Now that it's winter and freezing out, I have some general questions I was hoping someone could answer:

1) My windshield washer often does not work when it's 10 deg. out, any way to prevent this? I open the cap and notice that it is still liquid, but it still doesn't want to spray out.

2) Is it still important to let cars these days warm up for a minute before driving?

3) After it snows, most cars will be caked in white gunk - is that bad for the paint (is that stuff the road salt and will it erode the paint?) i feel like i need to wash my car at least every week now.

thank you!

 

I wouldn't worry about heating your vehicle unless the temp is in the single digits and by saying that, a minute is more than enough, let's hope you have synthetic fluids both tranny and oil.
The windshield washer sprayer most times is clogged with either dirt or ice so keep a toothbrush handy and run it when it doesn't seem to work.
Hopefully you applied a few coats of wax preparing for the Winter, I did and I also applied a sealant because February in MA is very cold and I would rather have a dirty car than one scratched by frozen brushes or felt strips at the carwash....I'm going over a month without washing my TL and as much as I hate it....I know I'm doing the right thing....

 

If your worried about the salt just use the spray wand on rinse and get what you can.. like HEK posted if you use the brushes etc your just rubbing dirt into the paint.

Applying a good sealant in late fall will help here .. BTW sealants don't work well over waxes.. but the other way around is ok.

 

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...ml?vidID=46666
here is a little thing about warming up.

 

Not sure about your area, but around here we have these great touchless car washes at local gas stations ('Get Go' in Pittsburgh). It's basically just a little garage that you pull into and these automatic wands go around the car and work their magic. They use very high pressure water and get underneath the car as well. It's amazing how clean it gets the car without ever touching it. I've gone through there with salt caked on like you would not believe. Even gets the wheels sparkling. Also, has an automatic dryer on your way out.

I've never seen a touchless carwash that did such a good job. Best part...it's only 5 bucks. I go through once a week.

 

ya just dont go into one of those with a chipping paint or really bad paint. you can watch it blow off.

 

And very harsh chemicals to get the car that clean.. Most wax jobs won't handle more than just a few of those washes and they are gone.

 

I havent washed my car for two weeks now cuz it constantly snows then melts and snow combe back. Hopefully today's snow will be last batch and weather will return to above freezing temperature.

 

Well, most wax jobs (carnuba wax which most people use) don't last 3 weeks with a little rain mixed in. I use Zaino and put two coats on as a pre-winter ritual. Actually one coat would suffice. Been doing this to every car we have owned over the last 6 years. Had a '98 Jeep GC 5.9 that I just sold with 120K miles and the paint was near perfect.

Anyway, been using the quickie, touchless carwashes for the last year and whatever they're using doesn't get through the zaino. Paint beads up nice when wet and has that glossy Zaino shine when dry. Two coats, twice a year and you're golden. Zaino rocks.

 

The hand wash places have the advantage of letting you direct the spray up underneath the car to get that extra salt rinsed out.

 

I hate winter too - my TL is one big icicle.....