I know that there are a lot of Zaino fans on this site that swear by hand washing and waxing but there must be a lot of people that live in areas where it is just too damn cold to hand wash your car during the winter time. So out of curiousity I was wondering what people do about washing their car in the winter? Recently a new car wash opened near me with a "no touch" bay where the machine basically moves around the car without brushes and just uses high pressure. It does an okay job but obviously can't get under the spoiler and there are other places that it misses too (near the side mirrors is another bad place). The sad part is, if it too cold they don't open that bay and even if it isn't too cold it is out of order 50% of the time. How many people "break down" and put their car through a car wash (come on, admit it!), how many people use the soapy brush and spray it off, and how many people just suck it up, have a dirty car, and wait for the warm weather? I suppose that another expensive option is to find a place that will hand wash it for you but I am not sure of the closest one to where I live (yet) and I can only imagine doing that before a meet since it will run you at least $20 for a wash and vac I would guess.

Anyhow, just curious since automatic car washes and that brush thing are wonderful ways to put swirlies in your clearcoat (at the very least).

 

If it gets anywhere close to 32 degrees, I just suck it up and hand wash in the garage. Usually it's warmer in the garage than the ambient outdoor temp., so it makes it tolerable.

This car will never see a car wash in its life.

 

Been thinking about it. The no touch washes I've seen still have a wheel guide. The 01 rims scratch easily My biggest concern is getting my car blasted with high pressure dirty water, not good for the Klasse.

 

I take mine to a quarter-fed do it yourself place if its 25 degrees or so. Spray it down...then drive it home...pul in to the garage and close the door and let the ice melt...the California water blade and towel dry!

 

Since I live in a condo the condo association doesn't allow car washing so I kind of need to find an alternative. As far as the no-touch one in my area, there is no wheel guide. Just one little "dent" in the floor and flashing light to tell you when you stop.

 

Yep... Andy, I am in your boat.. on this.. sadly my cars are dirty...

I used to go to those laser-car wash as you described.. I will leave the $20 hand car wash for the meet...

 

BIG rubber gloves, and warm water

 

Same problem here... There is a place close to my apt that does the no-touch... they only do a half-assed job at the vacuuming though. Problem is that they have the folks at the other end that wanna wipe down the car with the SAME RAGS they use to do your interior!!!

I took my last car there and specifically told the guy to tell them NOT to touch the car, inside or out, with one of those rags... guess what? When the car rolled out the other end, the flock of window washers decended upon my car.... It was like a bad dream, me running at them yelling "No! No! No!" Luckily "No" is the same in Spanish as in English and I escaped with only a swirly mark or two... could have been a lot worse.

Anyway, bottom line, if you can keep them from drying it for you, some of the touchless washes aren't too bad.... certainly better than having salt caked on you CL.

 

Oh the horror.

I take mine to the DIY places if it's god-awful cold but I only use the spray wand to get most of the crap off the car. I'd much rather have a little bit of residue left on the car than the swirls those brushes put on the car.

 

I'm in the same situation. And you know what I say??? Screw the association.

Technically, there are "designated" areas to wash cars, but I say fuck em'. My neighbors don't give a crap that I wash in the garage.

I don't know what kind of neighbors and association you have, but I wouldn't let that deter me from keeping my car clean.

 

When I go to the do it your self places....I bring my own wash mit and bucket!

 

Where I live the DIY bays are heated and they keep the doors closed when its cold. I have washed my car when it was very cold, and have had no problem drying it in the bay. Once I get my car into my garage I finish the job by getting all the little spots I missed at the carwash.

If you can find a carwash in your area that has heated DIY bays that would be your best bet. If you do this, make sure the doors on the bay are closed or the water will freeze on your car.

 

I have tried this and been scolded many times. I argued with the manager saying "what does it matter if I use my own bucket and mitt if I am still pumping quarters into the machine?". He said no way (even though nobody was in line behind me) and I just rinsed the car off. Maybe I'll just switch to going later at night when nobody is using the bays.

 

My car will never see a car wash.
I do go to the “Touch Free” places if it’s really covered with SALT.
Then I wash it again at home.

I have an oversized garage with a water line inside and one of those Kerosene “Jet Engine” style heaters.
Even if it’s 10-degrees out I can have it at 70 inside the garage.

Check out this post:
http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=91792

Shawn S

 

i go to the poly pro car wash, its like a big ass HEATED wharehouse you drive your car into, theres like 12 bays to wash your car. i bring my own mitts, buckets, towels, etc and wash the car there. they supply you w/ wheel cleaner and all other sorts of stuff that i dont use. in the bay theres a power waasher withj like 8 different settings like,
wash( soap & water)
cream conditioner
sealant
rinse
... i dont tknow the rest
theres also a air gun for getting all the water out of the cracks and side mirrors

this place is sweet, the locals should go try it out.
but when i'm too lazy or dont have enough time i go to the touchless washes at amoco gas stations, but dont ever ever ever ever ever take it to a car wash w/ brushes and all that shit

 

I don't have a garage.

so jealous...

 

Black, If its too cold as it has been over the past two months in MA then just I just leave it dirty. I figure a coat of dirt and grime on the car is another layer of protection from the elements! I agree that I would never take my car to a car wash because the whole car will get scratched/swirled (I do enough of that shit on my own damnit!). The last couple of days have been in the 40s so I say just rough it and do it yourself (I'm going to either today or Friday).

