After I get done washing my car and drying it, I take it out for a spin and my side mirrors leak water all over the side of my car like crazy. Even if I wash my car and leave it sit over night, the next morning they still leak on my car. What do you guys do to prevent this?

Thanks,
-Nick

 

Oh my god the side mirrors on our cars are so ****ing annoying with that. That, and the molding around my back windows drips.

What I have started doing is pumping up the compressor when I'm going to wash my car and I blow all the water out of the mirrors (sometimes it STILL drips though). Probably the only thing to do other than that is take it for a quick drive then dry the water off again...maybe even using a little QD just to be safe. I've tried sliding paper towels in there...everything...compressed air or a second dry is all I have thought of.

Good question!

 

Hmm, I don't know if 3rd Gen mirrors are different, but I've just come to learn where water hides on my car after a wash. Usually I find that water hides in 2 spots mainly:

1) Pools in the bottom in between the mirror and housing, held in by surface tension. I blow out the water with my breath and then try to wick out the rest with an edge or tip of my drying towel.

2) Underneath the mirror housing, just clinging to the underside in droplets. Easily just wiped off.

That usually prevents any drips for me unless I've rushed through it and missed some. It also helps to try and wick water out from underneath some of the trim too, like where the mirror meets the door or certain trim/moulding pieces that are problematic.

 

i just stick the tip of a cotten towel in there. works pretty well.

 

Leaf blower!
Use it before you really start drying the car, blasting the water out from around the mirrors, door handles, front grill, etc... You can even use it to dry most of the car, then using a small towel to get what's left.

Dave

 

you serious?? i've yet to see someone dry their car with a leaf blower...

IMO that might lift up dust and what not around the car and might get on your car.

 

People seem to use leafblowers...I dunno. I use compressed air from a compressor with an inline filter, so I am relatively confident that I'm not sandblasting my car...with a leafblower I would be more worried. The compressor doesn't work for the whole car unfortuantely though...I've tried it.