OK guys, this thread may not be for all of you, so please spare your smart comments...

Ive learned the hard way that if you want it done right, do it yourself...
So every Sunday I was my car and once a month I wax it.

It takes me 3 hours to wash the outside and inside. Armoral, Leather cleaner, Vaccum, Windex, Tire Shine and good old fashion elbow greese....

How Clean Are Your Cars And How Do You Clean Them?

 

Don't wax your car that often......the most like every 2-3 months. And 3 hours?! lol it takes me no more than an hour, but that comes from a kid that keeps his car clean at all times and works at a dealership as a detailer.

 

I live Australia and we're on water restrictions due to drought conditions. So you can imagine how dirty my Maxima is.

Cheers
Derek

 

if my car is gets dirty often, I would say atleast once a week by hand in the summer, but I don't do my leather and all that stuff every week.

for leather is about once evey other month or so, wax about once a month also when I feel like it.

what I do is a wash, vacuum, tires, rims, windows every time. and no touch carwash in the winter to take off the salt on the car.

 

If I hand dry it, only about 45 minutes exterior only. I waxed it twice since I got it in April and polished once. Rain water just beeds up and rolls off the car. Just last week one morning the rain froze up on the cars. I had little frozen ice beeds all on the roof. All the other cars had a flat sheet of ice.

 

Hm..$2 for a 3 min carwash.

 

Wash and hand dry it and do interior in about an hour. Only wax, clay bar, glaze sealant 2 times a year.

 

i wax it roughly every 2 months by sitting down and clay waxing it, but after it rains and im in the mood, i take the spray wax ( the one you mist on the car and wipe) and do that.

 

About an hour half assing it.

 

Once in 1 - 2 weeks for 45min to an hour depending on my mood. Wax? once in 2-3months. I used to do it once or 2x a week and wax every month when we were living in an apartment. When we bought a house, there's grass to mow, a pool to clean, then mow some more... so my max is not as clean as it used to.

 

Once a week - Wash & Dry & Vaccum/Windex/Tire Black, 2 Hours

Once a month - Spray Wax, with all of the above, 3-4 Hours

I spend a lot of time on it and appreciate it.

 

every week (saturday or sunday) - wash, wheels (inner parts too), vacuum, and interior wipe-down, hand dry the car (door sills, engine bay, trunk area, the whole 9)

that usually takes me about 2 hours....

once every month or two, when i'm feeling energetic and the wax is starting to diminish, i'll clay bar her and reapply some Gold Class paste and maybe some glaze...

i used the Meguiars gold-class leather conditioner wipes today, WOW! they returned every finish in the car to jet-black...the seats look and feel amazing...

 

I just got my maxima alittle more than a week ago and i've washed it twice and waxed it once. Took me a good 3 hrs to wash and wax it but its worth it on a Onyx color.

 

I used to wash my other car myself once or twice a week, but I just don't have the time and energy to do it to my new max now. However, I am still very **** about keeping the car clean so I take it to the local Hand Wash once or once every other week. If they do a crappy job, I usually come home and use Meguiars quick detail to finish it off. But I don't do the whole 9 myself anymore-(wash, dry, vacuum, wheels, leather, detail)

 

OMFG.... you guys wash your cars fast... Since I have a dark blue color, water streaks are more visible. So I am very **** about that and have to make sure my car is streak free... also, I use Meguiars leather cleaner for my seats... I love the smell of it... it takes the smell of *** out of the seats... LOL

 

I prolly wax every 6 months to a year...I do it section by section and usually never do the whole car at one time. When the water stops beading like it should thats when I know I need to re-wax...I dont think its necessary to wax every month or every other month...my .02

 

Hand wash once a week. Includes includes wheels. tires etc.
Interior: Vacume, Windows, Dash,Vents once a week.

Take 90 minutes

Leather Condition once every three weeks. Wax once every two months

 

takes me about 45 min to an hour, outside, inside, vaccum carpets.

but then 5 min later i can see the damn fingerprints (black car)

 

Takes me about 2 hours for exterior, hand dry, windex, and interior. Takes a lot of time and energy, therefore I do it every 2 to 3 weeks. Garaged at home and at work, so my max doesn't get too dirty.

