How often do you get a carwash???

Hi all,

Im just wondering how often you guys wash your car....do you handwash it yourself, or go through one of those gas station express washes...or maybe a "flagship" style washbay where you put tokens in and go through the different steps

i bought a 2009 SWP not too long ago with 40k miles and plan on keeping her for a long time...not sure if there's a certain requirement as far as how often i need to wash in order to protect the paint, etc...

thanks

I hand wash once a week weather permitting and give it a good polish and wax before winter. She only sees a car wash in the winter or if I'm really strapped for time.

IMO, I wouldn't use one of those gas station car washes. You never know if someone brought in a Jeep from an off road excursion.

There's a million opinions and even more ways to care for your cars exterior but I will quickly say... Never, ever go through an automated car wash or a gas station car wash unless it's totally touchless, ever. You are better off with dirt on the car than it being scrubbed and rubbed into your paint by a huge machine driven, dirt encrusted automated car wash brush, then dried by a teenager with a dirty dry rag.

At the very least. Hand wash only, use the double or triple bucket method. Apply wax a couple or few times a year. Detailing is very much a personal preference thing. You can go nuts and make the car look incredible or you can just keep it clean enough to not damage the car and look like total crap. It's really up to your own preference. So far as longevity of the car is concerned, so long as you rinse any salt off the car and keep it reasonably clean it'll be fine.

I try to hand wash it once a week. Touchless if it's too cold out or I'm in a rush.

I've become a bit of a slacker. In the summer I ride the motorcycle whenever possible. This leaves the car in the garage for sometimes two or three weeks at a time. The only time I bust it out is if it is going to be a rainy day. Washing the car after the rain is so much easier than polishing chrome. Anyway, so the only time the car gets driven is when it is going to get dirty. Then I put it away wet and get back on the bike as soon as possible. Out of sight and out of mind. Then a week or two goes by and I feel guilty that I've left this dirty car sitting in the garage for so long, but it is going to be raining the next time anyone sees it anyway, so I might as well just leave it. Yeah... I know... I'm slipping. It is just amazing how much time I free up on my Saturday when I don't have to wash the car.

My wife's vehicle, on the other hand, is another story. If it is summer and it is just getting dusty, then I wash it maybe every other week. I'll usually throw my car into the mix on that day if I don't have somewhere to go right after I do her vehicle. With three kids putting their paws all over the stupid thing it can look pretty nasty after a couple weeks even without any rain. I really should just do it once a week like I know I should, but you all know how life gets.

So the real answer should be that I want to wash it once a week in the summertime. With an Odyssey and my car and my motorcycle it can turn into a pretty long morning though, so usually only one of them gets the once a week treatment. In the winter I try to get them done at least every other week just to keep the salt off the paint somewhat, but I know going to the coinop wash is just going to create a whole lot of polishing for me in the spring. I hand wash in the summer and flush quarters into them in the winter. The important thing is a good waxing routine where you keep the surface protected. Then you can go a little longer between washes without needing to worry too much about your paint getting destroyed.

Wow... After that confession I think I need to change my name to "The artist formally known as OCDetails" lol

I try to hand wash once a week and wax every couple weeks or up to every month. Black sucks enough as it is, so I never run it through an auto-wash.

Never an automated car wash for me. I always hand wash - hate to see hard work that went into claybar, wax, and polish get beaten to hell by the automated ones. Touchless might be better I admit, but I have too much stuff (front lip, mirror caps etc.) I'd be worried would get abused by those systems.

Originally Posted by 09SE

or maybe a "flagship" style washbay where you put tokens in and go through the different steps:

Two of these by the house. Great to use pressure wash and tire scrubber. Then I go home and finish the job now that most of the dirt is off. Seems easy enough to me. Wish I had more than a 1 3/4 car driveway.

You don't quite need to wash it regularly to protect the paint.. detailing the car is more what you are referring to. A good polish/wax every few months (depending on climate, products, and usage).

But as others have said, I would not take my car through an automated wash that has "scrubbers". Touchless if anything.
As for the "flagship" bays, I personally only use it to rinse/wash the car. I never feel confident in their brush (even if I clean it prior) as who knows where others have stuck it. Then again, I'm a little protective when cleaning the car - two bucket grit guarded system, two mitts (upper + lower), brush for wheels, ... blah blah blah.

Anyways, my wagon gets a carwash if she's lucky at present once a month. Then again, I work too much and hardly ever go out anymore

Just remember... anything with a brush on it is like a hooker. Are you sure you want to be the next person to use it? You never know if the last car to go through that wash was a greasy garbage truck or a pristine classic. More than likely it was the greasy garbage truck.

In New England, the temptation to use the 'full' wash in the winter when you perceive the bottom of the car is covered in road salt is hard to resist but so many people also washing the car in front of you, you realize the water is recycled and must at that point be loaded with dissolved salt. Basically now a very grubby sea salt underbody car wash to force the corrosion inducing formula deep into the places other road salt can't reach, all for the pleasure of $20. Not at all what you intended, at least that's what I think must happen, I go home and break out the power wash. Sometimes.

I try once a week or every other weekend(sunday)

I always say, if you can't hand wash it, don't wash it.

Touchless is nice but it's not, Not even clean after it's done. Waste of $

I have failed as a LGT owner. I have used an Automated Car Wash a couple times now. Once at Car Spa here in Addison, TX, couple times at local Chevron Gas Station and once at a new car wash by my job, 19.99 a month for unlimited car washes and free vacuums.

I need to start using the bucket method. My car deserves better

I hand wash at least once a week as long as the weather permits.I also use a seperate wash mit for the wheels and tires and do them last.

People wash their cars??