Never Dull" and aluminum polish for boats. I made the metal smoother and improved it, but never made it truly bright. Same thing on my Vanden Plas....