Car Wash in Winter

[lexro]

For those who daily/winter drive the Type R, or a hatchback. How do you wash you car?
How often do you do it? do you wash it yourself in a heated garage? or at a touchless drive through?

The 10th gen has so much panel gaps that can have water slowly dripping out even hours after the wash (the drive through wash's blow dryer is just not strong/long enough), these water streaks ice up quickly. Do you guys just ignore it? I normally spend another 10 mins after the wash to wipe down and dry everything including inside of the trunk and door frames. but doubt i'd like to do that in -20 degree C weather lol.

I used to go to a local car wash, they are fast and super thorough. and all of them know how to handle a stick but that business was sold and the new owner/crew sucks.

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[wildbilly32]

I don't daily/winter drive, but go through a touchless car wash about once per week. Yes, the Type R leaks wash water ad nauseam after washed. Once home I do the leaf blower first then the wipe door sills and hatch sills. After that I let nature do it's thing. Mine is not a show car...

 

[Mr. X]

Don't have the luxury of a heated garage but touchless wash and wipe down right after is how I'll be doing mine. Hasn't snowed in my area yet, thank god and i hope it doesn't all winter lol.

 

[Byron Sexton]

Same here...didnt buy this car to display it in a Museum. The winter its occasional touchless car washes. If we get a good 50 Degree+ day i will maybe apply a coat of wax. The winter time is a dud for detailing..

 

[lexro]

Same here...didnt buy this car to display it in a Museum. The winter its occasional touchless car washes. If we get a good 50 Degree+ day i will maybe apply a coat of wax. The winter time is a dud for detailing..

Yeah totally agreed. it does not stay clean for more than couple of hours if the road is dirty lol I'm seriously only washing to keep the salts off as much as possible.

A local drive through wash has subscription for unlimited wash (up to 2 washes a day) seriously considering getting it it's $40 a month CAD lol

 

[MoodySara]

A local drive through wash has subscription for unlimited wash (up to 2 washes a day) seriously considering getting it it's $40 a month CAD lol

That's quite a deal.
My local has a subscription, too, but it's much more expensive than that - more like $100 US.

 

[AlphaDigital]

In my area the Holiday gas stations usually have a monthly subscription for $30 unlimited washes.

Definitely helpful in the winter time.

 

[jack.]

I just don’t wash my car in winter, probably not a good idea but it snows so much here and the roads are so dirty even when it doesn’t snow that I just can’t keep it clean. I do still clean the interior often and the engine bay every once in a while, but just not the exterior. I don't even have a garage to keep the car in, even in the summer I can’t keep my car clean for the life of me.

 

[Blindeye_03]

That's quite a deal.
My local has a subscription, too, but it's much more expensive than that - more like $100 US.

Holy crap, I have 3 places near me that offer subscriptions.. sadly only one is touchless but they only charge $30 a month.

Ill go through it every 3 or 4 days depending on how dirty my car is. I will also clean the door jambs, under the hood and hatch with their cleaning cloths.

The other day that I did this (Monday) I had ice from the car wash on my front lip and in the jambs..

 

[ems657]

I live in Seattle, so it's relatively mild. I try to hand wash my car every 1-2 weeks in the winter on my driveway. Some tips are:
1) For soap, I use a bucket of warm water (not the cold water from the garden hose). This is much more comfortable for my hands.
2) After wash, I blow dry the car with leaf blower. Then I park the car in the garage for the next day to avoid the frozen water damaging some parts. (the normally parks on the driveway).

However, when it's absolutely frozen out there, it's not a good idea to do hand wash on the driveway.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Where I live it is usually cold and snowy. Indeed, the past several days it has been snowing off and on (about six inches at my house) and the temps have been in the mid-20s, mostly. And it isn't even winter yet. We use a ton of salt and sand on the roads, too. I take my car to one of those drive-in bays where you insert a butt-load of quarters and do the self-serve thing with the pressure hose, etc. every once in a while when the grime gets too much. But that's about it.

 

[lexro]

Where I live it is usually cold and snowy. Indeed, the past several days it has been snowing off and on (about six inches at my house) and the temps have been in the mid-20s, mostly. And it isn't even winter yet. We use a ton of salt and sand on the roads, too. I take my car to one of those drive-in bays where you insert a butt-load of quarters and do the self-serve thing with the pressure hose, etc. every once in a while when the grime gets too much. But that's about it.

cool, did you do any rust proofing? and did you install mud flaps?

 

[evlsmurf]

What are you guys doing if your car is ceramic coated? I am being told I can't use the touchless washes because the soaps are not good for the ceramic. Any truth to this?

 

[Quip]

We don’t have winters here in San Diego so I wash my Type R once a week by hand.

I hate washing the Type R. It’s never clean for more than a day. The brake dust sucks. But I still smile ear to ear when I drive her.

 

[dgordon7]

Winter washing in the NE or any areas that get it and the salt and ice is a challenge. First, try to find a good touchless wash. And be really careful as a lot of them are aggressive and can wreck trim, or other things as you go through. I have a lowly LX that I really enjoy, my local touchless did a job on my roof trim. I now go to a coin-op, get a 2 minute spray and if it's really messy out there, just hit the wheel wells and the major lower areas. It's not going to look good anyways with sub-zero weather and will get hosed up as soon as you leave. But at least you get some of the cake off. And the time to focus on it is when it goes above freezing as that's when a lot of the spurge and salt starts to really activate on the car body. Go off hours and not be rushed in the wash bays. Dress warm and be sure to bring enough change. It's a lot cheaper too than the automatic washes - just hustle.

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