Usually I go to the do it yourself car wash and bring my own stuff. If its cold, but not freezing, I usually bring some warm water in containers and use that to wash the car. I then use the hose at the car wash to rinse off the soapy water and then move the car out of the bay and dry it outside with my towels and absorber.

the other option is to have the dealer do it during a service...which I guess is better than taking it to a car wash but worse than if you did it yourself.

 

I do like shawn does. Except at first, i start up my kerosene heater in my garage, then pull the car out into the driveway. I wash the car outside using rubber gloves, huge bucket of warm water, huge bucket of warm car wash, wheel cleaner and a mit. Wash car down with warm water first then wash. Fill up the bucket again with warm water and go over the car again. After the car is clean and dripping wet, I pull into the garage close the door and wala- a 60-70 degrees garage (thanks to the kerosene heater) and I proceed to dry the car off with my shop-vac on high setting in reverse flow. Then I use the absorber for any unsightly dirt i missed. Done. Wax and buffed for the next day hehehehe. Only thing is that my drive-way looks like a skating ring. But with 4x4 i have no problems backing out. :P

 

thst's funny, i pretty much do the same thing! I live in Va. too!

 

I like everything you posted except THIS.
Are you aware that any dirt inside the tank and hose are getting blasted out at the car?
And then you’re rubbing it around on the paint with the “Absorber”.

I use a leaf blower for the same effect and all that does is blast the relatively CLEAN air from the garage at the car.

It sure was a pleasure washing the car this past Sunday.
It was almost 50-degrees outside so there was no “ice skating” in the garage this time.
Of course it RAINED yesterday and it’s gonna SNOW tomorrow.
Back to square one over the weekend.

Shawn S

 

I use both self-spray and a "chamois" wash that doesn't seem to be especially harmful. My thinking is that the salt buildup and possible corrosion would be a bigger probelm in the future than having the car re-painted in 4-5 years.

 

Good point, however, I didn't mention I have the new 2.0hp shop-vac from home depot and they now come with a filter like the K&N air filters we put on our CAIs. I don't use the shop-vac for anything else but to blow dry my car. It also has another filter for the hole that sucks in air and on the motor tube that pulls air out from the tank. Sort of a double filtration system. I would use my leaf blower but for the simple fact i mostly use it to suck in leaves and mulch, I would get the effect of what you describe of my shop-vac with a dirty garage. So far no scratches, trust me i am very particular of that especially since my cars are black.

 

I’m not familiar with that unit, but as long as you don’t use it to clean the garage floor I guess we’ll let it slide this time.

I’m the opposite. I use my two Shop-Vac’s for everything and the leaf blower is just for the car.
It doesn’t even have a “vacuum” mode. All it does is BLOW.

Shawn S

 

How much did you pay for that new shop-vac from home depot?

 

I've yet to have a problem with the standard drive-through car washes, and the no-touch ones don't do the undercarriage (need to get the road salt off) like the brush ones. And the standards cost me about half as much. I don't have problems with swirls on my CLS. But if it did, i wouldn't know where to go - it's tough to find a drive-through that doesn't scratch the hell out of the 01 CL/TL wheels. The self-spray ones always leave tons of waterspots, and half the time my doors freeze shut on me. And, again, you can't get the underbody. I only use them if i HAVE to.

Every time i go to this particular car wash (rainbow wash in Brighton, Michigan) i see one or two other Acuras. I'm guessing it's one of the few places that doesn't scratch the wheels in my area- because i've never seen a place that has wide enough tracks around here.

In the summer it's hand washing only.

 

I got lazy after a few years with my Prelude (98') and started going through the automatic car washes. It beat the heck out of the finish on the car. During the summer I used good wax and stuff that was supposed to reduce swirls (I think the Zymol wax I used was supposed to help with swirls). Still, it was a losing battle every year to try and keep that baby shiny! I'd rather not have to deal with that problem with this car if I can avoid it. I think from the recommendations above I will try going to the "do-it-yourself" ones later in the evening (if the temp is above 32F) when there is less of a chance of a manager hassling me for using my own bucket, wash mit, and towels and just stick to high pressure spraying it off if I don't have time for a good wash in the winter.

 

Must be nice, we sill have drought restrictions up here.

 

Damn that sucks! I wash probably twice a week including yesterday, eventhough it's going to snow

About 79.99 for the electric shop-vac including the extra filter on the end of the suction hole. The internal filter for the tank was free, included in the box.

 

Okay, I will admit it. Even though my garage is totally hooked up for washing a car (heat/drains/tile), I took my car through an automatic carwash for the first time last week...and it was great. All I had to do was wipe a few water marks off of it when I got home. I sent my co-worker who also has a CL-S though it first to see if it would scratch my rims (her car isn't as pampered as mine), since hers was fine, I knew mine would be too. It was definitely a treat that I will only indulge on in desperate times.

 

I wash mine in my driveway every weekend...... Spend as much time as I need, use all my own stuff, and did I mention I wash EVERY weekend.......

Damn this 70ish weather here in So.Cal..........:P

 

Erock, you suck. I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Oh wait, we New Englanders are supposed to pretend that we LIKE all 4 seasons.

sigh....

 

Tell you the truth, I'm an eastcoast boy too, and I do miss the seasons..... I was home (Jersey) for the holidays and loved the 30-40ish degrees...... After you've been away from it for awhile you start to miss it...

 

Yeah and the colder air is more dense!!!

(gotta look at the bright sides...)