If you aren’t washing your car every week, you might be exposing it to thousands of dollars in damage.
That’s according to an auto tech named Nate from BMW of Minnetonka. In a viral clip posted to the dealership’s TikTok account (@bmw_of_minnetonka), he says neglecting to regularly wash your car makes it susceptible to rust build-up. This can eventually lead to structural damage of key components, he argues.
Car wash = saving money?
“Washing your car one time a week can literally save you thousands of dollars,” Nate says at the top of the clip.
He says he recommends washing your car at least once a week or “as much as you can.”
“Because something like this could happen for this customer,” he says before showing the under-chassis of a vehicle that is clearly saturated with rust. “This customer came in, had a bunch of lights on the dash. We had a bunch of wheel speed sensor faults. There’s a wheel speed sensor in each wheel.”
He points to the wheel closest to the front driver’s side of the vehicle. “This wheel in particular is not reading, so when I spin that wheel, the car isn’t seeing that that wheel is spinning,” he says.
Wheel speed sensors
But why is this component so important? “So, a wheel speed sensor controls your anti-lock brakes. Traction control, super important things for the winter,” he explains. “If your wheel speed sensors aren’t working, those systems aren’t going to work either. And that’s super dangerous for winter.”
At this point in the video, viewers might be wondering: Well, what the heck does that have to do with car washes? Nate breaks it down.
“So what causes that to fail is if you kinda just take a tour of…underneath this vehicle you’ll see that it’s really rusty,” he says, showing the rust. “This vehicle does have 200,000 miles on it. But, I’m seeing many…I’ve seen many cars like this.”
The auto tech, however, goes on to state that his is “nowhere near as rusty” because his car’s washed regularly. “All that salt from the winter will get kicked up and it will just corrode and eat away at everything,” he says.
Rust for life
Following this, Nate highlights individual bolts fastened on the undercarriage of the vehicle.
“Look at these little 8-millimeter bolts. That’s an 8-millimeter bolt right there,” he says while flashing a light on the part, which has rust caked onto it. “And it’s just, I…rub it and it comes apart. I’m not going to be able to get those out without breaking them.”
Because these bolts have been rusted onto the car, this now means that even more labor has to go into servicing the car. So it can turn something as simple as removing a panel into a nightmare.
“I mean this repair is gonna be a couple thousand dollars,” he says. “And a car wash once a week what costs $10 – $20? Maybe? So it can save you a ton of money.”
Can car washes prevent rust?
If you’re worried about rust build-up forming underneath your vehicle, you’ll probably need to specify that you want an undercarriage wash. Car wash company Take 5 writes that cleaning the undercarriage of a vehicle can help to “prevent road salt and debris build-up.” Like Nate, a blog posted by the car washing company states that gravel and dirt especially pose problems to vehicle owners. Debris build-up that accumulates over time can impede the performance of some components. This can lead to “structural damage” or mechanical failure. The business adds that “you [can] extend the lifespan of your car’s parts and avoid costly repairs down the line.”
There are several other car wash companies, along with car cleaning product manufacturers, that also extol the benefits of regular washes.
Other benefits of regular car washes
If you’re looking to preserve the finish of your vehicle, regular washes can help ensure dirt and grime don’t “adhere” to its paint, too.
Any grime or rust developing on other parts of your car can also be eliminated from non-under carriage components. Consequently, this can stop rust from spreading. Additionally, regular washes can eliminate particles that lead to rust. So even if rust isn’t readily visible, these washes can wipe the rust away.
Viewers had their doubts
One hopeful commenter replied, “Do you think washing my car wil save my broken transmission?”
Someone else pointed out that there are lots of car wash businesses that simply don’t offer an undercarriage wash option. “Many car washes don’t have undercarriage washing,” they wrote.
Someone else posed a potential problem with Nate’s weekly car wash recommendation, however. “How are you supposed to wash your car when it’s 10 degrees outside and don’t have a garage to park in?” they asked.
@bmw_of_minnetonka You can thank us later 😉 Preventative care for your vehicle is crucial in saving you money and increasing the longevity of your vehicle. Sometimes it is as simple as getting regular car washes to prevent rust! Do get car washes regularly in the winter? #washyourcar #bmwdealership #BMWofMinnetonka #bmwcars #bmw #carwash @bmw ♬ Censor_Bleep-1kHz01-3(Long)(1530477) – OtoLogic
One user said they have extensive experience maintaining BMW vehicles. According to them, regular car washes aren’t going to prevent some components from rusting over.
They wrote, “I worked on BMWs for 19 years in the rust belt. Car washes aren’t Saving you money at all. Those bolts are going to rust no matter what.”
One commenter said Nate’s video seemed like a way for BMW dealerships to justify its notoriously expensive repairs. “BMW’s new excuse for their excessive repair costs. ‘You didn’t wash your car more than once a week,’” they wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to BMW of Minnetonka via email for further comment.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
