Is a premium car wash worth it?
The Luxury Wash costs $2 more than the Full Wash and adds four stages. Sometimes those four stages are exactly what the car needs, and sometimes they are not.
What the extra money buys
At Fast Lane the gap from Quick to Luxury is $4 at either price: $12.99 against $16.99, or $10.99 against $14.99 with a qualifying fuel purchase. The Full Wash sits in the middle and adds only the under-car spray.
The last $2, from Full to Luxury, adds a rust inhibitor, Tri Foam conditioner, a second high-pressure rinse and Shine Guard Plus protectant. Those are four separate jobs. It is worth knowing what each one realistically does before deciding whether you need it.
Being realistic about each stage
The second high-pressure rinse is the easiest to understand. More rinsing means less shampoo and loosened grime left in seams, around badges and on the lower panels. On a very dirty car it makes a visible difference.
The rust inhibitor is applied underneath along with the under-car spray. It is a helpful extra in salt season, but it is a wash treatment, not the same thing as an annual oil-spray rustproofing or an undercoating applied in a shop. If your car is one you plan to keep for a long time, think of it as something that helps between those, not instead of them.
Shine Guard Plus is a protectant applied in the wash. Like any wash-applied product it is thinner than a wax or sealant put on by hand, and it will not last as long. What it does well is add a layer that helps water bead and grime release a little more easily until the next wash. Tri Foam conditioner is part of the same finishing sequence, and the result you will notice is how the paint looks and sheds water as you drive away.
When it is worth it
The Luxury Wash makes most sense when the car has gone a while without a proper clean, or when it is heading into or coming out of the salt season. Late November, before the roads turn white, is a good time for the protectant. The first mild week in March, when there is a winter's worth of salt underneath, is a good time for everything on the list.
It is also a fair choice after a long highway trip on the 401, when the front of the car is covered in bugs and road film, or after a stretch of gravel roads.
When it is not
In midsummer, with dry roads and a car that was washed a week ago, most of the Luxury stages have little to do. A Quick Wash gets off the dust and pollen. Paying for an under-car spray and rust inhibitor when there is no salt on the road is money spent for very little.
If your car has a professionally applied ceramic coating, the coating is doing the protection job already. A basic touchless wash is often what coating installers recommend between maintenance visits, so check what yours advised.
A middle path
Over a full winter of weekly washes, choosing Luxury every time instead of Full adds up to $2 a week. Many people find a mix works: Full Wash most weeks to keep the underside clean, and a Luxury Wash every third or fourth visit, or after a particularly salty stretch, to put the protectant back on.
In short: Use the Luxury Wash at the turns of the season and after long gaps, and use the Full Wash for the regular weekly salt rinse in between.
