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How often do you get a carwash???


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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 :cool:

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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.

2011 Volvo S60T6 & 2013 Volvo XC60T6 Polestar

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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.

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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

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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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.
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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.

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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 :(

Pictures of my rides;

2001 Honda Civic LX 4dr old whip[/url]

Current Wagon

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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.

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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  • I Donated Too
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.
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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

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depending on my schedule and weather i handwash once every one or two weeks.

 

i live 1 min away from a DIY carwash, so in the winter i usually rinse (no scrubbing) the majority of the crap off my car before i come home for the day. i drive slow so the rally armor flaps keep my car pretty clean up to my driveway.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Damn, guys. I've been using automated touchless and brush ones for two years and the exterior shined all the same to me. I used to hand wash my 05 lgt but I don't have time for that anymore. I just have to get out and dry the car more myself and Windex the windows when I can. Do this every 2-3 weeks. Almost every week in the winter to get rid of nasty dirty snow crap.

 

What's the problem?

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Washing and drying methods are the number one cause for swirls and scratches on a daily driver. I have no doubt the paint shines up, but you can't tell me it is swirl free. The people who tell me they never clay or polish their cars and they use automatic car washes all the time and their paint still looks like new usually just don't realize how bad their paint is getting. It happens gradually and sometimes you don't even notice it until your paint looks like this:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/problem.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC08052.jpg

 

Those marks are from washing the car with a brush and drying with bath towels. If you are able to avoid making your paint look like that, then there is no reason to change the process you use. I use a brush in the winter too and my paint doesn't look like that, but I make sure to spray the brush out and I'm pretty careful. If you are looking out for your paint then you can avoid a lot of the damage, but not all of it. A white or silver car will show far less damage than a black one, but it is still there. Just because swirls and scratches are harder to see on light colors doesn't mean it isn't there. So on your old White LGT you probably just didn't see the fine scratches the brushes were causing.

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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I wish I had the time to wash as much as you guys.. but I'm going to stick my neck out here.... I wash it probably every few MONTHS.. uh huh, with 2 kids now and ZERO free time it just doesn't happen. I have gone touchless once in a while, but usually I use the quick high pressure self wash.. pop in $2.50, get it washed and sprayed down.. another $2.50 and get it cleaned up. I cheat and use the "wax as you dry" products, spray it like mad, and use the chamois quickly to dry it up for no wet spots.. and I'm off.

 

I probably go nuts with claybar and wax twice a year at the beginning of winter, and at the end. Heck, yesterday I did the first steps to prepare for a winter, and it rained today.. I'm thinking I'll push it off yet again for another month or so before I get the heavy wax etc out. The paint, however, is holding up not bad.. no rust at all, some burnt sun spots, and of course tons of rock chips (my main commute is on the highway to work) This also doesn't help my cause as the highway trip puts a nasty film on my car, so even if I wash it and clean it, it's hazy within a few days! I too try to ride my motorcycle when I can in the summer.

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Those marks are from washing the car with a brush and drying with bath towels. If you are able to avoid making your paint look like that, then there is no reason to change the process you use. I use a brush in the winter too and my paint doesn't look like that, but I make sure to spray the brush out and I'm pretty careful. If you are looking out for your paint then you can avoid a lot of the damage, but not all of it. A white or silver car will show far less damage than a black one, but it is still there. Just because swirls and scratches are harder to see on light colors doesn't mean it isn't there. So on your old White LGT you probably just didn't see the fine scratches the brushes were causing.

 

Silver sentra, swp LGT, dark grey civic, dark grey sonata. I see :lol:

 

Clay bar, polish, wax would fix it up tho?

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Yup. The clay bar doesn't do so much visually, but you know how much better it feels afterwards. It will pull a lot of contamination out of the paint and off the surface. The polishing will knock the edges off the fine lines, scratches and swirls so they pretty much disappear. Then waxing or sealing it will give it the protection from UV rays, bird crap, bugs, waterspots, and other things that can really mess up the paint. It is worth it to do all three of those things at least once or twice a year. You'll be amazed how much better your cars look.

 

For the record, my car is dark grey as well. I hate seeing swirls and scratches. ;) I'd have white if it would have been a choice when I bought the car, but dark charcoal grey is the best of all worlds. Dark enough to look shiny and wet, but light enough that a lot of the damage gets hidden in the color.

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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