How often do you wash your car?

Koolau said:
I've never washed my current car - I bought it in '17. It got washed this past November when the body shop repairing some damage washed it.
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I am close. May be once every 6-12 months. We live in the rural area and park cars outside. They get dirty real fast so no point in washing them.
 
pjigar said:
I am close. May be once every 6-12 months. We live in the rural area and park cars outside. They get dirty real fast so no point in washing them.
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I like the way you think (they'll just get dirty again!) :facepalm: :cool:
 
I hand wash all of the cars in my driveway.
No automatic car washes since 1993.
One of my cars hasn't gotten washed since November of last year but looks sparkling still. I have only driven it 3 times this year.
Her car gets washed once a month.
My other car gets washed as needed. Once every 2 weeks or so.
I use the single bucket method on my cars. You fill one bucket with your car wash soap and water. You then use microfibers for each panel. The microfibers don't go back in the water. I use about 6 microfibers per wash.
 
I wash my truck in the spring to get the salt off of it from Wisconsin's winter. Other than that, it has to get pretty bad to wash it. In that case, I use the self-serve DIY car wash.
 
Regular washing is part of good maintenance. I wash my cars about every 2 weeks, that includes under-carriage wash and wiping down the surface of the engine and under the hood. Removing dirt and contaminants regularly will make your car last longer. Plain and simple.

I also have a regular cleaning routine with our RV. We have a professional wash, wax and polish 2x per year, and I wash it myself after each trip. Same reason as why I take good care of my cars. They last longer and are worth more if you choose to trade or sell.
 
pjigar said:
I am close. May be once every 6-12 months. We live in the rural area and park cars outside. They get dirty real fast so no point in washing them.
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Same here. We have a gravel driveway and my car parks outside. So I wash it when it starts to look dirty, and it's gray so does not show dirt too bad. The inside gets cleaned even less. I do keep up with mechanicals and all that.
 
Qs Laptop said:
There is a booming business in franchise car washes like Mister Car Wash, Tsunami Express, and Tommy's Car Wash Express. These high tech drive thru touchless car washes offer subscription services and also perks like dog wash areas. I'd like to try one some day.
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I use to be a stickler for hand washing weekly but now I just wash when it’s dirty every 3-6 weeks and use the gas station quick wash sometimes. It’s $10.

A new trend in my area is the luxury auto spa. The cheapest wash is $30 but you clean your own interior at that price. I bet the avg is $50-60. Now I see these auto spas popping up all over.
 
DH washes them in the driveway about every other week spring - fall, and takes them to the car wash when they get dirty in the winter.
 
I guess I've made sort of a deal with myself that I'll buy older used cars - hopefully with a lot of life left in them (aka low mileage) and then not worry too much about keeping them washed. The other side of the bargain is that I don't need to hand wash them all the time to make them last longer or make them look spotless all the time. Nor do I need to spend much money on them by detailing them. My cars are transportation - not a statement. They are to be used up - not preserved. Amazingly, my 2000 Buick looks pretty decent and the '12 RAV 4 does too.

IF they get looking too grotty, I might run them through a car wash. One car (my mainland car) gets a "free" (actually included) auto-brush wash with each oil change - which I do once a year.
 
I used to wash it every few weeks, as needed. Gave that up about 12 years ago. Now it gets washed once a year, before waxing.
 
Way back when I lived in Texas, never. It would rain hard enough frequently enough to keep the car clean enough.

In Colorado, it is a different story. It seldomly rains hard enough to clean the car. It usually rains just a few drops and deposits dirt on the car. In the winter, the de-icer and road/snow gunk can trash the car. I also like to drive on dirt roads on vacation. That really trashes the cars. Plus all the bugs. When I was working, I had a monthly subscription. Now, I just was the car after every road trip. Sometimes after a big snow storm if the car gets really trashed.

I didn't know what virga was until living in Colorado. That is how dry it is here. Rain evaporates before it hits the ground. :eek:
 
Every two weeks. Weather might push it out a week to the next weekend. Every other wash gets a wax afterwards. Different rules for winter: once a month, or soon after my car gets salted. Ends up being around two weeks on average, probably.

