I wont take my truck to the car wash since having the left mirror ripped off my last suburban and having the wash operator tell me it was my fault. The 5 week fighting match that ensued was not worth it. I take it to the self spray wash or wash in my garage because I have a 4 car with floor drains and hot & cold water.
Do you take your car to the car wash?
- Thread starter buster
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I take the truck to the car wash weekly during the winter, and wash it biweekly during the summer myself.
I'm a regular user of touch free automatic car washes, especially in the wintertime. As others have hit on, the "frozen tundra" winter can get to be annoying, with the constant salt bath and freezing weather. At the very least I feel better if my car is clean for even a day this time of year! My '88 Jeep Cherokee seems to appreciate the treatment - no rust spots to speak of yet (although it was a Colorado Jeep until 2001!).
I think we're talking about two different issues here: washing your car in just *cold weather* vs. washing your car in *cold weather with salty, slushy roads*.
Where I live, it can get pretty cold, and my comments are restricted to that. We don't really use salt on our roads down here, and we may have several days to a week of dry roads and clear skies, but still very cold. So I think some of us are talking about that.
Of course, if there is a lot of salt on the roads, then you're probably wasting your time and money.
Car washes recycle water. The drains capture the water shed from vehicle and run it through settling tanks and finally mix with fresh water. Basically you are spraying some silt and dissolved salt back onto the vehicle.
How do I know this? My first job out of college as a civil engineer was a car wash site plan.
How do I know this? My first job out of college as a civil engineer was a car wash site plan.
Yes, some recycle water, but not all.
I go to the do-it-yourself wash place about a mile from my apartment. I spray degreaser on the wheels and rinse on high pressure. The whole car gets a low-pressure rinse (no soap, unless I'm hand-waxing afterward). Wipe down with a sheepskin, then high-pressure rinse. If it's been a while since I waxed, I might spray on some gloss wax and rinse it. Finally comes the spot-free rinse. I've also discovered it's a good idea to wipe the wheels with paper towels before you drive off, or the new brake dust will stick to the wetness and you'll have to clean 'em again.
I then pull the car into the shade, if I can find some, and dry the body and glass with cotton towels. A little bit of detailing, door handles, tires, etc., winds it up. Then (March - November) I go home and wash *me* off, because I'm soaked with sweat.
No brush on anything but the tires if they're very dirty. No idea what sharp stuff could be lurking between those bristles. I wax every 3 months or so.
Pay $7-10 for somebody else to do what I can do for $2.50? Madness! Madness, I say!
I then pull the car into the shade, if I can find some, and dry the body and glass with cotton towels. A little bit of detailing, door handles, tires, etc., winds it up. Then (March - November) I go home and wash *me* off, because I'm soaked with sweat.
No brush on anything but the tires if they're very dirty. No idea what sharp stuff could be lurking between those bristles. I wax every 3 months or so.
Pay $7-10 for somebody else to do what I can do for $2.50? Madness! Madness, I say!
The 04 Intrepid beater gets the car wash, but never the toys....
I use the touchless car washes quite a bit during the salt months (especially the ones that have the underbody sprays). I also try and use Eagle One Wax As You Dry as much as possible, and maybe a full wax job twice during the winter. The heated garage at my work really comes in handy
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No kidding. And the would react to it like a major earthquake if it does.
why are some people so obssesed with their cars? it's just appearance. i used to be like that with my first car but then got tired of it real fast and stopped. now i only use scrub-a-dub car wash and never wax. car looks fine. I think people can do way better things in their free time than crawling around their cars licking it till it shines. it's gonna get dirty real fast again and all that work and time wasted for nothing. just my oppinion.
45 @ night in SoCal isn't freezing.
Do you have the same opinion about washing your clothes? Using your way of thinking, its a waste to wash them as they're only going to get dirty and smelly again...
Keeping my truck and motorcyle clean is "mental health" time for me. It helps me escape from work and all my other worries. Just me, a beer, a Friday night, some loud music off of the XM radio, a bottle of glaze and a microfiber towel.... Ahhh!!!!
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Do you have the same opinion about washing your clothes? Using your way of thinking, its a waste to wash them as they're only going to get dirty and smelly again...
Keeping my truck and motorcyle clean is "mental health" time for me. It helps me escape from work and all my other worries. Just me, a beer, a Friday night, some loud music off of the XM radio, a bottle of glaze and a microfiber towel.... Ahhh!!!!
it's ridiculous to compare personal clothing to car appearence. if you neglect the first one you running risk of personal hygiene and health problems and some dirty looks too. car appearense way less important. so fast car wash once in the while is just fine. my mental health will suffer if i have to polish my car even if i don't like to cause it's hard work to get you car real clean and nice, and then it gets dirty in 2 days. defenitely waste of time.
How about the fact that a car is typically the 2nd biggest expense one makes (a house being 1st). It's called preventative maintenance, kind like changing the oil. If you don't care of the paint and other areas they will degrade and therefore the value of your vehicle is going to decrease.
If you don't want to care for your car that's fine. It's your car, time & money. I myself though like caring for my cars so that they look & drive good, along with holding their value better b/c I've put a little bit of time and elbow grease into caring for them.
It's because of people like you why I don't like buying used cars. Some people these days are just too lazy to take good care of the things they own, especially expensive items like a car.
yeah and than one day you total it. bye bye resale vallue. all that hard work again for nothing. i don't see my cars as an investment value that i can resell later. I drive them and enjoy them and myself. I live today. I'm not a servant to my car, my car serves me. so srew potential future resalle problems. there can be far more bigger underwater rocks than some not so perfect paint, all that time and money you invest in maintaining your car might not return as a result. besides car paint now days is way better and corrosion ressistant than ever before.
...and I'm not lazy i just got better and usefull things to do with my time than polish my car all day. Your car is not gonna run any better if you handwash it instead of taking it to carwash. it's only appearance issue. got nothing to do with how it runs or performs. even rusty car will drive fine if you maintain insides properly and timely(which I do). ever heard of sleepers?
I don't think I said a car was an investment anywhere in my response. What I did say though is that a little care for your car can help maintain the value of your car.
And if you're totaling your cars so often that you have to bring it up here then maybe you should spend more time learning how to drive. I've yet to have any accidents that required more than $500 of work.
My point is that people pay $20K, $30K, even more for a car and they don't take care of it. If I can help my car maintain it's value by giving it a little TLC over a period of a few years, then I will. Plus, it's always nice to drive a clean car. If you don't agree then I'm not sure why exactly you're involved in this thread.
If I were in the market for a used car and I had two cars to choose from, I'm definitely going to pick the car that's in better shape inside & out.
Either way, you act like people are crazy for wanting to take care of their cars. If that's really the case, why are you even involved in this thread? I'm sure there are things you do that would make some of us think you're crazy for doing. Get over it!
And if you're totaling your cars so often that you have to bring it up here then maybe you should spend more time learning how to drive. I've yet to have any accidents that required more than $500 of work.
My point is that people pay $20K, $30K, even more for a car and they don't take care of it. If I can help my car maintain it's value by giving it a little TLC over a period of a few years, then I will. Plus, it's always nice to drive a clean car. If you don't agree then I'm not sure why exactly you're involved in this thread.
If I were in the market for a used car and I had two cars to choose from, I'm definitely going to pick the car that's in better shape inside & out.
Either way, you act like people are crazy for wanting to take care of their cars. If that's really the case, why are you even involved in this thread? I'm sure there are things you do that would make some of us think you're crazy for doing. Get over it!
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