Automatic Car Wash Park or Neutral?

Hand washing your car is preferred if done thoroughly. An automatic car wash is a feasible alternative whenever you don’t have enough time. Bringing your car to a car wash for cleaning can benefit you by saving water and time.

Even though automatic car washes are significantly faster, they are also volatile. So, you are probably questioning whether you should go through the automatic car wash park or neutral? The simple solution is to put your car in neutral (for manual transmissions) or park (for automatic cars). Turn off your car’s engine if instructed to do so.

Before we want to be in the nitty-gritty, you need to understand what automatic and manual cars are to know what to do when going through an automatic car wash:

Automatic vs. Manual Cars:

A car with an automatic transmission does not require the driver to switch gears by manual process. Transmissions, also known as gearboxes, aid in the direction of a vehicle’s rotational force and speed. As a result, automatic transmissions change gear ratios as the vehicle moves.

Automobiles with stick shifts have a standard or manual transmission. With a stick shift, the car operator shifts gear as they speed up and reduce the speed of their vehicle. Furthermore, to a stick shift, a manual transmission involves a clutch pedal to the left side s of the brake pedal. Push down the clutch pedal, relocate the shifter to the required gear, and press the clutch pedal again to re-engage power from the engine to the transmission.

Types of automatic car wash and how does it work?

Touchless car washes use high-pressure water jets and sturdy cleaning products. Cloth friction wash systems employ a soft cloth rubbing against the vehicle’s surface. In this article, we will be taking the automatic car wash that use cloth friction technology as a reference but there are others as well. They may include touchless car wash systems.

Initially, the car is taken to the conveyor track where a correlator is present. The correlator is basically a system that has rollers or wheels. These wheels move the car sideways so that it can be in position with the conveyor track perfectly.

Now, the vehicle is powered off and it is put into the neutral gear. As mentioned above, the small wheels of the correlator will push the vehicle as it is on the conveyor to align it. Then, the will take the vehicle forward so that it can move through the automatic car wash tunnel where it will get cleaned.

How should a car be washed through the car wash?

That’s exactly what you should do: put the car in neutral. If you’re going through the most common type of car wash, where the driver must remain inside the vehicle, you can leave it operational, leave with the foot brake, then put it back in drive mode and drive off. And If there is a need to leave your vehicle at a car wash, you might have to unlock the driver’s door by first shifting into neutral to avoid the car from automatically changing into the park when you open up.

New cars with new features

Many cars are having difficulty passing through automatic car washes nowadays. Many new “autonomous driving” safety devices don’t get along with these car-washing tunnels. Numerous advanced vehicles, for example, have a brilliant tool known as “automatic emergency braking.” If the car senses an object in front of you and you do not brake in time, it assumes you are distracted and stops for you. What do you expect it does when it sees a huge spinning buffer aimed directly at your grille?

Some vehicles apply the parking brake automatically if the vehicle is at rest for more than a few seconds. This is also a significant safety enhancement. This has managed to prevent people from leaving their cars without first shifting the transmission into park and running over themselves.

Check out your vehicle’s manual

Therefore, you must consult your owner’s manual. A growing number of them now include instructions for using an automatic car wash. Now, it’s more complicated than when you just had to drop the muffler polish and spend a little money.

You now frequently have to disable a slew of safety features if you end up at the front of the line, unable to proceed through the car wash, with a long line of people behind you becoming enraged as you scan the index of your instruction booklet.

What is the process of an automatic car wash?

You take your vehicle into an automatic car wash and park in the wash bay. Once you turn off the car, your job is complete, and leave it neutral. Detectors in the washing bay alert the digitally controlled system that the car has entered, and the car wash process starts.

Steps to go through a car wash:

Although washing your car manually is always an option, you may lack the necessary space or supplies. However, if you need a quick clean guaranteed to be thorough, this is your best option. Have you never been to one? It may appear not very comforting at first, but with a little preparation, you’ll be fine. You can enjoy the ride when you’ve paid and tied your vehicle to the trail.

Stick to brushless, soft-touch, or touchless car washes for newer models. These alternatives forego the abrasive brushes commonly used by older car washes. Besides, since cars today have a light, clear coat over the base paint, they are more subject to corrosion that cannot be patched out.

In short

So, if you often visit the car wash, you are aware that most drive-through car washes require you to be in neutral gear. You must have your vehicle in neutral before getting it cleaned.

But since automatic cars have automatic safety features, you can put it in park to allow it no further movement, which you can do with the neutral followed by the handbrake in manual cars.