Do you take your car to the car wash?

[mshu7]

And where did I say it's going to run better b/c of washing or polishing? Seriously, read a little more carefully next time.


By the way, here's what I really said:
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.

 

[ScottB]

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In Cali, I don't think you are looking at either the freezing weather or the road salt we have here.

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What does that have to do with your statement?
Perplexed in Cali - and BTW, we DO have cold weather here, but where I live, no salt.

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45 @ night in SoCal isn't freezing.

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Clearly, another brain-surgeon posting...
As a matter of FACT, my house has had temps in the 20's maybe 8 times in the last three weeks.
The bird bath's froze solid.
Maybe water in VA freezes at a different temp???

 

[Win]

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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.

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Are you suggesting that the owner of a car has some kind of obligation to its subsequent owners?

The cars I buy are for the use of me (or my family). I don't see any point in saving them for the next person.

 

[mshu7]

Nope, it's your car and you can do what you want with it. However, if you want to get the most $$$ out of your car when it's time to sell, it would help if it has been taken care of.

Like I said, I like driving clean, well cared for vehicles. If you don't, that's fine. But don't complain when someone won't buy your car or give you what you expect for it when it comes time to sell it. I try to take care of my vehicles as best as possible because I own my cars for almost 10 years. When one of my cars is 5 years old I don't want it looking like some beater because I've neglected to take care of it.

Again, everybody is entitled to how their care for their cars. I choose to keep mine looking & running good as long as I own them. Plus, I know it will help when the time comes to sell.

Same thing applies to a house. If I'm shelling out that much money I'm going to take care of it. I think people today are too quick to just go buy new (for anything) because what they have is "old". Maybe if they had just taken better care of what they had it would be different. It would sure save these kinds of people some $$$ and that's big considering how many people are up to their ears in debt.

 

[oilnoob425]

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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!

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i think you're the one not getting it. i never said i against taking care of cars. i said that it is overkill to be all obsesive about it. crawling and cleaning it like some kind of a relic. carwash is just fine. i like my car clean and well maintained just like next guy. and I do it. i'm very neat person. probably more than any of you. but it's just a hunk of metall and not worth extra trouble.

And if you think youi are right so go ahead and do it but don't sell it as a neccessity.

 

[oilnoob425]

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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.

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Are you suggesting that the owner of a car has some kind of obligation to its subsequent owners?

The cars I buy are for the use of me (or my family). I don't see any point in saving them for the next person.

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you right. mshu7 makes accusation but doesn't even know me. i'm not going to keel over that car just so he would like to buy it. people like him will always find something wrong anyway. I have a very well maintained and clean car but I won't go out of my way to keep it like new. it's just a car and i will eventually get another one.

 

[gedcruise]

Let me give you the simplified response, as a brain surgeon (For all you kow, I could well be).
First, no car wash will carefully spray off the underbody and the fender wells. No car wash employee is going to apply flushing water with a hose in one hand, while using the fingers of his other hand to carefully remove the acumulated debris from the fender lips of your car. Both are very important in an environment where road salt is heavily applied.
Second, I would no more take my car to a car wash than I would to Speedy Lube. There may be those who disagree, which is surely their priviledge, but it is both more convenient and cheaper to wash the beast in your driveway, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you've spent the time and effort to do the job right.

 

[widman]

I own a car wash (not automatic), and it is bad business to own one and drive a dirty car, even if you live on the end of a dirt road. So my cars get washed daily. Get no more scratches in them than the cactus and branches that overhang the roads, or the kids who love to write in the dust.

 

[PW01]

I go to the "do it yourself" car wash with a lambs wool mit and tough it out.

 

[sxg6]

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If anyone would explain me the benefit of the (commuter) car wash in winter when the roads are covered with half inch of salt, I'd appreciate that a lot. No matter how good you are at what you're doing, the salt will readily stick right to the newly- washed underbody. And very soon (in 10 minutes?) the rest of the car is covered with the same crusty layer. Or is washed in the nice brine again...
So, what's the benefit, rather then good feelings for 10 minutes?
I even tend to think that it is actually detrimental.

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Not too sure what you're talking about.. I wait until the roads are dry until i get my car washed. If the roads are wet, then yes the salt will just splash up and get all over your clean car, but not when its dry.

I get my car washed at touchfree and cloth washes as needed in the winter time. It's New England, i live in an apartment, and really dont care because i drive an economy car. Its not great for your car, but i don't think its as bad as some people think it is. I've been doing this for 3.5 years and still get compliments all the time on how my car still looks like new and it has 117,000mi on the clock.

