So I took my car to a "touchless" automatic car wash yesterday for its first wash since I bought it. (and it rained briefly about three minutes after I left, but that's another story. )

But I was amazed at how much the windshield and rear wipers moved around while in the car wash. The water jets actually pulled my rear wiper off the window (so it was sticking basically straight out from the car) and I thought my front large wiper might do the same. The wipers in the Fit seem a lot flimsier than the wipers on my old car.

Another surprising thing that happened was that I folded the side mirrors in, but the air dry blew one of them out to forward of the "normal" position.

Do you guys tape the wipers down or anything? I will probably buy a roll of painter's tape or something to keep in the car for the future, but just wondering what others' experiences are.

 

i dont run the car through touchless wash... and blue tape will probably not cut it.
touchless is too strong imo and will remove most, if not all of your wax you have on the car. and those machines usually uses recirculated water...

take it to a soft cloth wash place where people manually wash the car with a mitt before the car goes through their gentle rinse cycle...or wash it yourself.

 

I use touchless washes almost exclusively (especially in the winter whenever it gets above freezing long enough they open them up). Yes, they move the wipers around a bit. No, they've never flipped a mirror in or out. And no, I don't do anything special - just drive in and let it go to work. I have noticed certain stations seem to have higher water pressure than others.

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Painters tape will just tear off after it gets wet and soggy.

Your wipers didn't fly off the car just leave them alone.

I hand wash also. If I don't have time to hand wash and it's winter time I will go to a self wash bay to use the pressure washer to clean the salt and junk off.

 

I always use the soft cloth. Never had an issue with the wipers (rear or front). I don't fold in my mirrors.

 

The wipers are designed to be able to be lifted from the window (and will spring back, assuming they aren't lifted all the way up). It's not harmful, and there is no need to hold them down. I'd just get the car clean and enjoy the power of controlling the weather to some extent.

I also don't bother folding the mirrors in.

 

The only car washes I use are the ones where you get out and spray the car yourself with the high pressure wand. I use them to keep the salt at bay during the winter when the driveway is covered in ice and I can't wash the car at home.