What do you guys do to keep your cars clean?

[renz20003]

I says to my wife I says "Hey woman you best get out dare and warsh that fuckin automowheel."

 

[rh71]

I've stopped doing it since we do a lot of road trips with it throughout the year. I used to care about every little speck. Now I just make sure I blast the dead bugs off at a minimum.

 

[BoomerD]

Once a year? Well la-de-freaking-da Mr Rockefeller. I chase cyclists and pedestrians through puddles, that's all a car really needs.

Well...I don't do it because I WANT to do it...but here in the PNW, an unwashed car turns green and starts growing moss if you don't wash it at least once per year..

I says to my wife I says "Hey woman you best get out dare and warsh that fuckin automowheel."

Y'all best be curful...let her warsh it offen enuf and she gonna start a'thinkin she kin drive it!

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Well...I don't do it because I WANT to do it...but here in the PNW, an unwashed car turns green and starts growing moss if you don't wash it at least once per year..

I had that same problem with my armpits.

 

[BoomerD]

I had that same problem with my armpits.

yeah, but we see (smell) you gave up on that fight...

 

[Thump553]

I clean my car regularly-once a season, the first warm weekend closest to the first day of the season. I vacuum the interior more often. I am pretty fanatical about cleaning the windshield-quite often washing it daily with glass cleaner rubbing down with old newspaper.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

yeah, but we see (smell) you gave up on that fight...

It's not fair to exterminate new life forms. That moss could evolve into something sentient.

 

[IronWing]

It rained so the truck is clean. Fortunately it rains more often than this thread gets bumped.

 

[cyclistca]

Once a week WT...Rather be doing better things with my time then washing my car every week

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I clean my car by necro'ing old threads from 2007.

That said I don't clean my car aside from the inside. I fucking love the fact that I don't give a shit if someone dings my car - which is inevitable with all the retards in big trucks we have around here in parking lots... So aside from putting it in a garage overnight, I might occasionally clean up paper, trash, and dirt by vacuuming it out - but aside from that I don't waste my time or money on something that is ultimately not worth much (~$2k according to KBB).

 

[SKORPI0]

10 1/2 year necro.

 

[Staples]

Wax it every quarter and run it through an automated wash once a week.

I think the best thing is to invest in a garage you can park your car in.

 

[bononos]

Spray and wipe sealants are the best thing thats been invented in recent years. Cleaning is a cinch and the slick protection lasts for a month or longer.
http://store.sonaxusa.com/sonaxbrilliantshinedetailer.aspx
http://www.autogeek.net/was.html

 

[JulesMaximus]

Either pay my son to wash it or take it to a hand wash car wash.

 

[brianmanahan]

It rained so the truck is clean. Fortunately it rains more often than this thread gets bumped.

same here, the only car wash i use is the rain

 

[MrSquished]

not enough

 

[Red Squirrel]

Every couple years, I bring it to the car wash if I think about it. I should probably do it more often.

Other than that, I let the rain take care of it. In winter it's not really worth cleaning as it is covered in ice/snow most of the year. Brush off the worse of it, try to get rid of any big chunks that could be dangerous but that's about it. You could spend hours on that and it's only going to have more snow on it the next day.

 

[snoopy7548]

I like to quickly hose it down at the gas station every couple of weeks. It's expensive but usually the guy working the counter will come running out to help me dry it off which saves me some work. He always yells at me but I think he's just a grouch.

 

[bigboxes]

rain

 

[Red Squirrel]

I like to quickly hose it down at the gas station every couple of weeks. It's expensive but usually the guy working the counter will come running out to help me dry it off which saves me some work. He always yells at me but I think he's just a grouch.

I always found it interesting how the water at gas stations seems to evaporate so much faster, I think there's some kind of dry agent in it like that stuff you put in the dishwasher. It smells kind of good too, I sometimes fill some spray bottles to use for household cleaning.

 

[AdamK47]

OP, every week? Really?

SVT Cobra, darn epic writeup. I will have to contact you via PM about my exterior (oxidation problem). In the mean while, what is the best way to fix a black exterior oxidation problem (on the roof of my SUV and a little on the hood). TIA. (just gave you your first like).

SVT Cobra
Lifer

SVT Cobra was last seen: Jan 25, 2009

I wouldn't wait on that PM reply. I think he's dead.

 

[RockinZ28]

Do the rinseless wash thing every 2-3 weeks myself. Takes about an hour, comes out looking perfect. Have some microfiber towels and a bottle of Meguiar's Quik detailer in the trunk for bird shat etc.

Saves me the $35+ for the shit "hand washes" on every corner out here.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I don't do anything, to the outside, pretty much. Sometimes I rinse it off, like spring when it's covered in pollen.

I keep the inside pretty clean, as I don't like staring at the dust.

 

[Omar F1]

2007
Crap, I was much, much younger, ten years ago ...

Anyway, Only 2017 I started to wash it once every three weeks, quite getting old for that stuff.
Six years since I bought my current car new, and when you look at the paint after wash it's well evidenced that my paint-condition have stayed great all along. Hand wash FTW.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

A lot of those "wheel and tire cleaners" are acidic and will actually damage the finish on your alloy wheels.