Do you wash your car in the winter?

[Miss Sparkly]

I do, but only if it has packed ice/snow on the undercarriage. I'm envious of Kenny that he can keep a pretty clean car for longer than the time it takes to drive out of the car wash

 

[Tuckins1]

I try to. The salt really eats away at it and I don't want it to turn into a pile of rust. (My winter car is an old '98 Explorer... It has some dings in it where the paint has chipped away, so it will rust.)

 

[Lorelei]

I do wash mine, one of my interests is car detailing so I rinse off mud regularly and use the two bucket method to wash. It can be helpful if you get a good coat of wax on the vehicle before winter sets in as this helps repel mud and salts and gives some protection to the paint.

 

[diamondringlover]

I do wash mine, but I have to be careful because I do not have a garage if it is to cold then it will freeze up, its suppose to be in the 30's today so I might have to run mine thru the carwash, I hate to see it dirty

 

[Jennifer W]

I've never washed my car in the 8 (or is it 10) years I've owned it. It has some sort of metallic paint and now looks much as it did in the showroom. I just leave it out in the rain from time to time. No rust, either.

 

[mary poppins]

DH just washed both of our cars this morning. He likes to keep them well maintained and clean. With all of the snow and salt recently, they were filthy and prone to rust.

 

[Haven]

DH washes our cars in the winter. I wash them with him in the warm weather months, but I hibernate during the winter and only go outside to walk the dogs.

 

[that_someone_special]

uh, you absolutely would not see someone washing their cars in winter seasons around here. That's insane. Want your locks to be frozen and your windows to freeze shut? It needs to be at least 33 degrees out. It's 17 right now and even if you get it washed indoors it doesn't matter. You will still get frozen locks and windows- sometimes doors too.

 

[Jennifer W]

I had to scrape ice off my car last week and it was inside the garage at the time. Insane.

 

[kenny]

Yes I need to wash my car today, but I have to wait till around 4 PM when it cools down.

It's 79 outside now, too hot to work in the sun.

 

[Jennifer W]

Ok, that puts having to scrape ice into perspective! I hope it's nicer by 4pm for you.

 

[kenny]

Ok, that puts having to scrape ice into perspective! I hope it's nicer by 4pm for you.

Well if you're freezing and I'm burning, then statistically speaking we're both very comfortable.

 

[Jennifer W]

LOL!

I'm probably not a useful part of any statistic here- I burn under a 60w lighbulb.

 

[soocool]

Yes, especially if there is salt residue on the car. Our cars are garaged so that helps abit.

 

[Jennifer W]

There's an anti corrosion treatment available here, and I'd imagine you can get it in the US too. It's sprayed onto the car, particularly the underside, and it's especially useful in coastal areas or areas where they put a lot of salt or grit on the roads. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but it removes the need for washing salt off. I do give the underside of the car a good wash down when it's up on the garage ramps at the end of winter, just to be on the safe side, but I don't do cosmetic washing.

edited for dreadful spelling!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I don't wash my car in the summer. If I was not married my car would NEVER, EVER be washed or waxed. Ever. Cars are just not one of my things.

 

[Jennifer W]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love my car. It was a birthday gift from DH the year we got engaged, and it's maintained to within an inch of its life, I just don't wash it. It gets clean in the rain, of which we have a fair bit around here.

Whenever I send it to the Citroen specialist garage for any work, they valet the inside of it, which I do appreciate. It comes back all nice and new looking inside, garbage gone, coffee spills deleted and CDs placed neatly in a little holder. Cute. doesn't last long, but still...

 

[elrohwen]

I usually take it in when the temp gets above 40F for a day or so, just to get the salt out. They don't salt in CT so I used to have zero problems with it, but now I drive into NY every day and the salt gets everywhere. I sold both of my last cars because the cost to fix the rust was too high (in order to pass inspection) so I try to be careful about washing it when I can in the winter.

eta: Before selling me my current car my mom used to get the anti-corrosion treatment. I wanted to get it here, but they don't offer it in CT (probably because they don't salt) so I never did it. At least the inspections here aren't too rough - in PA your car wouldn't pass if the rust was larger than a quarter.

 

[gemgirl]

I wash my SUV myself from April/May to Sept/Oct. During winter time, it goes to the car wash. The car wash doesn't do a very good job but it's better than nothing.

 

[pinkstars]

Rarely. I try to get it done at least once during the winter, but it's hard trying to find a warm enough day so that everything doesn't freeze. We even got unusually warm weather a few weeks ago and it didn't even cross my mind to wash the car, so I must wait!

 

[atroop711]

Yes we do. My dh works in many different construction sites and the car gets so dirty. We can't stand it looking so dirty so we wash it. I won't wash it if the forecast calls for rain (or snow)

 

[somethingshiny]

Not much. Both of our cars and disgustingly filthy right now. But, our garage is full so if we can't get them dried off, our doors and locks freeze. Both of our car washes have bad blowers at the ends so you can't depend on those either.

 

[yssie]

We have to - otherwise the salt corrodes the paint, and the paintjob is way more expensive

 

[violet3]

not very much, but i bought a silver car so it wouldn't require as much washing

 

[VRBeauty]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love my car. It was a birthday gift from DH the year we got engaged, and it's maintained to within an inch of its life, I just don't wash it. It gets clean in the rain, of which we have a fair bit around here.

Whenever I send it to the Citroen specialist garage for any work, they valet the inside of it, which I do appreciate. It comes back all nice and new looking inside, garbage gone, coffee spills deleted and CDs placed neatly in a little holder. Cute. doesn't last long, but still...

Jennifer - I love your honesty!

As for my car, it could really use a wash and a bit of an interior tidying-up. It's also due for an oil change and check-up, and my dealership does throw in a bit of interior and exterior cleaning... hmm...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

The only time my car goes to the carwash is when I close the back hatch and my fingers turn black from the dirt. lol. I would go more often however the place i prefer (brushless) is about 25 min from me and charges $8 and I'm too cheap to go more than once a month. My car shows dirt REALLY easily and I'm kind of embarrassed at how bad it looks right now especially since it's an older one! Okay....maybe I'll take it in.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

not very much, but i bought a silver car so it wouldn't require as much washing

Violet - mine is silver and shows dirt really easily! What kind of car do you have?

 

[soocool]

I have to admit that I have one friend who has a car wash bay in her garage (basically has water supply- hot and cold, drains and the garage is heated and air conditioned.) Her DH is into restoring cars and if I come over he washes my car for me. Their cars are always spotless. I've got to visit more often.

 

[Jennifer W]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love my car. It was a birthday gift from DH the year we got engaged, and it's maintained to within an inch of its life, I just don't wash it. It gets clean in the rain, of which we have a fair bit around here.

Whenever I send it to the Citroen specialist garage for any work, they valet the inside of it, which I do appreciate. It comes back all nice and new looking inside, garbage gone, coffee spills deleted and CDs placed neatly in a little holder. Cute. doesn't last long, but still...

Jennifer - I love your honesty!

As for my car, it could really use a wash and a bit of an interior tidying-up. It's also due for an oil change and check-up, and my dealership does throw in a bit of interior and exterior cleaning... hmm...

Hmm. I just don't place much value on clean and tidy, I guess. My mother is houseproud and it's left a scar.

 

[Rockdiamond]

I love my car, so yes, I do keep it sparkin' clean- even in winter.
On the other hand, I won't hesitate to drive it even if there's salt on the road.
Smoke'em if you got'em.