2024 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S

A Lake Norman daily driver, six months old, that had been through the local tunnel wash one too many times. The owner saw a mark on the rear quarter and asked us to come look. The mark was three years of slow plastic-bristle damage, and the rest of the car had quieter versions of the same thing.

We pulled the car out of the wash-bay rotation. Two-bucket wash. Iron remover. Clay over every panel. The wheels alone took an hour: ID.4 wheels have deep barrel and a soft finish that hates wash-bay neglect. By the time we polished the obvious panels, the rest read clean by contrast.

The owner moved to a monthly wash plan the next week. The cars that get away from the tunnel wash are the cars that hold their look.