Car washes

[MissCrabette]

This doesn't fit here 100%, but it's sort of around the house, so...

How often do you wash your car? Do you wash it yourself? Take it to an auto car wash? Have it hand washed and detailed? Do you do it more or less often in the winter?

I'm torn on this during the winter because I worry that the salt is damaging, but at the same time I know that the salt and dirt will be back on the car the moment I drive away from the auto car wash. Then I go googling for best practices in car washing, and I invariably end up on some BMW or Mercedes forum where owners are so nutty about their cars that they hand wash their cars twice weekly and use more products than a hair stylist.

I'm curious what others do. I'm probably a horribly neglectful car owner. My car gets a nice hand wash when it goes in for service (maybe 2x/year). Other than that, meh. I will go to one of the drive through places if we've been to the beach and it's covered in salt, or in the spring when the pollen gets so bad it turns yellow. We park in a parking deck so I don't really have any way to wash it myself.

[poky]

We wash ours a lot more in the winter, at a nicer drive-through place that includes undercarriage wash. My car was in great shape when I moved out here to the land of salt on the roads, and I want to keep it that way, though that's probably not possible, here. Generally, there are enough days where the roads are clear (ie not throwing up more salt) that it's worth it to knock the salt off once every couple weeks.

[Michele]

I go through a drive thru place every third week. It gets dirty quickly because it's black and parked outside near trees. I wish it fit in the garage (the only thing that fits in our garage is the CRX). When Russ got all nutty about car washing (too much time on those car forums!) he bought a home system by Maguires or something. Seemed just like soap to me. My mom has a convertible Mini and she washes it by hand weekly.

[oceanchild]

My car was evicted from the garage this summer to make room for DH's new car. It misses the garage and shows the mess. Parking on the street is rough!

I actually used to get it washed more when it was in the garage. Now I know it's just going to get dirty again. So lately it gets washed maybe every couple months. Definitely before parents or ILs come to visit. I either take it through a gas station wash or one of those "hand wash" places. I hate doing it myself.

[SuzySunshine]

I go through one of the automatics that is part of my gas station. In the summer I'm lucky if I go once a month but in the winter I try to go every other time I fill my car up because we live in a place where they use a lot of salt and sand.

If it was up to my husband he would take the cars 2x a week. But it's not. So they don't go that often. Our nice car fits in the garage so I have to worry about it less. And our Jeep that sits in the driveway I don't really care about because it is the "dog" car so there really isn't much hope of it looking good ever. I would prefer to hand wash our cars, I actually enjoy it in the summer but we have very strict water restrictions during the summer and you aren't allowed to wash your car in your driveway. It's considered water waster and you could be reported and fined! So during the summer I let my husband take the nice car to the place that machine washes, but hand drys and vacuums. We don't live in a place where we have to worry about salt during the winter so I usually just wipe them down with a wet cloth and vacuum them during the winter months unless we have guests or they get particularly muddy.

[houseelf]

My car is gross. Nasty. Kids eat in it and leave their crap everywhere. I'm forever carting my brood and their friends everywhere.

I was carpooling last month when a very sweet seven year old earnestly asked me, "Mrs. B, why is your van so messy?"

I laughed because because her innocent observation is so true! Somehow I refrained that it is because little people keep puking, mashing, trashing, painting the inside of the van and I just sort of gave up....but you should see my house! I keep it relatively clean considering I have little people running inside and outside all.day.long.

Needless to say, the van needs cleaned!

[weeniegeniewife]

I go googling for best practices in car washing, and I invariably end up on some BMW or Mercedes forum where owners are so nutty about their cars that they hand wash their cars twice weekly and use more products than a hair stylist.

*raises hand* This would be me, although not that nutty. I have a BMW Z4 that is not a kid car; I take very good care of it, especially because the interior is white alpine leather. It's mine and DH's weekend date car. We have two other cars the kids can get dirty and eat in. Mine, no way. I don't wash it twice a week, but at least once a month, and by hand. I actually enjoy it!

[Meenah]

I thought that is what the rain is for!!!!

[Pollyanna]

I thought that is what the rain is for!!!!

Heehee, me too Luanne!!!

[diggitydot]

I only wash the car myself by hand a couple times in the summer, usually when I feel compelled to remove whatever scrunched up mess the kids or DH have deposited in the back carpets.

I love DH dearly, but the man is a freakin' slob of epic proportions. Cleaning the cars (inside and out) tends to be more of my thing than his. It bugs me to drive a messy car.

[SoonerTexan]

I try to wash mine every two weeks, but in reality it happens more like once every couple months. I always take it to a DIY place because it is cheaper and allows me to pop the hood and spray off the engine. My dad (airplane mechanic who fixes all of our cars) gets onto me big time when I don't wash it and especially when I don't keep the engine area clean, which leads me to believe it probably makes a difference.

The interior is a different story. My car is a 10 year old Taurus.

[v-girl]

I'm with Luanne. My car gets washed when it rains.

[MDPhDWife]

I'm with Luanne. My car gets washed when it rains.

Ditto. My interior is destroyed from the kids. I keep little trash cans in there and they get dumped out when I get gas but it still is a cluttered mess inside.