Cleaning your car with rollers at gas stations is not ideal. This practice is even discouraged. It would have several negative effects on all types of vehicles.
It damages the bodywork
Many rollers are made from synthetic material slats which can leave some scratches after washing. In addition, the rollers have a limited lifespan and are often not washed between different vehicle washes. For them to be effective, they must be changed at least three times a year. However, it is rather rare that the owners of washing stations think of changing them. Also note that the vibrations of a roller wash can aggravate or even create an impact on the windshield of a vehicle and especially alter its paint and varnish.
IT IS NOT ECO-FRIENDLY
Today, water scarcity is a worrying issue. Roller car washing consumes a lot of water. For each vehicle washed, approximately 350 liters of water are used. To compare with another technique, jet washing requires only a quarter of this volume. On top of that, roller machines use cleaning products that are bad for the environment.
Alternative methods
There are several alternatives to roller washing. But nothing says that they are therefore more effective. We can use cleaning without water, with steam, by hand, with a high-pressure cleaner... Several methods which have advantages but also disadvantages.
With the exception of waterless cleaning which can make scratches and which above all does not remove all the dirt, the other approaches generally allow you to take better care of your vehicle than washing with a roller.