I wish there's a way to elude the bugs against my front bumper/hood/windshield when driving.

I only wax twice a year.

 

I hear you on that man... When ever I travel to Tucson, I get these big bug marks all over my bumper. sometimes it makes me wonder if the SPLAT mark is from a cat or a large bug.... Also, dam those big trucks and there off road tires. I always get rocks thrown at me. My poor bumper and hood...

 

I never wax except the spray on wet and wipe stuff. My silver max is very forgiving and look great even when not so dirty. Every couple of weeks I wash it in and out, windex, the engine cover, leather wipes and all the crap. About 1-1.30. One thing I know and you guys are right, If you don't do it yourself, IT AIN'T DONE RIGHT.

 

i wax everytime i wash the car(hand wash). usually takes 2.5-3 hrs. once every 2 or 3 weeks, mostly 2.

 

Just washing and drying plus rims a little more then a hr (no waxing no interior)

 

what kinda rims you got ?

 

i'd say about 25 -30 mins

 

depends on how often and how long the rain lasts

 

i usually do things if they deem necessary. if i'm going all out (exterior and interior), usually 3-4 hours. if it's a simple wash of the exterior/rims and wax, 1.5 hours.

 

If I just wash the exterior of the car, it takes about 1-2 hours. If I apply paint sealer and wax (just 1 layer), then about 4-5. By that time, I'm tired and my back is hurting enough that I can't really do the interior. So one of these days I'm going to start with the interior and then do the exterior - or better yet, take a weekend and do one each day.

 

little to no time. I've washed it twice since i owned it in 1 year and some months. Usually let the rain take care of... I am really busy.

 

I usually do a regular wash once a week, which I can knock out in half an hour. Every 2 months I'll apply a clearcoat wax, takes about an hour and a half. Every 6 months I'll take four hours out on a saturday to clay-bar (mothers), apply paint cleaner (zymol), polish, and clear coat wax (mcguires gold class all the way). Takes a while to do, but man its worth it!

done on my old altima:



done on the max:

 

This is she all waxed. Only twice a year. All of you who wax once a week must have no rotator cuff in your shoulder or you had it repaired. I wash once a week with the Mr clean auto dry. By far the best invention ever. Dries great on the car. No residue either.

 

Usually takes me 1 hour to 1.5 hours depending on how mucked up my Max is, maybe more if I'm treating all my windows.

 

does the auto dry by mr. clean really work? i was thinking about picking one up but i have no idea what it does... heh

 

I start washing as the sun drops low to avoid spotting. When I time it right, the sun is down as I start to dry, but then the night bugs like to park their butts on my car if I wait too late! I usually start by cleaning the inside first. By vacuuming all carpets including trunk (DustBuster Cyclone), Armor All Leather Wipes on all seats (Meguiar's once a month), Armor All Plastic for the doors and dash, and windows inside only. Then I use the Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash system for spray off the heavy stuff. Then throw a quick soaking of suds on the car and wash it with a microfiber sponge. Then I do the brake dust from the tires with a brush. And then I use a California Water Blade to knock the water drops off and then two microfiber towels to dry and clean the windows. Total time, about 1 ½ hours. Once a month, I apply Rain-X just in case. (Hey, So. California can rain sometimes too!)

Wash, Clay, Polish, and Wax every January and June, takes about 5 hours and has to be done in the garage for part of the time to avoid spotting/difficult removal.

 

No. Not really.

I've found it's a convenient device to use for spraying and applying soap however.

I've used mine for about a year. The soap is ok, but it sprays out too fast, and you end up spending more on soap if you don't watch it. Then the filter doesn't last nearly long enough, and never dried spot free for me. I've started using a Water blade with late afternoon washings to avoid spotting instead of relying on the filter.

 

I wash the car once a week sometimes every two. Sometimes I do a dry-clean with a wet towel. I use the Wax-as-U-dry stuff. It makes drying so fast and never a water spot. I can have a car for years and it still looks like a showroom car everyday. Of course, it doesn't quite match a nice drywax job. But I don't bother with a detail waxjob anymore.
My relatives normally joke about me "..to find his house, just goto the corner of xxx and yyy, then just follow the water trail..." They thought I wash my cars everyday.