Getting the family chariot washed

[adam-aussie-vac]

Hey guys, I’ve got a question for all of you when it comes to washing the family Chariot do you wash it at home or take it to a car wash centre or do you take it to one of those DIY washes? Essentially those DIY wash places is like a laundromat for vehicles

 

[qsd-dan]

Wash it at home. I don't trust others touching my stuff whenever possible.

 

[pulltostart]

I wash my car myself, at home.

 

lawrence

 

[ea56]

We usually wash the car at home. But due to the extreme drought conditions in California right now we take the car to one of the coin op self car washes that use recycled water. In between we use a duster on the car and clean the windows with Windex and paper towels.

Eddie

 

[whatsername]

I go to a tunnel wash. I have an unlimited membership so that I can go every week in the winter, it’s well worth it. While Denver no longer salts the roads, they do use mag chloride, avoiding rust but pitting any chrome accents. So I like to go as often as possible.

 

[dermacie]

I live in a home from the 1960s so it has a very large garage so I always wash the car in the garage and vacuum it every Sunday. When you do it often it doesn’t take long.

 

[oliger]

I don't trust a car wash to be forgiving enough to my "family chariot." Even though both of my cars are from the 70's, I still wouldn't trust the car wash with anything unless the paint was already beat up. Car washes are known to leave marks and scratches. I just wash at home in the driveway. Rinse-soap-rinse-dry-wax-buff

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Reply #4

Magnesium Chloride is especially corrosive to metals more so than salt because it holds the moisture in. It may as well be battery acid for what it does to cars. I wash my VW to death in Winter or there wouldnt be anything left after 21 years. My 84 Mazda truck came from CA and was never undercoated. After 3 Winters both front fenders had holes in the bottoms. I would rather they went back to sanding the roads to death like the old days. Worse thing that happened was all the cars turned brown. In 10 years they'll find all that MC polluted ground water etc and they'll come up with another brilliant idea until they get the 411 on it down the road.

 

[wayupnorth]

Jon, that LTD wagon looks like the one we had when I was in high school but the wood paneling is missing. I prefer to wash my truck at home, but my well water is so hard that it looks like it was rinsed in milk. I do go to a car wash in town and get the wash, wax and undercarrage done every so often.

 

[circlew]

Nice Ford wagon!

Jon, what year is yours? I knew some people who got one just like that - even the color, but can't remember if it was a '74, '75, or '76. I just remember the daughter Desiree drove it to the pool not long after they got it, and backed it into a parked car, denting and scraping the left rear quarter panel.  I know it was after I graduated HS in '74, and no later than '76, as thst was the last year I went to the pool.

 

Does yours have the dual-facing rear seats?

 

[oliger]

Thank you.

It's a 78. 75-78 all looked the same. This one was used by ford to show off the new model in 78 and was given to an executive at the end of the year. It has the dual facing rear seats, and just about everything else you can think of. Some of the options have the word "Prototype" on them, like the factory digital radio and separate factory CB.
What's amazing is the quality. Many cars of the 70's were absolute junk, but this one sure isn't. My 72 Chrysler has died, limped home, and not had brakes a million times over, but never in 43 years has this one broke down. Everything works, even the air conditioning. It's been driven to the other side of the country a few times with no trouble.

 

[philcobendixduo]

I have never....

....taken any car of mine to a carwash.
I actually enjoy washing my own car.
I sold my 18 year-old VW Passat wagon last year and it still looked like new inside and out.
The buyer couldn't believe how the paint shined.
With the current water situation in California, I now am forced to use a "waterless" carwash product.
Those work well for light dirt and surface dust but I don't think I'd risk it with extreme dirt.
I polish the cars once a year and keep them in the garage when not in use.
That really helps preserve the paint and the interior.

 

[petek]

I'm lazy and now drive a white car because they seldom need washing LOL. When I do wash it which is about 4-5 times a year I go to wash bays near the the plaza or thru the no touch tunnel at the gas station. Other than that the rain washes it. Still looks great after 6 years.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I guess I’m not as protective of my ride if it’s out in the elements anyway…

So an automatic car wash packaged with a fuel purchase or when I in my once a month have $8 to $10 to invest when she’ll get dirty again anyways or sometimes it rains…

Besides if I wash it myself what about the chassis and undercarriage?

But yes, the wax does permanently bury a few brush scratches—this one in particular:

And after a minor smack from behind, my leased Jeep really is “just a car”…

— Dave

 

[fan-of-fans]

Most of the time I hand wash at home. I did use the automatic car wash a few times this year when the pollen was really bad. I also tried the manual wash they have there. Overall I prefer to hand wash at home, way cheaper and turns out better. The automatic wash does ok, but doesn't get bugs or sap off much at all.

I would like to find someone to detail the interior though. It's too hot here in Florida to do that, I start sweating and dripping all over everything. If I had a garage to park in that would help some.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Yes I have a small rechargeable vacuum for the carpet in my interior and wait for the sun going down for it to get cooler out and still some daylight left, but I got so behind on it, that there is going to be a lot of grass and dirt for a while other than occasionally shaking off at least the driver’s floor mat…

I just keep a towel for the dust on the dash, and never smoked in my cars, nor even lit up…

— Dave

 

[sudsmaster]

I haven't used a pay-for car wash in decades.

When I need to wash one of my vehicles, I do it in my driveway with a hose with an on/off switch, as well as a long brush attachment with a soap reservoir. The run-off goes into a planted area so it's not really wasted.

On a slightly related note, the weather forecast says we may have a few sprinkles overnight.