CR Spotless water treatment

[TowDawg]

I pulled the trigger last week and finally bought one of these things from costco.com. WOW! That's my best description. Why in the hell did not buy one of these sooner?!?!

I washer the Viper (silver) and the girlfriend's Lexus (black) yesterday for the first time using this thing. They say you can wash the car and just leave it without drying anything and there won't be any spots. They aren't lying! Even on her black car! I washed them and then pulled them back in the garage and left them there overnight. I pulled her car this morning to look for any spots. NONE! Not a single one anywhere.

I'm sure I'll have to buy some more replacement resin (what filter the water) before too long, but I don't care. It's more than worth it. The water at my house is awful and if I don't wash the Viper in the early morning, it spots pretty bad. I'm having to clay the car now because there's water spots that I can't get off with the buffer. Hell, I might actually wash the H2 now. I've only washed it twice in the year that I've owned it because there is absolutely no way to dry it fast enough without leaving spots, so I don't even bother.

I just wanted to post this up to give an honest opinion on this thing to tell anyone that might be on fence about getting one, to do it! I know I've only used it once, but unless this thing completely falls apart or something like that, it's the best thing I've ever bought for cleaning cars.

 

[plumcrazy]

id call BS if it was just your viper but on a black car is impressive

 

[cetro993]

I have to agree with TowDawg, best investment ever. I still do try the car, but I don't have to worry about water spots anymore!!!!

 

[TowDawg]

I'm sure I'l still use air to blow the water off the car in the future, but I just wanted to see if it really worked by letting it sit and dry over time. The nice part is I'll just be able to blow it off without being rushed and get the majority of the water off. No need to rush and then make sure I get every tiny little droplet of water out of every little crevice because I'm worried about spots or streaking.

 

[ROCKET62]

Thanks for the post and feedback. I've been debating for a while and will certainly pick one up in the future. I've been using a leaf blower after a thorough wash and it would be nice to be able to do a quick rinse every now and then to rinse off the dust.

 

[3whitevipers]

From previous posts on this site it has been stated that the resin must be replaced often which gets pricy--How many Viper washes can you get on one resin replacement?---Dave

 

[TowDawg]

I'll find out and let y'all know. I know some people use it just for the final rinse to make it last longer. It also depends on how bad your water is to start with. Our water here ***** so bad, I'm using it the whole time, but I don't care. It's worth it.
The Costco deal comes with 2 extra bags of resin (enough to fill both canisters once) and you're supposed to replace the resin when the meter says the outgoing water is up to 20 ppm. I'm still at 0 after 2 washes and even if you let get it past 20, they just say you can't let it sit and dry itself and not leave any spots. Even at 100 ppm, it's still probably a hell of lot better than my water without it. I also looked around on some forums and saw where a lot of people are buying resin from another manufacturer (a window cleaning company) and they say it works just as well and is a lot cheaper than buying the bags from CR Spotless. I've got the link saved somewhere. I'll find it and post it up for anyone that might already have one of these and needs some new resin.

 

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

I get about 20-washers with mine, its expensive and well worth it.
I've had mine for a couple years now, and wouldn't be without one now.
I have several cars, and a couple are black, best detailing purchase I've ever made.
Spotless car wash works, and I highly recommend it.

 

[killerviper]

might have to get one. There's a small one priced at 250 bux (DI-120 i think) a medium one for 350? and the bigger one for around 450. Does it matter if I buy the smaller one? I have a yellow GTS and a black daily I was planning on using it on.

 

[TowDawg]

I think the difference in size just refers to how much resin it holds, which in turn determines how long it will last before re-filling.

 

[Brian GTS]

Yes, love mine too. I still use a blower to get most of the water off and out of the cracks/crevices....but the rest can just dry.

 

[VIPER PIT]

Does having a water softener in line before this unit help longevity?

 

[Martin]

These things do work well. A cheap and effective alternative is to buy one of the $150 Costco reverse osmosis units and plumb it into a big garden sprayer. Those generate virtually distilled water, and if you spray your car down with the distilled water from the garden sprayer, and finish-dry with a leaf blower, the results are virtually identical to the CR Spotless unit. Best of all, you can probably run the thing for the rest of your life without having to change filters - and even if you do need to change filters, it's $27 for two full sets.

I'm on well water and couldn't live without something like this. The CR is great, but too expensive for my liking. The RO alternative is cheap and a little more work, but the results are amazing.