How often is it 'sane' to wash your car?

[Ravenseye]

At what point does it border on a mental illness given the frequency with which you wash your car, given light to normal usage?

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. My next door neighbor

will actually be outside in the rain with a towel drying off his car...I'm not sure why, when he comes home from work he will bring out jugs of water and clean off his tires! His obsession with a clean car borders on a sickness. Me on the other hand, I think it's a waste of money and water to clean my car...the inside is spotless but the outside is another thing entirely. The only time I'll get it washed is when I get an oil change because at the place I go, you get a free car wash with every oil change.

So I guess you could say I wash my car every 3000 miles

[Ravenseye]

5. Mine too

That's why I did this poll. He washes his car daily. He'll be out there in the rain towelling it off. He scrubs his tire rims a couple times a week with special stuff. He vacumes the entire car maybe three times, four times a week.

He's not right in the head.

[MrCoffee]

2. I wanted to vote for Empire, but there's just not enough damn ewoks

in it for my taste.

[trackfan]

3. Mine's 6 years old and I've never washed it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Depends on many factors.

Such as, what color your car is, how dusty the area you drive it in is, what you're using the car for (for example, a pick-up used for utilitarian purposes, versus a sports car.)

So anywhere between never and once a week, I'd say.

[Blue Diadem]

6. What Bornaginhooligan said.

:thumbsup:

[billyskank]

7. I found that the car washing frequency follows an inverse square law

with the distance from the time you bought it - especially if you buy it new.

The first summer, I washed it every two weeks. And waxed it. I couldn't bear to see a speck on it.

The next summer, every month or two.

This summer, I think I washed it once. :D

[Downtown Hound]

8. It really depends on the color of the car

Black cars need constant care if you want them to look clean. They collect every little piece of dust and dirt possible and it shows up very easily. I know, I had a black Prius, and I could spend a whole day detailing that thing and it would be dirty two days later. So if you buy a black car and want to keep it looking good, it will need constant maintenance. Most other colors though, can get buy with a good washing and waxing once a week if you're really serious about it looking clean, once a month if you just want to keep it from getting too dirty, or once a year if you really don't care all that much and just decide it's time to get it washed so you can see out the windows again.

[Ravenseye]

12. I have a beige car

I've washed it once. Otherwise you can only tell from the windows. The car itself hides dirt perfectly.

[billyskank]

15. One thing though -

if you wash the headlights once in a while, you'll be amazed at how much better they work. :D

[Ravenseye]

16. Headlights?

I drive a Ford. I don't have headlights anymore. They break and are too expensive to replace. I just build little fires where the headlights used to be, when it gets dark to help light my way.

[azmouse]

9. When the dirt is so thick I can't see out the windows any more

then it's time to wash the car for safety reasons.
I can't wait for rain. I live in the desert. We only get 2 rainy days a year!

[Merrick]

10. When it tells me to

often my car will leave me a message when it wishes to be washed - usually inscribed in the filth caking its back window.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. I have mine washed once a week,

and whenever I come back from a long trip.

I like my car clean.

[Radical Activist]

13. If I have a first date or special occasion

I will wash my car. Otherwise, the rain does it for me.

[WhollyHeretic]

14. Occasionally I'll hose it off in the winter if it gets too much salt

other than that never.

[calico1]

17. Once every few months.

In the Winter more often if it snows a lot. Can't let the salt stay on the car.

[NewWaveChick1981]

18. I once had a student tell me that she never washed her car "because

if you wash it, things fall off of it." :rofl: She had an old, old junker, and apparently the dirt was holding things together. If you washed it, it unglued that dirt and made the side mirror or door handle fall off. :rofl:

I wash my car MAYBE twice a year. :P