mdp c230k

How festidious are you about washing your car or rims? It looks like some of you wash daily! What do you do if you hit a puddle, pull over right there and wash? Is it possible to overwash and damage the finish?

Buellwinkle

I have never washed my car since new, that's what the dealer is for. I used to take it there twice a week but now I settled for once a week since I got the Porterfield brake pads and brake dust is not an issue.

young

yup, w/ the drought, it has forced me to not wash the car as often as i would like to. maybe once a month.

w/out the water limitations, i used to wash the car about once a week. put a coat of zaino on, etc... a good couple of hours (2 cars) on a sunday.

Harris

Car - once a week. Wheels - once in 2 days (if I have time).

bagwell

same here!

christian655321

water restrictions? what are those. i turn on my faucet and water comes out, no restriction there, i wash my car when i want which is about every two days, i dont believe in water conservation, flame on!! lol

session

you're such a capitalist pig -- can't you sacrifice your own needs for the good of the masses?



i'm such a capitalist it hurts.

Harris

I think we'd better ask another question: How often do you vacumm your car? This is a tough one!!

I do it once a week.

TimmyC230boy

i try to wash once a week, key word there is try. Wheels every couple days. If it is really dirty but going to rain more, i will take 2 dollars in quarters to the do-it-yourself high pressure wash and get the "grit" off the car.

revstriker

I try to wash my car once a week, but I have gone longer when it was not needed. I normally touch up my car using a detail spray, and I keep it "dust free" using a calif. duster. I do get the brake dust build up, but it washes off pretty easily. I put a coat of zaino on the rims and that has helped quite a bit. I used to hand wash the car myself, but I have to admit that lately, in the last few weeks, I have utilized the local car wash. They do a pretty good job.

As far as vacumming, the car wash people do this for me. When I am in "hand wash mode", then I just do it as needed, maybe every 3 weeks or so. I'm pretty neat in the car though....

session

i don't have the facilities to handwash my car every week, so i run it through the touchless car wash every couple days or so (whenever i fill up with gas). however, as i was eating lunch today i saw about 7 benzes, including 2 G500s, roll out of a local car wash shop so i figured i might try them out. i'm sure they do a better job than the automated one.

i need a house.

revstriker

I have heard a lot of horror stories about those gas station automated car washes. The couple of times I have used them (with another car), they really didn't do a great job of cleaning. Left a lot of dirt on the back.

session

they aren't the best, but the one near me gets most of the grime off. if i could handwash, i'd wash every week religiously. i did that when i lived at home. there's really nothing better than taking a drive in your nice clean car.

MarkL

Like most of you guys, I wash my car about once a week unless the weather is bad. Of course, in summer, it's easier to wash it "any old time", after work, etc. In winter, I use waterproof Gore-Tex gloves, assuming the temp is at least 33!
I don't wash the wheels between full washes, and find if you keep up, the brake dust washes off easily. I use P21S on them about 2x a year.

We've been lucky in the DC metro area to avoid water restrictions, but I try to use as little as possible anyway.

Big Dog

Same as Mark L -- wash about once a week and same for wheels. I use Zaino Z6 spray on the wheels and the dust comes right off (although it ususally looks pretty ugly before hand).

I have found that the key for me is to layer Z5/ZFX on about every 4-6 weeks. Not very time consuming and dirt comes off immediately.

MB-BOB

If I had a black car I would go nuts. However, I hand-wash my Desert Silver sedan every other weekend. I cover about 350 miles in that space of time, and by the second weekend, the wheels are sufficiently ugly with dust that the bath is in order.

If it weren't for the wheels, I could probably go 3 weeks (easily)between washes... The car just doesn't show the dust and dirt, and we don't get much rain, here. (People still tell me how clean my car looks, even when I know it's been 10-12 days since the last wash.) A Calif. Duster is about all that is needed to keep the dust down between washes, when needed.

I vacuum and clean the leather about every second month.

BTW, Revstriker must be doing the right thing. I saw his car last weekend, and I must say it's just about the most beautiful black car I have ever seen!

revstriker

Thanks Bob!!

I went to the driving range a few nights ago, and when I was leaving, the sprinklers were on, and one was spraying right on my car. By the time I got home, I had nasty water spots all over! Too much for the detail spray or the duster to handle, so looks like I'll be bathing her early Sat. morning (before it gets too hot).

Yes, it's a lot of work having a black car, but I would not want any other color.

Lockbuster

I wash and vacume mine once a week. I only hand wash it and it takes about 1 1/2 hour to do the job right. I usially check for anything on the vehicle that needs to be addressed like road tar and the likes. Inside I vacume the whole car using a wand to get into the small places.

c230_2k2

once a week..if i have time i do it my self if not the dealer will

SoCal240/6

mine is garaged when it is not being used, so it doesn't get too dirty.

I wash it every 2 weeks. Usually, it looks almost as clean on the 14th day as on the day of washing. But I usually do it anyways.

And, with my Porterfield brake pads, even after 2 weeks of driving, there is no noticeable brake dust on the wheels (if you touch the fronts, you will notice some, but just looking at the car after 2 weeks, the wheels look clean).

And, yes, that is even WITHOUT Magic Lemon Pledge on the wheels.

J&JC230k

How? Do you just go there and say I want my car washed?

JeT

Some of you guys are amazing! Once a week?!! I barely have enough time to do it once a month...I generally wash it when I wax which is usually once a month because the wax wears off around that time. May switch to Zaino soon if I can find a supplier to Oz!

Frankly, I wouldn'd take my car to the dealer to wash because having to wash so many cars, they would tend to cut corners. If I do it I will definitely not get anymore swirls (thanks to the method prescribed by AlBoston!)

FrankW

i wash the car when i feel the car is dirty.

sometimes once a week, sometimes couple times a week. It all depends on whether i have my car in the garage or not.

BlackC230Coupe

i wash my C230 2 or 3 times a week. and my CLK430 1 or 2 times a week.

I usually clean the wheels everyday.

christian655321

Do the porterfield brake pads wear down your rotors faster? how much do they cost?