How Often Do You Wash Your Car?

[youtalking2me]

Washed my car for the first time since getting the car in August (?). The side rocker panels were absolutely disgusting from driving in the rain. Caked worms, dirt, grime, etc.
I went ahead and did the two bucket method. Presoak with ON.

It took three hours.

It took three hours and that was after I started half assing 20 minutes in. Had to use:
4 X 6 JERSEY SCRUBBING "BUG SCRUBBER" PAD
To scrap off all the crud on the lower rocker panels which made me paranoid that I messed up the paint from scrubbing with the scrubber and moving around the caked grime during the scrubbing.

That being said, I don't ever plan on hand washing the car ever again. Not sure how people say they can do a wash in 25 minutes.
Going forward, I plan on just taking it to a touchless wash but I wanted to know, for the people that do go to the touchless wash for your car wash, how often do you guys go?

 

[Burrito]

when you only wash once in 8 months, its not gonna be a good time...

when the weathers nice i hand wash about once a week and takes 35 minutes start to finish, in the winter i try and wash whenever i can maybe once a month. hand wash

 

[lUtriaNt]

OP, I bow at your feet! my OCD would KILL me if I let my car go that dirty. ive been in SUVs since 2006. i hand washed them ALL. The. Time. here in Cali, all you need is a california duster to wipe the dust of and you are golden.

i picked up my model 3 friday march 27th and ive hand washed it (that's all i eil lever do) twice already. its raining all week here so friday hopefully i can wash it then.

it would take me about 2 hours to fully wash, dry, detail my suv. on the model 3 its childs play and takes under an hour from start to finish. this includes going to a wand operated wash stall (I live in an apartment with an underground garage) just a couple blocks away.

as long as the car is maintained ( i wipe it daily with the duster --unless its dirty/raining) betwixt wahr, you should have it cleaned much sooner than 3 hours.

 

[Wyomingtim]

Once a year, whether it needs it or not.

 

[youtalking2me]

Once a year, whether it needs it or not.

How dirty does your car get? Any tips on cleaning the side rocker panels?

 

[TypeRx]

OP, I bow at your feet! my OCD would KILL me if I let my car go that dirty. ive been in SUVs since 2006. i hand washed them ALL. The. Time. here in Cali, all you need is a california duster to wipe the dust of and you are golden.

i picked up my model 3 friday march 27th and ive hand washed it (that's all i eil lever do) twice already. its raining all week here so friday hopefully i can wash it then.

it would take me about 2 hours to fully wash, dry, detail my suv. on the model 3 its childs play and takes under an hour from start to finish. this includes going to a wand operated wash stall (I live in an apartment with an underground garage) just a couple blocks away.

as long as the car is maintained ( i wipe it daily with the duster --unless its dirty/raining) betwixt wahr, you should have it cleaned much sooner than 3 hours.

I'm like you -- fanatical about keeping my car clean. I just finished polishing it last night...front PPF going on later this week. One thing that is helpful about tesla's in general is the heavy use of glass rather than painted surfaces on the roof. Also, they generate less brake dust than other cars (especially euro cars).

Just FYI, especially with a black car, be careful with that California duster as it can easily add swirls/small scratches to your paint by dragging it across the car. If you haven't already, you should check out rinseless washes (like Optimum No Rinse) for daily cleaning, especially if you don't have ready access to water at your apt.

 

[Wyomingtim]

How dirty does your car get? Any tips on cleaning the side rocker panels?

It gets filthy. Crushed Cheerios and gummy bears on the inside, and caked bugs, mud and road dirt on the outside.

Don't have any tips, since I haven't owned the car a year yet. It'll be due for its first wash next month. My daughter gave me a certificate good for one car wash for Christmas, so she'll take care of its annual washing for this year. Sweet!

Life's too short to worry about a dirty car. Too busy skiing in the winter and rafting in the summer. Although I will admit to driving it through a carwash when I can't see through the windows anymore...

 

[Mperezkr]

About once a month. But always a 3-4 hour job. Foam it, rinse it, foam it, hand wash it, foam it, rinse it, dry it, cmx it, vacuum it, spray interior cleaner it. That's about it.

 

[SDRick]

Currently I am washing my hands more and the car less.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

You can scratch your paint with California Dusters if you don’t follow the instructions. Many people can’t for the life of them follow instructions. For the rest of us, California Dusters are perfectly safe from causing swirls or scratches.

 

[gcmak]

My car is parked outside somewhat near the ocean and often in salty/sticky fog. I drive an average of 400 miles/week (before CV19).

I tend to wash the car twice a month - weather permitting - and after a day it pretty much goes back to a sticky icky mess, but I still do it.
I can wash and dry the car in under 20 minutes - but it's all about the initial prep and protection of the car that will enable quick maintenance washes - especially in my situation, where ceramic coatings, synthetic sealants, natural waxes, all succumb to the elements...but are still enormously helpful in preventing caked on messes. Having an uncoated/protected car really makes car washing painful and more likely to damage your paint.

I often use ONR with best practice methods - which makes doing a quick wash, dry, and protection boost pretty easy.
I still love breaking out the pressure washer, foam canon, all the brushes, towels, chemicals etc...but life gets in the way sometimes!

 

[JasontheBeaver]

I wash my cars and truck every 2 weeks. They're all Opti-coated so it takes 20-30 mins tops, and that's taking it pretty easy. In the nasty winter months I use Kaady drive-through wash here locally, then just wipe the nooks it doesn't reach.

As you've seen in this thread, everyone's idea about the value of a clean car is vastly different. Some people want to protect their $10's-100's thousands investment by keep the resale value high and enjoying a beautifully shiny car too.
Others do not care about that stuff at all and just consider any car simple transportation.

 

[Mr X]

When it's consistently sunny I wipe it once or twice every week and rarely ever give it a full wash unless it gets really dirty. Mine is wrapped in Avery film and is an outside car (will see how long this wrap lasts being 100% outside)


Right now it's raining so it's getting that natural wash

 

[bpobill]

Washed my car for the first time since getting the car in August (?). The side rocker panels were absolutely disgusting from driving in the rain. Caked worms, dirt, grime, etc.
I went ahead and did the two bucket method. Presoak with ON.

It took three hours.

It took three hours and that was after I started half assing 20 minutes in. Had to use:
4 X 6 JERSEY SCRUBBING "BUG SCRUBBER" PAD
To scrap off all the crud on the lower rocker panels which made me paranoid that I messed up the paint from scrubbing with the scrubber and moving around the caked grime during the scrubbing.

That being said, I don't ever plan on hand washing the car ever again. Not sure how people say they can do a wash in 25 minutes.
Going forward, I plan on just taking it to a touchless wash but I wanted to know, for the people that do go to the touchless wash for your car wash, how often do you guys go?

I could wash my car, clay bar, paint correction, jet seal, wax, and interior detail in three hours. You are doing something wrong my friend. Did you scrub your car with a q-tip? Wtf are you doing during those three hours?

you should look into optimum no rinse wash or something similar. I can wash my car in 20 minutes or less. I only need to wash once a month. I just use a detail spray made from a waterless wash.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

I was washing it today and my neighbor asked “how frequently do you wash it?”

“weekly, if possible”. Today was special though. Today it got a coat of CQuartz UK.

Tomorrow it will get another. I have a cpl days off for EASTER, so what better way to utilize that?

this took 3-4hrs.

 

[lUtriaNt]

i was watching the radar here in LA to show when the rain would move da eff outta here so i could get my wash on. just finished that joker up and now my OCD is back to DEFCON 5