 

[LouDawg]

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I wait until the roads are dry until i get my car washed. If the roads are wet, then yes the salt will just splash up and get all over your clean car, but not when its dry.

I get my car washed at touchfree and cloth washes as needed in the winter time...its not great for your car, but i don't think its as bad as some people think it is.

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BINGO! That's exactly what I said earlier. Is washing your car by hand better? Sure. Is washing it at a carwash...especially by hand...going to strip off the paint, rust it into the ground, and make it look like sh*t? No. Hey protect your investment...keep it looking good...but don't get carried away. It's a car, not the Hope Diamond.

 

[yugrus]

In my neck of woods when the roads get dry after a snowfall, they are covered with a thin layer of fine salt dust. There are lots of places with salt chunks covering intersections, etc. When wind picks up, you can see the clouds of fine dust flowing around. You'd want to think that this is snow, but it is salt actually.
Oh well, cities have to spend their snow-fighting budget, even in mild winters like that...

 

[sxg6]

Ahh ok, now i get what you're saying. Thanks for clearing that up

 

[nyr197]

When it is warm, I wash and wax my car by hand.
S100 wax.

When it is cold, and my car becomes coated in road salt, I take it to the DIY car wash, and rinse the entire car, and then spray that "wax" they offer.

I also put wax on my wheels to help protect them.

 

[thunderchild]

I go to the brushless car washes, summer and winter. I wax them twice during the summer so they are protected during the cold month's. They look great. My truck still get's complements on how good it looks even with 85,000 miles and 3 years of Maryland winters. Same with my car. I used to do the hand washing but after I found a couple of good car washes I have no problem going there once a week. I do my own waxing though. Sometimes with a paste wax. Talk about a good work out trying to get it off! Keep those cold one's handy!!

 

[tripleM]

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In Cali, I don't think you are looking at either the freezing weather or the road salt we have here.

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What does that have to do with your statement?
Perplexed in Cali - and BTW, we DO have cold weather here, but where I live, no salt.

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45 @ night in SoCal isn't freezing.

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Clearly, another brain-surgeon posting...
As a matter of FACT, my house has had temps in the 20's maybe 8 times in the last three weeks.
The bird bath's froze solid.
Maybe water in VA freezes at a different temp???

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Your bath froze below 32 not 45 hill billy. You must be 1 of those Riverside tw@ ts. Look @ your avg winter temps. You get that 20 once every 10 years. The only reason you got it this year was El Nino or global warming or what ever the weather prediction du jour is.

The other poster obviously was talking general winter temps up where he is not your once in a decade freeze.

OMG your oranges are freezing...

Sh! t, I laugh @ all you SoCal slackers for wearing freeking ski parka when the temp went down to 60 while I was living out there.

Same as overpaying for the M1 you are well known to do!

 

[ScottB]

^^^ Wow. You are one angry and jealous camper, aren't you?
I was born and raised in Butte, MT and Chicago - I know cold.
I also don't own any orange fields or ski parkas - just an old WWII B-17 jacket.
As for my M1, I can afford to buy it and that's a problem because?
I think your anger at being the real (sic) "hill billy" is showing 3M.

Maybe you need a thawing out?

 

[The Critic]

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Maybe you need a thawing out?

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[moribundman]

TripleMad (Cool rapper name!) is totally right about all the CA wussies wearing parkas and ski hats if it's 60 F. What's up with that? I wear nothing but short sleeve t-shirts (and pants!) into the mid 40s!

 

[Matt89]

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In Cali, I don't think you are looking at either the freezing weather or the road salt we have here.

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What does that have to do with your statement?
Perplexed in Cali - and BTW, we DO have cold weather here, but where I live, no salt.

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45 @ night in SoCal isn't freezing.

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Clearly, another brain-surgeon posting...
As a matter of FACT, my house has had temps in the 20's maybe 8 times in the last three weeks.
The bird bath's froze solid.
Maybe water in VA freezes at a different temp???

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Your bath froze below 32 not 45 hill billy. You must be 1 of those Riverside tw@ ts. Look @ your avg winter temps. You get that 20 once every 10 years. The only reason you got it this year was El Nino or global warming or what ever the weather prediction du jour is.

The other poster obviously was talking general winter temps up where he is not your once in a decade freeze.

OMG your oranges are freezing...

Sh! t, I laugh @ all you SoCal slackers for wearing freeking ski parka when the temp went down to 60 while I was living out there.

Same as overpaying for the M1 you are well known to do!

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If Tony were still with us you'd be looking for another bulletin board to post this kind of junk. Let's honor his memory by adhering to the simple rules that have made this board great. Thank you.