How often do you wash your car in the winter? I feel like sometimes I wash my truck, and then a few days later some snow arrives, and the truck is just as dirty as it was before the wash. I’ve heard that some people don’t even wash their vehicles at all in the winter, instead just waiting until spring is officially here to do it.
Not as often as I like. The line is always too long. There are very few places Ill take it anymore.
I trust the touch-free near my house but that’s about it. I swore off the big drive thru washes nearby after damage to my vehicle.
Not as often as I like. The line is always too long.
Same. My vehicles look awful all winter.
Wife signed up for the monthly pass. She wants me to take it every time there in a break in the clouds. Lol!
When they are actively spreading salt it hardly makes sense. If we can piece together a few days in a row where the roads are dry I will try to wash the truck. I think I’ve washed it 3 times so far this winter.
I do a monthly thing in the winter. It’s like $22/mo for unlimited through a local place. Right next to the office so I’ll take the car 2-3x a week. I can’t stand a dirty car.
I cancel for summer because I usually wash my own. Usually do it dec through April.
It snows and your truck gets dirty!? No way haha. My truck I Baby and try not to drive it much in the winter and I always wash it before I put it in the garage.
My car is my every day driver and wash it a couple times a month in the winter. Like u said it’s hard to find the “perfect” time in the winter. Also when the temps warm up and everything melts makes the roads wet.
If I had to drive my truck everyday in the winter I would go with a unlimited wash club at the car wash and do it at least 2X a week
Ehh I gave up lol, I literal would be washing my car everyday with how much I drive, no sense its going to rust eventually so why give two hoots about it.
Have a self Service wash less than a minute from my house. If it’s open I pull in and give it a wash. probably 2x/week. I want to fight the dang rust, as I will be heartbroken when my 4Runner starts to rust.
Also a good excuse to get out of the house, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had to wash the car, then make a left turn to the liquor store after.
Every time I fill up with gas I get the cheapest wash with underbody wash. Figure for the cost of a vehicle what’s $6 a couple times a month just to get the old salt off.
Once a week if I can. We have a wash bay at my fire dept where we are able to wash our cars. Definitely a nice perk.
I try to make it to the wash once a week. Billy and I used to get the unlimited monthly passes and go at least twice a week, but usually only for Dec-March. Then we would cancel it. I hadn’t gotten around to setting that back up this Dec so I’m using up a couple of the book package washes I had bought during black Friday at Holiday in 2018. Good thing the book passes don’t expire! 
My full time job may involve car wash maintenance…. I see cars being washed all day every day. I’ll confirm what dwalton is saying is 100% correct, the underbody is the most important thing to be concerned about in the winter. Getting that salt washed off underneath is key. My old maintenance van was 12 years old, and before it got totalled last year had 200k miles, not a spec of rust on the body and minimal rust underneath. Why? We are required to wash the vans frequently.
I will say if you have an express type wash (conveyor type, not gas station pull through type) with unlimited membership convenient to you I highly recommend trying one out. We have customers who come through daily just because they can.
From November till April, never wash, even then, it’s hard to justify it till June or so. 30 miles to town, so truck would be just as dirty when I get home in the winter after washing, as before I left. Also washing in the spring and fall, around here is a total waste of time, due to the fact that every farm field in the area, is being spread with the manure wagons, and the roads are totally covered with manure. We do rinse off the wheel wells and underside off once it gets warm enough to have the outside water on. If we don’t get it rinsed off, the garage stinks like heck. All in all though, love it out here in the country, deer, turkey, and most every other critter, going through our yard and woods every day, and total peace and quiet, except for my nearest neighbors 3 donkeys, but he’s about a 1/3rd of a mile away. Dirty truck and wife’s car, are a small price to pay, all considering. Also might add, have never kept a truck more than 3 years, but have always waxed at least twice a year.
Every other Thursday morning, then load the Pick-up and head to the lake.
I heard that some of these automated carwashes recycle the water and as that day goes on the salt and chloride content just keeps getting stronger. So basically your blasting salt water into every nook and cranny of your vehicle. It would pay the find out if your carwash does this or not.
