Wash your car your self or take it to car wash?

[Pembo]

I was out in the driveway this morning washing the van and wondered how many others still was their car "the old fashioned way"?

I hardly see any of my neighbors out washing theirs and yet their cars look clean?!

 

[Rajah]

I do it two ways. Sometimes I just run it through an automated wash, and that's just about the only thing I did with my previous car. But with this new one, you can really tell that the automated brushless washes don't get even half the gunk off, and I don't want to do brush washes 'cause it'll scratch up the gloss coat on the paint (or something like that -- DH warned against it anyway), so I've started doing it myself. Or, rather, blinking big eyes at DH when he's doing his, and half the time he'll do mine to and the other half of the time I do mine.

 

[Dodie]

Actually, my DH is the one who handwashes our cars, not me, but there are some things people need to realize about those automatic wash places:

1. If they use hot water, that hot water is washing off any wax or polish that you have placed on your car to protect it.

2. Even if they use "soft brushes" or those sponge things, the whole process can be KILLER to your paint job.

3. When you pay extra for their wax or polish, it's nothing but a joke. No wax or polish is going to stick to your finish unless it's rubbed in. They're just squirting the stuff onto your car and it's running right off.

Of course, maybe using those places is better than not washing your vehicle at all.

 

[fklhou]

My office building has a service that washes cars with a power washer. You give the concierge your keys and pay her and your car is washed and the keys left with the receptionist.

 

[Fire14]

My gets washed by Saturn at every oil change. I'm bad I know but for free it works for me. I also have habit of using auto washers during winter months to get grimm from underbody of car.

 

[tc]

I used to wash it in the driveway, but with the drought, that's not allowed. Now I take it to the manual car wash. You know the kind. You do the work yourself, but you pay to use their water, brushes, soap. They also have vacuum cleaners outside to use, but I usually do that at home. It's a pain, but I don't want to drive my car through an automatic car wash that my mess up the paint.

 

[shep]

We do it in the driveway..
Was actually cleaning the brake dust off my rims this morning...

 

[CBRorBust]

I take it to this place and have it done. Best 5 bucks I spend! And if it's getting dirty on the inside, I'll spend the extra $10. Call me lazy, but when you deal with crazy Texas weather where it will be sunny for 10 days then rain and snow for the next 6, you'll only wash your car so often. LOL!

 

[ToyStory Fan]

I wash them myself. I am very (shall we say) particular about my cars. I have a black car and do not trust ANYONE man or machine to do it properly without getting swirls in the paint.

My silver truck (which will be going soon) gets car wash...just too big to do by hand, but the new truck will be a deep midnite blue, so I suspect I will be doing that one myself as well.

Most of the time if you notice in the automated carwashes that have workers who dry your car at the end, are notorious for not getting all of the dirt off, and then the dryers just grind the dirt into the paint by towelling off the unwashed areas.

To really detail my car usually takes a good part of the weekend. Here she is after a full detailing.

 

[Planogirl]

I like to use the "touch-free" automatic car washes once in a while. But usually I just do it myself at one of the car washes and do detail work at home.

 

[cinmell]

We go to the car wash.