hey i was just wondering how you guys solve the dilemma of washing your car when you know its going to snow again soon. It annoying b/c i have all this snow scum and salt I want to get off as soon possible. but washing it after every snow fall is a bit excessive and expensive.

Also speaking of which... anyone know a good car wash to take the car to in Queens or Nassau? I don't always have time to wash it myself... and when its below freezing... its kind of impossible. I've seen a few brushless wash places (anyone know how they work?). And one hand wash place (expensive though).

 

I usually check out the extended forecast in my area via weather.com and see if there is gonna be a continuous batch of snow for the days to come. If so, I don't bother washing my car unless there are at least a few nice days in a row, otherwise I let all the crap pile up because there's no sense in having your car look nice for a day and having it looking like ____ the next all over again, ya know?

 

yeah I try to do the same... but weather.com is soo unreliable... I was wondering if anyone does anything quick in between... like wipe it down with something... and if so what? Also I've noticed that after two months... there are definate rust spots on my muffler... I assume that has to do with the snow and salt

 

WHAT EVER YOU DO, DON NOT JUST WIPE YOUR SCION !

Road salt is just that, salt. Have you ever looked at table salt, or balanced a salt shaker in a small pile of salt. Salt has rough edges, and by wiping it, you WILL scratch you paint. In order to aviod this, your local car wash should be spraying a soap solution on the car before any brush/cloth touches it. If not, then its time to look for another place that does. If you have to, let the salt sit till you can get to a car wash. Me, i havent had my box washed in a couple of weeks now, cause it has snowed 2 or 3 times in 2 weeks. Another storm is possible this Monday so it may be some time till it gets washed again. Cant control the weather.

About the exhaust. Yeah, its gonna rust, cause its not stainless. Road salt promotes this at a rapid pace. If you can, go to a car wash that does an under car spray, this will help cut down the amount of road salt underneath your ride.

 

moved...

 

I go to a car wash that has the self wash (where you pay by inserting quarters). I simply spray it down with soap and water (about every 2 weeks). Then, once a month, I get the touchless car wash done (rinse, soap, spotless rinse, undercarriage rinse, and hot air dryer). It actually works well and does a decent job getting all the **** off your car.

I'm not from New York, so I can't really suggest specific places where you could go, but basically any place that has Laserwash as a touchless car wash should be good. Massachusetts has Scrub-a-Dub and they do the best job on detailing.

 

chimmy3,

I know how you feel. I haven't washed my xA since the new year when it was 60 degress out. It just seems everytime when I have time to wash the car, it's about to snow again. I'm most likely going to take it to a professional detailer when spring comes along. Anyone here from NYC can recommend me a nice place to get it detailed? Thanks.

 

would taking a super soaker... filling it with hot water (maybe some car wash soap)... and hosing it down work? then wiping it down?

 

I don't wash my car in the winter. Heck, I've never washed my car (previous one was a handmedown), but I'm going to start once there isn't continual bouts of snow and ice and salt and grime and mud being flung at me by other Michigan drivers.

Is it bad to not wash your car? I mean it gets ugly, duh, but I feel like everyone else's car looks just as ugly in two seconds on a slushy road, so the ten minutes spent clean before you get home is sort of useless...

 

I'm from Minnesota. We know snow ice salt hail tormados..... we have the largest temp swings in the lower 48. when washing your car in winter there are a couple of tricks to try one is to take masking tape and tape over the key locks before washing your car and always wash your car while the interior is good and warm. This will keep water from getting in the locks and if it does happen should help it drain from the lock before it freezes. One last thing towel dry after and drive the car to keep it warm and give the water time to leave all the crevices and drains on the car.

snow on the car is not your biggest enemy the salt is and salt gets everywhere. clean your car as much as you think you need and don't sweat the small stuff lke weather .

 

Whenever it snows, I usually take my car to the do it yourself wash and spray off all the salt. A warm soapy spraydown and a warm rinse usually does the trick and it only takes about 5 minutes. That gets me by until the next stretch of sunny weather.

 

i don't think we have DIY wash places here in around NYC? I've never seen one...
Anyone know of one?

And its not water in the locks which keeps me from washing in the freezing cold... its the frozen garden hose...

 

They actually do, but they do not look like the ones from other states. I know they got this one BP gas station in Brooklyn, I believe on 63rd st and 8th ave. that has a couple of those sprays. Nothing wrong with them, until a breeze comes along. Theres been time when I've finishing washing and drying my car and the guy next to me is still using the spray. The wind just blows all the mist right back onto my nice clean car.

 

You going to spend more time trying to fill your Super Soaker then it really worth. Just let it sit, and clean it when the weather warms up. It should be warm enough this weekend for you in SC .. its supposed to be almost 50 here in NJ. Rember, use lots of soap and water.

That is all.

 

what I do is high pressure soap, rinse, triple foam, rinse, spotless rinseand never touch it with anything after unless its nice then I do a quick detail with Mequiar's quick detail. total cost to wash a xB with that is about 6 b ucks for me and the bottle of detailer last almost all winter so far

 

i washed my car today. i snowed for the past couple of days. it just stopped yesterday and i think it won't snow for a few days. i washed my car in the garage, i gave it a quicky wash. i was going to just spray it down with warm water to get rid of a bunch of the salt and the massive ice around the wheel wells. has anyone noticed that the back wheel wells on the back of the car, towards the front, they trap everything!
so i washed it. i did a decent job. thank god i waxed it good last time, it sparkles really nice now. then i drove over my girlfriends house, which is like 12 mins away. yeah, but the time i got there, it looked crappy again. at least i took a pic of it while it looked good. i'll post it tomorrow

 

We need to kill off all birds that are not potty trained.