Took the Lightning through a Carwash

[Carminus]

I loaded the truck up yesterday with old deck wood and went to a local dump. It got some mud on it..can't have that lol. A day old and I am already putting her to work. Oh, the scale was cool and helpful.

Decided to take the Lightning through a Carwash today. No specific reason but out of curiosity I made a video for the fun of it.

No problems or issues. The wash didnt clean the wheel well but that was about it.

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[Lime Green]

I've taken my F-150s through carwashes too... Pretty uneventful. Yeah, automated carwashes don't get the wheel wells and certain areas clean on trucks or larger SUVs. Had an automated "laser guided" wash mis-read how long my Expedition Max was and put a gouge in my rear bumper. So I don't go through them anymore...

 

[Mike G]

My local "Mister" car washes seem to do a pretty good job on my Powerboost and since the Lightning I got is the same body configuration and length etc. I expect there will be no surprises.

On both the Powerboost and Mach-E I use the "auto-hold" brake function, so all you have to do is pop it into neutral with your foot on the brake and then hit the "M" in the Powerboost or the "L" button in the Mach-E's shift knob and you're in a temporary neutral "free-rolling" mode (for 30 minutes). Otherwise the vehicle would lock the brakes and the conveyor can't move you along. At the end of the carwash tap the brake and shift into drive and off you go.

Mike

 

[Easycamper]

Nice and it didn’t “short out” Sorry, some people still have interesting ideas about electric vehicles.

 

[GDN]

Along with what @Mike G is commenting on, did you just put it in "N" and roll along or did you use the Neutral Hold - the "N" button?

As long as you stay in the seat I would assume the standard neutral would be OK. If it has been one you get out of you would have had to use the N hold.

I have a local car wash I used to put my 2014 through - it truly did a great job, but the swirls left behind were crazy. So I gave up and polished it down and put a ceramic coating on it. Just for it to then be stolen a few months later.

 

[Carminus]

Along with what @Mike G is commenting on, did you just put it in "N" and roll along or did you use the Neutral Hold - the "N" button?

As long as you stay in the seat I would assume the standard neutral would be OK. If it has been one you get out of you would have had to use the N hold.

I have a local car wash I used to put my 2014 through - it truly did a great job, but the swirls left behind were crazy. So I gave up and polished it down and put a ceramic coating on it. Just for it to then be stolen a few months later.

I put it in standard neutral. Now that you mentioned it I am not sure what I would do if it was a car wash that made you get out.

 

[GDN]

I put it in standard neutral. Now that you mentioned it I am not sure what I would do if it was a car wash that made you get out.

You want to go research Neutral Hold - the "N" button on the gear selector. I think it was page 78 of the manual.

 

[sotek2345]

Good to know it work, but I doubt I will ever take mine too one. Hand washes only.

 

[Carminus]

Good to know it work, but I doubt I will ever take mine too one. Hand washes only.

I assume in the winter you go to the manual self serve car washes?

 

[sotek2345]

I assume in the winter you go to the manual self serve car washes?

No, typically just live with it in the winter. If we get a warm streak (above freezing) I may rinse off the salt, but that is mostly pointless - it comes back as soon as I drive again. I will have vinyl graphics so no pressure washers.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Nice and it didn’t “short out” Sorry, some people still have interesting ideas about electric vehicles.

Soo…are you saying I don’t need to wear rubber soled shoes when I drive it?

 

[vandy1981]

Congrats on being the first known owner to take their lightning through a car wash! Now who will be the first to do an In-N-Out drive through?

 

[FordLightningMan]

Have many Lightning owners been taking their trucks through automated car washes? I was going to use an automated washing stall near me where the sprayer rotates around the truck, but the Lightning is too long for it. Instead I will have to use the Delta Sonic automatic touchless wash near me, getting pulled down the roller track. Three questions:

1) If I go in neutral and hit the neutral button next to the shifter, that the truck will roll without issue? I drive in one-pedal and keep auto-hold on, the hold will be deactivated when I do this?

2) Does anyone actually take the antenna off? The manual seems to suggest this, but it seems unnecessary. This may be for brush washes, rather than touchless?

3) Any frunk issues after a car wash? Excessive water seems to be causing issues, but this may be specific to those trucks and not a Lightning-wide issue.

 

[FlasherZ]

1) If I go in neutral and hit the neutral button next to the shifter, that the truck will roll without issue? I drive in one-pedal and keep auto-hold on, the hold will be deactivated when I do this?

Push that neutral button after placing the selector in 'N' and it will stay in neutral (no auto-hold) until you shift it to park and back to drive.

2) Does anyone actually take the antenna off? The manual seems to suggest this, but it seems unnecessary. This may be for brush washes, rather than touchless?

My local brush wash takes them off and hands them to you, and you have to put them back on (you can ask them to put it back on by driving around, but easy enough job for me to do).

No need to do it in the spray-only washes.

3) Any frunk issues after a car wash? Excessive water seems to be causing issues, but this may be specific to those trucks and not a Lightning-wide issue.

The frunk has a seal, water goes around the seal but I haven't ended up with a wet frunk at all, whether Tesla or Lightning.

And I have no problems taking my truck (or frankly my other cars, including the Teslas) through the local automated spray wash or the brush wash. It's a utility, not a precious collectible, and today's microfiber brush washes are nothing like the 70's nylon scratchy-scratchy.

 

[data003]

I’ve taken mine through two different touchless washes where the spray wand thing rotated around the vehicle without any issues.

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