Pierrel

Allroad, Allweather???

In June I have bought an Audi Allroad, winter is coming in Canada and I am anxious to enjoy as I did with the demonstrator the traction and the stability of this new vehicle under impair weather.

The car design and performance that I have enjoy so far are outstanding, but I have found one unacceptable problem. The car cannot go through the harshness of a normal Canadian touchless car wash. The chrome and aluminum mouldings get all stained with a simple wash. My dealer, Les Automobiles Popular, has recommended that I only wash the car by hand. Then, proceed to change a few stained mouldings : bottom chrome based window moulding, front and back on driver side and the tail gate aluminum mouldings. In fact : I should also ask them to change the aluminum roof rack mouldings which are badly stained as well.

This car is advertised as an Allroad, Allweather vehicle. It is therefore unacceptable that like most car on the market today it cannot sustained the harshness of a normal Canadian gas station touchless car wash. In a city like Montreal in the winter the ability to often clean your car for a few dollars and a few minute of our time after filling up the gas tank, is a very valuable asset. Removing salt and sand as often as possible during our winter is a necessary preventive procedure to keep our car from aging too rapidly.

The questions therefore are :

Where should I formally send an official complaint?

Must I clean my Allweather vehicle by hand only with soft soap until further notice?

Will Audi design new mouldings and recall the old mouldings that cannot withstand a standard Canadian touchless car wash?

sal

How often to you wash your allroad at a Touchless car wash? I hand wash, but also use a Touchless car wash when I do not have the time. I have had my allroad since the end of December and do not have any staining. It has probably been through a Touchless car wash about 20 times.

ÅllroÅd :DFW

Probably depends on the chemicals used and the temperature of the water

Montreal allroad

Which car wash place are going to? I be sure to avoid it this winter!

As of yet, I have only had my car hand washed (by myself when I have time or at the Classy car wash on St. Jacques) and I have not noticed any stains, can you post some pics of what the stains look like?

MarkFank

After washing, do you towel dry the car or just drive off with it wet? How often do you wax it?

My guess is that the chemicals the car wash is using are pretty harsh and it is hard water or possibly recycled water. The minerals in the water and the chemicals are causing the stains. Try a different car wash, washing by hand and drying the car afterwards, you shouldn't get spots.

HPH

This is a good point. I use these auto-washes a lot, with the cycle that includes the blow-dry. But often the blow-dry isn't completely effective, and the left-over spots dry and leave truly gross blobs of glop (well, as water-spots go).

One thing to do would be to carry a chamois cloth around and use it after the wash--although doing this in Canada in the winter could get rough. HPH

Finman

water. Car washes use re-cycled/filtered water, plus straight tap water has many minerals in it that leave deposits on surfaces when the water evaporates. The reason it is affecting your chrome and aluminum parts more is that there is some chemical reaction between the metal parts and the minerals in the water. Plus, of course, there is probably a whole bunch of nasty crap in their solutions that may be reacting with the aluminum.
Aluminum is aluminum...an element...its chemical structure is the same no matter what form it is in...aluminum reacts with other metals and minerals.
There is nothing wrong with your car...the "stain" is not your car's fault or Audis.
You can get these stains if you wash by hand also, it depends on what's in the WATER, not the quality of the car or car part.
A good aluminum cleaner should be able to remove all "stains". If not, you should never go back to that car wash, there is something really BAD in the water.
This can all be avoided by immediately drying the car after it is washed.

Pierrel

I had my car washed in a touchless only twice in Chateauguay and St-Constant. The window mouldings were replaced and the roof rack stains are so pale they won't reproduce on a pics. I think you were parking your car near my office last winter 682 William stop by next time ask for Pierre with the Audi.

Pierrel

Where do you live? maybe the soap chemical used in your area is softer than the one used in montreal.

sal

Houston, Texas