Pretty self explanatory. How do you keep your car clean in the cold.

As for me, I'm just letting it get dirtier and dirtier.... I'm waiting for a day where it's above freezing (40F would be ideal, with NO wind chill) before I attempt to wash it.

Sometimes I think I was better off before I found the detailing forum, I would take my car to the regular car wash (swirl-o-matic) without a worry in the world

 

i don't.. its too cold down here in New Orleans cause its like in the 50's... i'll leave my car dirty cause its just gonna get dirty right after i was it anyway..

 

Thats cold? Damn I should take a vacation down there!

Today has been the first day the temperatures have really climbed over the freezing mark since.... since... I really dont remember since when.

THeres road salt all over the place. I try to wash my Max every week atleast. What I'm worried about is the undercarriage. As soon as all this cold weather goes away, I need to get the undercarriage power washed.

 

Where do you go for the powerwash? I just bought my own powerwasher but was wondering what you do/where you go...

 

i still wash it once every 2 weeks. it hardly got cold down here this year. (maybe with the exception on several nights)

 

I go to a local carwash/gas station and they have lifts outside just for washing the undercarriage. I usually give the guy a few extra bucks so he can do a good job at it and not rush it through.

If you have your own powerwasher the only thing I can think of is putting the car on ramps or finding someone with a lift that is outside. It will still be a pain on ramps if you try, your gonna get yourself all wet and not really be able to get into all the tight spots. Your best bet is finding a place that has a lift out in the open. After that, you should also do an undercoating. I should've done that before the snow came but I didnt have the time.

I wish I had my own powerwasher, you could do wonders with one of those.

 

I just got free car wash and undercarriage car today by driving really fast in puddle of water, hope fully it cleaned or rinced the salt under the car. plus driving 50 mph in GCP. very car in NYC is dirty so don't worry about it. I heard torrow is 44 F car wash time

 

Where is this place? I might want to pay it a visit. I was planning on doing the ramp thing like you suggested but this may be easier.
If you ever want to borrow mine, just say the word. I'm sure we can work something out.
I'm not worried about the looks, I'm worried about any permanent damage to the paint/finish (scratches, swirls marks, oxidation, etching, etc.)

 

I pretty much just hit up the coin op as often as I can. It sucks *** and right now I NEED to hand wash so I can dry it and add another coat of sealant, so I am waiting for a day that isn't too insanely cold. I am thinking that I will probably hit up the late night hand-wash-in-the-coin-op bay routine because icing over my driveway isn't really an option.

There is a product called quick and easy wash (QEW) that people on autopia use. I can't imagine how you could not get swirls with it, but people sear by it. It's supposed to only use like 2 gallons of water.

 

I do the coin power wash thing every once in a while. The windchill hasn't climbed over 15 in a few weeks.

 

On Pennsylvania Ave and Flatlands Ave theres a BP gas station. Right next door is Penn Motors, which was where I used to work. I was there today changing my starter, plugs, battery and oil. They do pretty good work cleaning the under body. The carwash there sucks though, they leave your car dirty half the time. One of the best carwashes I've been to is a 24 Hour one, I think its called the bridge carwash or something. Its on Flatbush Ave and Willoughby St. Theres two next to each other but this one is right on the corner and has a shop inside to change oil. They clean cars pretty good there for a car wash.

If you wanna come down to the one here on Flatlands let me know, we can meet up and I'll show you where its at. As for the powerwasher, its a nice machine to have during the summer to wash your car.

 

i wash mine every thursday afternoon...depending on the weather. if it's going to rain the next day I just let it get dirtier...because I get really mad when I wash my car and it rains a day or 2 later.

 

I try not to drive the max as much as possible and I usually clean if I know its gonna be sitting for a few days (weeks) if I have to drive (like this past month) I try to wash it once a week, unfortunatly I forgot to leave the valve open to let the pressure out and the pipe broke so I only got to wash it once, and I had to run inside and fill up a bucket of hot water and soap up the car then wash the soap off bucket by bucket and most of the water just kept freezing, but tommorow Im gonna fix the pipe and cut and polish my car since Im gonna have everything out from another car Im doing, then Im gonna try to keep it in the garage untill we get some more rain and the salt gets washed away.

 

I should be doing that soon when it gets warmer. What I usually do is hand wash and wax my Max every Sunday during the summer.

I just finished changing my water pump last Friday and what a freaking job that was. I had my Max up on a lift working on it from 10am to 6:30pm. I had a bad leak that was leaving puddles all over the place.

Since that job is done, I'm hoping to go to a place that will steam wash my engine bay, its very filthy. I need to find a good place here in NYC that will do it. The same place I said above that does the undercarriage had done some guys Max a while back and had just used pressurized water. When the guy went to start it up, it wouldnt start. Somehow water got into a sensor or something.

I'm scared of that happening and hoping to find a place that will know how to do a real good job of cleaning up the engine bay, I've never cleaned it and like I said, its very dirty.

Any ideas?

 

i'd also like to know about the steam cleaning of the engine

 

I go to the do-it yourselfer coin wash and dry it inside the bay. I bring a few towels and it looks great. Not a full detail, but heck, it doesn't matter in the winter here in MN. Did it yesterday, -5 F here.

 

Ive do all the engine bays of cars I detail with a power washer with no problem

check out Izzy's engine bay, I could do yours for you.

before

after


the pictures dont do the change justice.

 

I hear that. lol MN is too cold ! I wash mine once a week, its nice working for a dealership that has a built in car wash

 

I have a friend who owns a shop that will let me come in and detail my cars myself.

 

I've always gone to the drive thru automatic w/ the auto dryer but I'm planning to go to the coin wash this week. Is it good etiquette to dry it inside the bay if it's not busy or if I go at late night?

 

Thats always the fun part, I got really late at night, around 10 or 11, spend the minium to rinse and soap it down, then spend my time washing it with a mit, then put in the minimum to rinse it again and then clay bar if i have time.

 

on the very rare occasion that I go to the coin wash, I pull up to the covered detailing bay... because if you dry it inside the bay, as soon as you pull out, all the excess water, and dirt from your bay, and the others gets tossed up on to the car from your tires... so if you dry it in the detailing bay, you can dry it without worrying about anything splashing up.

 

Yup thats how my engine bay looks

 

if you want me to do it, Id be more than happy to, just have to wait till it warms up.

 

Sounds good to me. I'll give Izzy a call so he can relay the message to you. I wouldnt mind at all when it gets warm. Thanks alot