[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by chowser51

A lot of “lazerwash” places by me are touchless washes.

I’m lucky to have hot and cold water in my garage so I handwash.
Pressure washer to foam it. Hand wash with a bucket. Pressure washer to rinse. Leaf blower to dry.

Thats my new jam.

I got one of these:
https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/46396036766

And the foam blaster attachment. Its not perfect but it saves a lot of effort/time. I have a sheepskin mitt that I use as well. So I hose the car off first, then foam blast it, hit it with the mitt, then rinse with that handheld pressure washer. Then pull it back in garage to blow dry with a leaf blower, then just touch up with microfiber.

Pristine clean and easier on my aging back.

[ntg44]

I just sandblast it.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Once a month and in between? You guys are washing your cars way too often! I wash my cars every 2 to 4 months

If there's salt on the roads ya gotta get it off.

[dizz81]

For the time being I run it thru the automated washers. My apartment complex doesn't have a hose hookup so I can't break out the pressure washer and foam cannon to do it myself.

When I finally get into a house I'll be washing it myself.

[Rich807]

Try like hell to hand wash. If that doesn't work Plan B is to wash with pressure wand/brush at commercial self-wash place. Plan C is modern brush type car wash (I have many to choose from & most are very newly built). Plan D would normally be to keep it dirty until A/B or C could be done. I basically don't use touchless after bad experience with one years ago (& seeing coworkers/friends have varrying luck with them as well).

[UncleWede]

You don't just let the stealership wash it for you

[aliiin]

It's just so satisfying to wash it myself, knowing I am doing it correctly.

I also get it if you have a time crunch and just want convenience. I would just rather leave my car dirty until I could do it myself than use a brushless wash. The ones I've used have shitty drying that have left hard water spots all over the car, making me have to detail it anyways.

Dealerships will swirl mark the shit out of your car. Don't ever let the dealership wash your car.

[CTinline-six]

I go through the automated wash with the brushes in the winter to keep the salt off. *the horror* One of the benefits of having a 13 year old car.

In summer I pressure wash, clay bar, and wax it myself.

[Alfisti]

Yeah i am grappling with the "keep the 13 year old beater and buy a dedicated sunday sports car" or "sell the beater and buy a nicer daily ride that has a V8" but man, cars just get beat to shit here if you don't baby them.

[MJBO]

Brushless washes are rubbish. For my Sapphire Black X3 (and my old Jerez Black E90 M3) I take it to a hand wash place.

My SSII M4 will be going through the soft cloth wash since you won’t really be able to tell I’ll get a proper detail/polish at least once a year.

I used to hand wash my car myself, but too busy with other things, and just CBF.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Yeah i am grabbling with the "keep the 13 year old beater and buy a dedicated sunday sports car" or "sell the beater and buy a nicer daily ride that has a V8" but man, cars just get beat to shit here if you don't baby them.

It's an even worse financial decision IMO to buy a new car in the salt belt because of all the corrosion. Instead I find used cars from non-salty areas and drive them as long as I can. With new pickups around the $80k mark, I'm wondering how many people will still be making payments on rusting out trucks a few years down the road.

[HockeyDad]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the no rinse wash options such as Opti-Coat. I've got a 2018 M2 in Long Beach Blue and have been using Opti-Coat ceramic no rinse products for years. I did have Opti-Coat Pro ceramic applied when it was new back in 2018 and today, 3.5 years and 50,000 miles in, there are virtually no swirl marks on the paint. So little, in fact that it takes a bright light to find any swirl marks at all.

I was initially VERY skeptical about washing a car without the hose and bucket of suds, but I am a firm believer today. I only use 2 gallons of water, 1 ounce of solution, and can wash the entire car in about 30 minutes, regardless of the weather. In the wintertime I generally wash the car in my garage. This product and method is great for those that live in apartments/condos and don't have access to a hose and faucet.

Check it out - beats the crap out of using a hose and wasting tons of water!

[Humdizzle]

i have a silverstone M3 and just spray washing at the stall for $6 gets it nearly as good as spending a ton of time handwashing and drying at home. It hides dirt, swirls, water spots really well.

My GT3 i'll hand wash once or twice a year. its chalk and doesn't show much dirt either.

[vreihen16]

One of my former colleagues at work left the exciting world of IT to open his own car detailing service. Enough said.....

[Dino GT]

Most of the car washes around me are touchless. I use two different touchless car washes close to me. I`ve try others but they don`t clean as good as those two. It all depends on what kind of soap they use. One of those two even cleans the brake dust off the rims really good.
In the summer, I wash a couple of cars by hand every month or so.

[Maynard]

Nothing helps keep the neighbors nicely distanced than hand washing your car in the driveway during sub-freezing weather. Once they decide you are off your rocker, they don't stop over to chit chat even during the nicer weather. I would rather let it sit dirty than do anything else - dirt is cosmetic, but swirls and scratches are forever. And no real benefit to taking salt off of well-waxed paint. You can try to clear the undercarriage, but with all the under-cladding you really can't get in most places where the salt is anyway.

[gary_william]

Automatic wash with brushes once a month or so. Clay and hit with Griots 3 in 1 ceramics spray every 4 months or so.

[RickFLM4]

I have a guy that comes to the house every other Sunday to hand wash my car and wife’s SUV. $60 combined for both. He often fucks up the glass with streaks so I don’t have him clean inside glass and I just clean exterior glass when necessary.

[Mosaud1998]

Hand washed mine again

[3.0L]

I run our Benz and BMW through a car wash about once every 3 months. In between those washes, I hand clean both cars with Meguiars Detailer, using new Terry cloth rags every 3 days or so. Only takes 10 minutes per car to keep them slick.

[Our03z4]

Most of my cars go through the automatic with brushes. The brushes aren't the same as yesteryear, that said some still should be avoided. We have a chain near me that I don't hesitate to use since they have the best stuff and perfect maintenance. $20 a wash and it comes out perfect. Two of the cars get weekly washes. Took the A8 the other day and I was the cheapest car at that wash. I do hand wash the Z4C since it doesn't get driven enough and it's so small.

[Housekeeping]

Hand wash everything but my RAM 2500, it’s too big and I just don’t care as much….it’s white too so can’t see perfection as well as blue, red or black.