I heard that some of these automated carwashes recycle the water and as that day goes on the salt and chloride content just keeps getting stronger. So basically your blasting salt water into every nook and cranny of your vehicle. It would pay the find out if your carwash does this or not.
My company has completely gone away with using reclaimed water. There is only one location that I know of in the state that still uses it for underbody and that will be getting updated shortly. It is a great idea in theory but the negatives definitely outweigh the positives with it. Not sure on how other companies use their waste and how its stored but chances are it goes into a series of settling tanks that exits to the sewer, there is so much water being flushed through the system that there should never be a high concentration of salt under normal use.
I thought it was law to reuse water, not an option???
But it appears that may have been a myth…
A friend of mine had a 2 bay wash built about 10 years ago with one bay being a drive through touchless with under body wash and the other bay being a manual do it your self wash. He passed unexpectedly 2 years ago so I go there exclusively. It’s on a small piece of real estate so it’s a little tricky to get my big Expedition lined up with the bay door entrance especially in winter with the snow banks.
Because of that it doesn’t get much traffic in the winter. We have 3 Kwik Trips and one Holiday Station all with car washes in a town of less than 20K and the lines are long at all of them most of the time. The Holiday one is out of order about half the time.
Anyway I go once I can see the salt to start to show on the truck and dependent on the weather forecast. So that’s about once a week.
I bought a new pickup last weekend and told myself I would try to wash it weekly in the winter to get salt off. I’d say in actuality I wash it about every 10 days, or basically whenever there is a little stretch in the weather where one snowfall ended, the salt is off the roads, and it doesn’t look like another snowfall is coming for a bit.
Outside of winter, only when it is muddy, dirty, or full of bugs on the front. So nowhere near as often in the summer as the winter.
I bought a new pickup last weekend and told myself I would try to wash it weekly in the winter to get salt off. I’d say in actuality I wash it about every 10 days, or basically whenever there is a little stretch in the weather where one snowfall ended, the salt is off the roads, and it doesn’t look like another snowfall is coming for a bit.
Outside of winter, only when it is muddy, dirty, or full of bugs on the front. So nowhere near as often in the summer as the winter.
x2
I used to work as a detailer at a auto dealership. One of the perks of the job; automatic carwash, chemicals to get bugs and other crap off, shop vac and carpet shampoo machine.
Truck was 14 years old when I sold it, but rust still got to it from the inside out
I wash my stuff a lot. It’s part of taking care of it and shows that you give a crap about it.
The difference between one week of grime and 4-8 weeks of grime is huge, no matter the season. Dirty isn’t just dirty, there’s different levels….
I do 90% of my washing at home. If it’s flirting with 30° I’m getting salt off my truck and boat
I also clay bar and wax my stuff, something that a lot of people don’t do.
A clay bar does wonders, especially on lighter colored vehicles.
I wash my truck usually 2x a week. Once a month I do a full detail. Pull the seats,vacuum everything, drill brush the carpets, clay bar the entire vehicle windshield included, wax the whole thing. I figure I spent $$$ on it I may as well keep it as nice as long as possible. Hell I bought a plow truck that I spent around 6 hours detailing when I got it home. I’m just happier when my truck looks nice. I always wonder how people can have a ton of garbage in their vehicle.
In Utah, you can’t go a block without seeing a drive thru car wash. My complaint is that there are no hand car wash places for me to take my dually.
so how many youz guyz gonna use the car wash today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Mine will be going in the garage for a wash as soon as I get home tonight. I never realized how much I would love a heated garage until I got one. I don’t like when all the road slush gets on everything and freezes. So it’ll get a pressure wash and wash mitt at least tonight.
I wash my stuff a lot. It’s part of taking care of it and shows that you give a crap about it.
Ya I agree, stuff stays in better shape longer when it’s cleaner.
so how many youz guyz gonna use the car wash today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You may be surprised how many have/will get washed today. The 2 washes I’ve been working at today have been running steady.
X2 on that Gino! I have heard the same.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
so how many youz guyz gonna use the car wash today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!You may be surprised how many have/will get washed today. The 2 washes I’ve been working at today have been running steady.
seriously…….not I.
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