The beauty of automatic car washes is that they clean your car in very little time – their convenience is unmatched. However, certain car modifications, like your cargo box, might make you reconsider your weekly trip to your local car wash.
You can go through a car wash with a cargo box, but it’s not advised. The risks of going through a car wash with a cargo box include damaging the cargo box, the car, or the car wash and voiding the box’s warranty.
The rest of this article will examine the risks of your car going through a car wash with the cargo box still attached. I’ll also advise on some of the best ways to wash your vehicle after installing a cargo box.
Dangers of Going Through a Car Wash With a Cargo Box
Some car washes allow vehicles with a cargo box to go through if the car’s height doesn’t exceed the facility’s height limit. However, most automated car washes have a policy against vehicles fitted with roof boxes.
While a cargo box doesn’t necessarily prevent a vehicle from moving through a car wash – and some establishments allow it – there are significant dangers you should consider before taking the risk. Let’s discuss these dangers in more detail.
Potential Damage to the Vehicle
An automatic car wash uses high-power water jets and massive spinning fabrics and brushes to clean your vehicle. The brushes and cloths agitate the dirt as the high-power water jets remove debris.
The fabrics are loose enough to get into the nooks and crannies of your car’s exterior for a thorough cleaning, but they can easily get tangled on the supports that keep your cargo box in place.
As your car is moved along the conveyor, the tangled fabrics can yank the cargo box off your car’s roof. Furthermore, the roof box can damage your paint job if it falls along the car’s side or back – or it could tumble onto your car’s windscreen and break it.
Potential Car Wash Damage
Most car washes have policies against vehicles with cargo boxes because of the damage they can cause to their cleaning equipment.
If bristles and brushes get stuck on a securely-mounted roof box, they’re likely to be dislodged as the car moves along the wash process. This can result in expensive repair costs for the car wash.
If you pass through a car wash with your roof box attached and your vehicle gets damaged in the process, it’s unlikely that the company will compensate you for the costs of repair. On the other hand, you may be required to pay for any damage to the car wash caused by your cargo box, especially if there’s a policy against washing vehicles with roof boxes.
Potential Damage to the Cargo Box
Automatic car washes aren’t the best way to clean your car, regardless of whether you’ve fitted a cargo box or not. Harsh chemicals wear out your paint faster, and the cleaning equipment often leaves swirls and water spots on the vehicle.
Roof boxes are typically hardy enough to withstand harsh weather, but repeated pressure from car wash brushes and bristles is enough to cause damage in the long run.
A cargo box will protect its contents from dust, rain, snow, and other elements, but it may fail to keep out moisture from a car wash’s high-pressure jets.
Because of the likelihood of damage, most manufacturers provide that subjecting a cargo box to an automatic car wash voids the warranty.
Alternative Ways of Washing a Car With a Cargo Box
You could stick with automatic car washes, but you’ll need to detach your cargo box every time you go, which can be tedious and exhausting. Installing a roof box on your vehicle will force you to explore alternative ways to get your car cleaned.
Let’s look at some of these options in more detail.
Handwashing
Handwashing is the best way to wash a car with a cargo box installed. It gives you the flexibility to clean your car with or without your roof box attached.
You’re more in control with handwashing, so there’s little risk of damaging your car or cargo box. Handwashing is also gentle to your car’s paint – as long as you steer clear of abrasive chemicals and bristles.
Also, without the high-pressure jets of automatic car washes that can force moisture into your roof box, the likelihood of water leaking into your cargo box during handwashing is very low.
Every once in a while, detach your roof box and give it a thorough handwash, too. Once it has dried – and after your car is dried, too – reattach it onto the roof of your car.
A high-quality cargo box, like this Thule Roof Box from Rei.com, only requires occasional deep cleaning, so you don’t need to uninstall it every time you handwash the car. You’ll also need a good quality roof rack to ensure the safety of your cargo box. For some helpful tips, here’s my comprehensive guide to things you should know about roof racks.
The one downside of handwashing is that it’s time-consuming. Nevertheless, its benefits far outweigh that somewhat insignificant disadvantage.
Touchless Car Wash
You might want to consider a touchless car wash for a quick, time-saving alternative that doesn’t require you to detach your roof box.
With a touchless car wash, no spinning brushes or fabrics are involved, so there’s no direct contact with your car. Instead, only water jets and strong detergents are used to remove dirt.
The lack of an applicator means there’s nothing that can get tangled or pulled by your cargo box. However, there’s still the risk that the water jets can force water into your roof box.
You should only use touchless car washes during time-sensitive emergencies as they have significant downsides: the chemicals and recycled water used can damage car paint, and the lack of abrasive action can lead to incomplete washing.
I’ve also written an article on how to clean your roof rack and why it’s not safe to go through a carwash with a roof rack. Don’t miss it.
Conclusion
You can go through a car wash with a cargo box, but I strongly advise against it: the risks of damage to your car and roof box are significant and possibly costly too. Handwashing is the best alternative to automatic car washes if you have a roof box.
If you must go through an automatic car wash, choose a touchless car wash as it carries a lesser risk of damage.