How often do you wash your car in an automatic car wash?

[ls1mike]

Never.

 

[DaHen]

Never. Bucket and hose.

 

[64bawagon]

not for the last 62 yrs. No future plans in sight.

 

[ZZman]

Rarely ever. Maybe every 3-4 months. Since the wife got a nicer vehicle I might consider the monthly subscription. It is actually the smarter way to go if you want to keep it looking nice.
The new carwash I town wants 20.00 for their top wash....ouch

 

[Crashbox]

Some years back I ran my '95 Civic through the local car wash a few times, but that is it. My 2017 Accord EX-L V-6/6MT has only been hand-washed by myself, mostly with rinseless washes. The Honda dealer gave me free car wash cards when I used to take the Accord in for an oil change, but there is no way I could bring myself to do that to the only car I ever bought brand new

 

[jmillet]

NEVER! One bucket with ONR, sponge and plenty of The Rag Company microfiber towels.

 

[John105]

Some years back I ran my '95 Civic through the local car wash a few times, but that is it. My 2017 Accord EX-L V-6/6MT has only been hand-washed by myself, mostly with rinseless washes. The Honda dealer gave me free car wash cards when I used to take the Accord in for an oil change, but there is no way I could bring myself to do that to the only car I ever bought brand new

How did you get Honda to comply? I figure you made sure it went in dirty so you could tell it came back unwashed?

On my 335i I would say not to wash it, but it would be washed anyway so I gave up. Back then (2007-2011) M cars were hand wash only. But I found it’s hard to do things when creating an exception (like you want synthetic oil when the car didn’t come with it and they put Dino juice but charge for synth)

 

[wlk]

1 to 2 times per week normally. If salt is on the roads we take them the next day after driving in it.

 

[RAVL]

We have a nice one not far from the barn my wife uses for her horses. We have all three of the daily drivers on the unlimited plan. They do a very nice job and I will typically hit them with a wipe down of spray wax (typically Griots but sometimes 3M) after they get home. Nice time savings, one less thing to do. And in the winter it helps to get the salt and brine off as quickly as possible.

My non daily drivers I do with a rinseless wash. They are washed less frequently because they don’t generally get driven in inclement weather.

I used to detail cars professionally as one of many jobs I had when I was in school, so I say this as someone who is very particular about the cars.

 

[Patman]

I never take my Corvette through an automatic wash, I just use those do it yourself coin washes. I don't often drive it in the rain, so I'm mainly just spraying it down once a month to get rid of the dust and then I immediately drive it on the highway to blow most of the water off and then I'll stop after 5 minutes to lightly wipe of the rest of the water with a microfiber cloth.
With my Civic I have a monthly package at a soft cloth car wash and I usually go through it about 3-4 times per week. I'm not as picky about the paint on the Civic, I just like it to always be clean and as long as it looks good from 5-10ft away I'm ok with that. I can always buff out the minor scratches with my UDM buffer anyway (mine is the more powerful first generation version before they got taken over by Porter Cable)

 

[Eddie]

I use a brush-less car wash about once a month during the NON rainy season.

 

[wpod]

For the past 30 years that is the only way my vehicles get cleaned.

 

[John105]

As mentioned 2/3 cars have monthlies. But last weekend I turned the water back on at home so I hand washed the 335. She’s garaged and I have never run her through an automatic wash. Dealer has, however. I enjoyed washing her by hand but it’s a small car. My wife’s SUV has a lot of surface area so I think the automatic is justified especially in the winter.

 

[CKN]

I just bought an almost new (6,500 miles) 2023 Silverado that was a dealer loaner. It's Black. It already has some scratches that were obviously caused by automated car washes.It will see only see touch less. Both spinning type foam "brushes" and touch less have their pros/cons.
However-I run my wife's Highlander through automated car washes with out any visible scratches. Im sure they are there-but due to the color Silver/Grey they can't be seen.

The membership type car washes (I don't buy memberships) are $31.00/month to get under carriage wash feature. That's extremely important in the winter.
Utah really is not any cheaper for goods/services than most other cities that are larger.

 

[CKN]

Never. Haven't been through an automated car wash in at least 10 years.

I use the 2 pails and a hose method on the driveway.

The problem here is it rains every few days for about half the year so the roads are usually messy. So we don't wash our cars a lot during those 6 months. The good news is there is almost never salt on the roads so there's no salt to wash off anyway.

When we lived on the prairies we washed our cars during the winter at a spray it yourself place. We could wash (meaning spray, wipe and spray again) both cars in about an hour. Then, the 2 pails and a hose on the driveway method for the rest of the year.

But yet in some parts of Canada they practically pave the roads with salt in the winter.

 

[ecotourist]

But yet in some parts of Canada they practically pave the roads with salt in the winter.

That's mostly an Eastern Canada thing. It's too cold on the prairies for salt to do much good (though they don't seem to know that in Winnipeg). And Canada has a West coast too. Our winter weather is similar to Seattle or Portland. There is almost no salt used here.

 

[Randol]

I try to minimize it, only use during the winter. The two local chains don't do that good of a job. They both use for the lack of a better term, rag brushes. No bristles like a brush, but strips of fabric. I have seen cars that run through frequently look like they are ready to paint with the fine abrasions, mask them up and wipe them down.