Per google:
MythBusters found that a clean car gets better gas mileage than a dirty car. In their experiment, a dirty car got 24 mpg, while a clean car got 26.4 mpg. This was due to the clean car having a smoother, more aerodynamic surface, allowing air to flow more efficiently.

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm a low-mileage driver and I am not worried about mpg. I wash more out of habit, back from when I 'loved' my cars.
 
Seasonally. 6 year old car, 45K miles. I only drive 18 miles a day 3x a week with occasional weekend sides / errands. Winter salt gets a touchless car wash when it's above 35 after a storm. Late spring either a hand wash or a touchless to get the pollen off. Sometime in summer, a real hand wash and refresh of ceramic coat.
 
When I retired in 2011 I thought car washes were expensive. I think the price was about $35 at the time. You had half a dozen people working on the car and they did a good job and it was pretty fast. But now I was retired and washing the car was one of those things I could do to pass the time and . . . do it right. It only took a couple of self washes for me to realize that it was physically demanding out there in the hot sun. I went back to the car wash, typically every couple of months.

Now though, I am living in Thailand. I've got a 2022 Honda CRV. The car washes here are amazing. It sometimes takes over an hour but the car is washed, waxed, and spotless. The engine is cleaned, the wheel wells and undercarriage are cleaned, scratches are polished out. Amazing . . . The best part is that the typical wash & wax is $9-$12.

Of course that is because labor in Thailand is cheap from the perspective of a foreigner. It is because of a favorable currency exchange rate. Something I or they don't have any control over but it does mean that I have the car washed more frequently these days.
 
Handwash in the summer here and there. 2 cars and 2 trucks, depending on recent weather can get to be a bit much, so I supplement with touchless $8 car washes. In the winter I spring for the $12 with under carriage to rinse salt.

I hand waxed one of my trucks. It was so much work, the next 3 vehicles I purchased I skipped the hand wax.
 
I hate dirty (car) windows above all things yet I suck at washing them. . .
 
GamblingMan said:
Every two weeks. Weather might push it out a week to the next weekend. Every other wash gets a wax afterwards. Different rules for winter: once a month, or soon after my car gets salted. Ends up being around two weeks on average, probably.

Per google:
MythBusters found that a clean car gets better gas mileage than a dirty car. In their experiment, a dirty car got 24 mpg, while a clean car got 26.4 mpg. This was due to the clean car having a smoother, more aerodynamic surface, allowing air to flow more efficiently.

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm a low-mileage driver and I am not worried about mpg. I wash more out of habit, back from when I 'loved' my cars.
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How much do you need to spend at the car wash to save 1.4 mpg?
 
Probably twice a month, just before I have to give my friend a ride to a lunch meeting or estate sales. My maroon car shows dirt easily, so that’s why I go so often.
 
When I had my old car, I took it to a car wash once a year and they also clean the inside. Now that I have a new car, I’m taking it to the car wash every three months. They really do a good job inside and out and it feels nice to be riding in a clean car.
 
I think we drove our Island car 3K last year. It rarely gets "dirty" inside. Outside, the rain takes care of most of the dust and salt that the Trades blow into the parking structure.
 
Just a few times per year, especially after the long winter.

Often times we just let the rain wash them. lol!
 
My husband takes it for a wash every Mother's Day (and vacuums it). We do get rust undercoat every 2 years. Car is 18 years old so doesn't matter much what it looks like
 
For the first time in our 71 year lives we have a subscription plan with Zip's. They are in our hometown and in the various cities we usually travel to, including our winter abode. Does keep the truck looking a lot better.
 
I am a real stickler for all our vehicles to be clean.

Daily drivers (car and pickup) get a hand wash usually weekly, sometimes every other week, weather depending. They are done at home, and in the winter inside the garage. The windows inside and vacuum maybe monthly or every other month, and a quick wax every few months. Then every spring/summer I do a complete detail with claying the paint, buffing, polishing and waxing. This level of detailing includes interior and engine bay.

Travel Trailer and race car trailer April to November get washed monthly or more often if dirty and waxed 2x per year.

Our classic cars almost never get washed with water since they rarely see any bad weather. I blow off the dust with compressed air and use a waterless detailer and microfiber cloth every time they go out. Also waxed every spring.

You can probably guess I am crazy and obsessive, but I enjoy doing this. 🤪
 
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