How often do you guys wash your car?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

Maybe messy but is environmentally safe and doesn't promote corrosion like salt does. After seeing what the suspension and subframes look like after only 2 winters, I'll take the mess...

Oh they still use salt with the beet juice. It's whole purpose is to make the salt and sand stick to the road. By itself it is just something you would expect a hipster to drink not a deicer.

[radroach]

For me its when I feel like spending spare cash on the wash. I don't like having to drop about $6 at a coin op bay that always cuts me short on time. Otherwise if I had it my way, I'd wash my car every day if I had hose access.

Washed it during a rainshower last weekend though. It worked ok.

[alan.chalkley]

It is important to only wash the car just before driving it.
This will make sure that any moisture in the doors/chassis/brakes will dry out before corrosion starts.
My friend quickly washed his car and put it into his garage , before going on an overseas holiday.
He returned to find very rusty grinding brakes.

[NRXRaptor]

I wash my car every other week here in Cali, maybe longer depending on how it looks. I also wash my car after long road trips because bug splats. I'm gonna wash it tomorrow because I used 3/4 of a tank driving on the highway today. I use microfiber everything. In fact, I should replace a couple of my microfiber rags because they have been washed so many times they aren't soft anymore. I use 2 sealants and wax. Chemical guys white light followed by jet seal followed by meguiar's gold class wax. Wax once a month and sealants before/after rainy season or some other big event, like when the shop had it to do some repairs after some asshat hit my parked car. It must do something because I get compliments on how the pearl white looks I also never use my wipers to clean my windscreen: always a trip to the gas station for bug splats followed by invisible glass at home. I only use the wipers when its raining and so far I have no marks from the wiper blades. Best way to keep your windows clear is to use a wet microfiber towel and follow it up with a dry one

I also learned from my dad that at least for a while my mom thought I was somewhere on the autistic spectrum.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by NRXRaptor

I wash my car every other week here in Cali, maybe longer depending on how it looks. I also wash my car after long road trips because bug splats. I'm gonna wash it tomorrow because I used 3/4 of a tank driving on the highway today. I use microfiber everything. In fact, I should replace a couple of my microfiber rags because they have been washed so many times they aren't soft anymore. I use 2 sealants and wax. Chemical guys white light followed by jet seal followed by meguiar's gold class wax. Wax once a month and sealants before/after rainy season or some other big event, like when the shop had it to do some repairs after some asshat hit my parked car. It must do something because I get compliments on how the pearl white looks I also never use my wipers to clean my windscreen: always a trip to the gas station for bug splats followed by invisible glass at home. I only use the wipers when its raining and so far I have no marks from the wiper blades. Best way to keep your windows clear is to use a wet microfiber towel and follow it up with a dry one

I also learned from my dad that at least for a while my mom thought I was somewhere on the autistic spectrum.

What the heck ever gave her THAT idea ......

Now, don't worry about that bug stuck in your car's grill ...... it's dead ..... you can get it out the first thing in the morning .......


humfrz

[86 South Africa]

Whenever it looks dirty...

Using soft cloths and that kinda thing is NB.

Just did a full wash, dry, patched up some minor scratches and then gave it a full on wax/polish.
Well worth the effort.
The wax helps protect the car, but the new shine and 'glow' makes it look near new again. Ace!

[Zentec]

I wash my car every week or every other depending on how dusty it is. In between use detailer and microfiber cloth to wipe it down every other day. I have a whole process with sealers and waxes. I seal it twice a year that process includes removing old wax,claying compounding,polishing,paint sealer, waxing. Then I usally every month or so put a nice coat of wax on.

I live in the desert so uv protection is what I'm after out here. My car will always look brand new even my black trim. I have had a plastic license plate frame for over 13 years out here in the desert and it still looks brand new.

I always hand wash with 2 buckets at home. If I do the just a wash and wax usally takes 2 hours cure time for wax is 45 mins. If I do the long process about 10hrs hence I do that only twice a year.

[NRXRaptor]

Originally Posted by Zentec

I wash my car every week or every other depending on how dusty it is. In between use detailer and microfiber cloth to wipe it down every other day. I have a whole process with sealers and waxes. I seal it twice a year that process includes removing old wax,claying compounding,polishing,paint sealer, waxing. Then I usally every month or so put a nice coat of wax on.

I live in the desert so uv protection is what I'm after out here. My car will always look brand new even my black trim. I have had a plastic license plate frame for over 13 years out here in the desert and it still looks brand new.

I always hand wash with 2 buckets at home. If I do the just a wash and wax usally takes 2 hours cure time for wax is 45 mins. If I do the long process about 10hrs hence I do that only twice a year.

Are you me?

[NRXRaptor]

Originally Posted by humfrz

What the heck ever gave her THAT idea ......

Now, don't worry about that bug stuck in your car's grill ...... it's dead ..... you can get it out the first thing in the morning .......


humfrz

No it has to come out right away DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND???

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by NRXRaptor

No it has to come out right away DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND???

Too damn late now ......

The acidic juices from the bug have already eaten a small hole in your car's radiator core which will spew coolant on the cooling fan, shorting it out and shorting out the temperature sensor for the other fan, so both will shut down.

Without the temperature sensor the ECU has no idea of what signal to send to the temperature gauge ..... so, since the default is zero, your gauge won't be working.

Back-in-the-day, when a car overheated, coolant would steam out and you could tell it was overheating and shut off the engine before major damaged happened.

With todays high compression, high revving engines, they overheat so quickly that the rods will seize up before steam escapes the cooling system.

How will you know when this happens? You will hear a series of loud "knocks", sounds like a jackhammer, then a loud BANG, followed by a lot of blue smoke and steam.

When will it happen ...... who knows ......

What can you do about it ...... nothing, you're screwed .....


humfrz

[TheDetailer718]

I wash my car, vacuum and dust the interior every week. I do a full detail on it every month.

[subaruMike]

Living in the country bug splats are daily occurrence, before every drive I use bug & tar remover and waterless wash & wax on front bumper. I like to wash weekly and clay bar, polish, and wax whenever necessary.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

1. Wax once a month
2. Wash every week or every other week (wax keeps the car clean)
3. Tire shine every week (stupid Armor All brand lasts only like 2-3 days though and comes off once it rains - anyone know a better tire shine?)
4. Vacuum interior every other week.
5. Use those interior wipes every other week.
6. So far only windexed the windows once since I bought the car in Feb '17 haha

[Dadhawk]

I admire all you folks with your persistence. At this point, with over 100K miles on mine, I'm afraid if I wash it too often all the paint will come off.

I clean it, or have it cleaned, about once a month on average. Since I'm the only occupant about 99% of the time, the interior stays relatively clean.