Just wondering... You guys who drive in the snow. Do you still wash your cars? If so how? I'm sure you dont soap it up with a bucket and hose it off. Or do you just wait till it winter ends. It will never snow where I live so I have no clue.

 

If it is below freezing or you think it will be below freezing in the next day or two don't wash it. I found out the hard way. 55 degrees one day, 8 degrees the next. Nebraska is awesome.

So yeah I'm gonna wait till the end of winter for another wash. Its tough to see my eight this dirty but its for its own good.

 

Although they aren't great I will go through the touchless car washes to get the salt off my car, that's what really kills.

 

i wait for a day thats 40+ degrees and hit up the touchless car wash that has the undercar water jets.

 

I handwash with soap and bucket in my garage during the winter, with the occasional drive through touchless to clean out the undercarriage.

 

just wait for a day until its above freezing... be sure to hand dry it off (including the door jams)

 

The touchless car washes or high pressure wand booth is the way to go; above freezing conditions of course.

Griots Garage has a new "waterless" car wash product, but presumably you need allot of towels to prevent scratches. http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/11347.do

 

you definitely want to blast the salt and crap off the car...especially the undercarriage. I guess the chemicals they use these days can really eat up the car fast.

 

Came here to say this. You need to wash the salt off your car... keep the rust away, it's not a Saturn

 

I forgot about the salt. I thought people who live near the beaches had that problem. Thanks guys!

 

Yep, the main reason to wash your car in the Winter in snow country is to remove road salt; so a touchless with undercarriage spray is a must. Very damaging salt is, despite all the factory anti-corrosion preparation.

 

What is a touchless? What do they spray on the underside?

 

There's power washers located on the floor that spray up when you drive in.

It cleans the under-carriage(bottom) of your car.

 

One of those drive-thru car washes where nothing will touch your car while it washes it. Theres just hoses spraying water from a distance. and the big blow dryer. They just spray water on the underside.
Instead of those car washes that have those huge mop things touching your car

Did that make sense? lol

 

drive through auto car wash. just get the basic one ... like the 5 bucker

 

Thanks for the answers! That clears things up. I was thinking they sprayed something like easyoff or an oily substance on the underside like I used to do when racing(Dirtbikes) in the mud.

 

i use the touchless carwash all winter just make sure u dry the door jams like someone said u dont want that freezing up.

 

I've heard and am interested also in this touchless car wash with under carriage spray. How does it work b/c I'm imagining the under nozzles will be spraying under the engine and everything around there as well (assuming your getting the whole width of the undercarriage for maximum clean). Is this the case? Will I pop the hood to have to wipe things down?

 

No, don't worry about that. The only potential problem is if it is below freezing, and then there are plenty of other issues anyway. Your splash-pan will block most of the direct spray into the engine, and the stock intake (if your stock) does a great job on keeping water out of the engine. If you are really worries about it, then go ahead and check and see it's fine. There is enough heat under there that if you go for a decent drive afterwards, it will probably all dry out fast anyway.

It isn't risky, and just basically power-knocks off the salt that is deposited all over the underside from the tire spray. If you have a lift or something, you can do the same thing with a garden hose.

 

iused to do touchless when i lived in the snow!!!

 

I took advantage of the silly-mild temps today to wash and wax my '8. btw: didn’t we have 18” of snow a week ago???

I used the Griot's Garage waterless cleaner I linked above, as mine really wasn't very dirty and I didn't want to bother hauling out a hose that I would then have to clear as temps are supposed to be more seasonal near future, and it worked great.

I followed it up with a coat of Meguiar’s NXT Tech Wax 2.0, which I had also not used before. In a word Excellent!!

 

a good thick coat of wax in the fall always was good also help keep the rust donw for sure

 

I hit the $2 touchless wash about once a week.

 

it was 55f out today!!! ugh, i should have not been lazy and gone out and given the car a wax or even a simple wash! it looks like crap

funny tomorrow it's going to be in the low 30s again.. fun

 

i washed my car on saturday.

it looks pretty. EXCEPT FOR THE BIG EFFING DENT MY NEIGHBOR PUT IN BOTH MY DRIVERS SIDE DOORS.