[Lovesubaru]

Just curious...what kind of car wash you guys use?

In winter, I use those touch free car wash at local gas station...

In summer and spring time, DIY hand wash...

 

[funkymonkey1002]

Rain.

Cars been washed maybe once or twice in the past 2 years. Don't really care, it just brings out the scratches and battle wounds when it gets washed!

 

[adc]

I just use the wand...but mainly underneath. In the northeast you need to worry about salt and calcium chloride.

 

[redrum1974]

Bikini car wash

 

[Hot09XT]

Bikini car wash

I am all for this.........you know equal rights!

Rain.

Cars been washed maybe once or twice in the past 2 years. Don't really care, it just brings out the scratches and battle wounds when it gets washed!

LOL.

And to answer the question. I use an automated car wash and hand wash, alternating, depending on the available time I have. Some type of waxing (either hand paste or quick wax) every 3 months. I usually alternate that too.

 

[JBX]

I just use the wand...but mainly underneath. In the northeast you need to worry about salt and calcium chloride.

This. And the bikini car wash only when absolutely necessary. You know...only for the economic stimulus value.

 

[Lovesubaru]

Bikini car wash

where I am in

:biggrin:

 

[Tuned200]

Dealer gives me a free hand wash once a week, or as often as I can get up there for it.

Touchless FTW

 

[SKSTI]

Touchless stations around here are rather weak. They're good for rinsing off dust, and that's about it. Most drive-thrus do better job of ridding buildup stuff, but prepare to say hello to tiny scratchy friends.

So far, nothing beats DIY (not counting professional detailing).

I don't know about you folks, but I love spending an entire afternoon cleaning the ride. Not only it's satisfying to see the results, it's a nice little time away from the hectic routine.

No disturbance, no phone calls. Just you, the vehicle, and beer.

 

[Canonshooter]

I don't know about you folks, but I love spending an entire afternoon cleaning the ride. Not only it's satisfying to see the results, it's a nice little time away from the hectic routine.

No disturbance, no phone calls. Just you, the vehicle, and beer.

Count me as a member of that club too!

 

[neoshi]

Just me, the vehicle, and my girlfriend asking why I'm taking so long with my other girlfriend...

... and also why I'm not schmoozing her girlfriend too.

 

[AzNFoLife924]

I dont trust car washes... I can't imagine how many cars these places wash a day, let alone the employees who are probably sick of washing cars (I know I'm sick of making people's drinks at starbucks) so... NO ONE touches my baby except ME. DIY Handwash all the time, Meguiar's NXT wash, wax, and tire shine... Keeps her clean as a whistle :biggrin: And my parents wonder why i have no gf.... :chair: My Subie is all the love i need :Banane35:

 

[Cuddles]

I can not ****ing wait till it gets warm out.

 

[mundane]

ditto!

 

[good dog]

To add to SKSTI's statement

Just you, the vehicle, and beer(s) followed by a BBQ. :icon_wink:

 

[TAGXT04]

Lazerwash "touchless" car wash does a good job when you can't hand wash. Especially useful when they have the undercarriage wash to get the salt off.

 

[Novtec1]

driveway, bucket, soap, sponge, time and the most important element.... BEER

 

[Quicksilver]

Going back to the original question ("...what kind of a car wash do you use in winter"?), I'm curious about the purists in our midst...do you all live in San Diego or Miami or somewhere with no real lasting winters?
For those of us in northern climes, a loving afternoon outside is not an option. So I've got a few questions, if you'd care to respond...
1) Summer or winter, how thorough are your undercarriage cleaning efforts?
2) In winter, do you just write off cleaning your Foz top to bottom?
3) In winter, what kind of windshield care do you recommend...if you say RainX, you don't live in real winter climate as road salt and road oils diminish it's summer rain magic quickly?
-Quick (Here in Alaska winter, I do a laser type no touch car wash with undercarriage cleaning once a week, or timed immediately after a warm spell (when temps get into the 30's), which ever comes first...my Foz is not going to rust from bottom up!). Then after breakup (spring thaw), off to get Quicksilver detailed in and out.

 

[MudRunner]

^

1. I am very anal about undercarriage cleaning (ya know what I mean) both summer and winter, even though I offroad the car. The red clay here rusts things out just as bad as salt, and in the winter, we get salt too. I also have a 1200ft long red gravel driveway to add to the undercarriage mess. Normally I just go to the coin-op carwash, and use the power rinse to hose off the underside, then I go home and wash the topside myself (in the summer). In the winter, I just keep the car hosed off as much as I can. I did do a full detail the other day though, it got up to 50F! lol

Every spring all of our vehicles go up on jack stands and get pressure washed underneath. Mechanics are always amazed.

2. Not entirely, but I'm not OCD about it. I put a good coat of insulating wax on it in the fall, and keep the grime buildup off it by hosing it off (as mentioned previously).

3. I don't use anything, as the RainX just comes right off (seems to in the summer now, too? I wonder if they changed the formula). My wipers work better on the plain windshield surface when it comes to removing road/wintery grime without streaking.

We have mild winters down south for the most part, but I'm also used to dealing with MN/ME winters as well. :biggrin:

 

[Nasarog]

I used to care many years ago. I would wash at home in a multi-step process. I would follow that with a detailed wax/polish.

I then got bored of the whole process and now I just take it to get washed. It's just car to me. I have better things t do with my time. I go for a detailed job once a season, and wash it once a month.

That's it.