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Daily driver question re: cleaning...

E

E-Chick

Guest
;helpIf yours is your 'daily driver', I'd really like to know the following...
(especially if yours is the same model as mine and/or color)

Hope I don't sound too ignorant here, just want to know where I stand...

1) How often do you wash it?

(ME: 1-2 Xs per week)

2) What method, and how much time does that take you?

(ME: I usually go to the self serve car wash, 2-4+ hours)

3) How often do you wax/polish it?

(ME: Let the detailer do it every 2 months)

4) If and how often you have it professionally detailed?

(ME: Between 2 & 3 months so far)

5) Is there anything particular that you use on the conv. top?

(ME: High pressure wash at the self serve car wash)

6) How do you get into the nooks and crannies of the polished aluminum wheels? I have so many little nicks on my hands.

(ME: I have a fuzzy cleaner on a stick from the auto supply, but it doesn't reach all of the inner surfaces. I also use a spray and occassionally, wheel wipes)

7) What's your method for cleaning the convertible hatch?

(ME: I wipe it down with a wet chamois)

Is there anything else you can add that I overlooked?

Thanks for your input!
 
I wash my sunny day driver once a week, by hand. I don't use the high pressure hoses as that the seals between the top and the windows aren't that good. Most of my effort is to remove the bug strikes as that I cover my car both in my garage and at work to reduce the possibility of bird stuff.

I wax mine roughly 1->2 times a month by hand (Zaino) applied using clean terry cloth towels. I detail my interior about the same frequency.

The top is washed along with the rest of the car. I use Dawn and I scrub the top using my terry cloth mitt. I let the top dry normally, I do dry the window though. The car body along with trunk and engine compartments are dryed with an artifical chami.

I don't take my car out to be detailed as that I do not want buffer swirl marks. Anyway I kind of enjoy doing it myself.

Mine is Navy blue and shows dirt more than your red does.
 
There are several products on the market under the heading of "detailing spray" that you can use between washings to take the light dust and dirt and bugs off the finish without scratching. You'll need a couple of good quality white (no dyes) 100% cotton bath towels to use these products, and the towels are what you should be using to wash your car anyway. I've been using both Meguiar's and Turtle Wax sprays for several months now and they're both excellent, so good in fact that my car hasn't been "under the hose" since last December, and it looks as good as the day we picked her up from the dealer.

Avoid the high pressure sprayers at the car wash as they can actually drive minute particles of dirt into the paint and cause minor scratching, not to mention driving water into places you don't want water to be.

If your car sits in the sun alot, frequent waxing will help to keep the UV damage down, but frequent waxing with a wax containing cleaning agents (micro-abrasives) would be detrimental - use a product that is specifically made for clear-coat finishes.

Wheels: get a couple of microfiber cleaning cloths, 3M High Peformance Cleaning Cloths, Caddy, etc. They pick up and hold the dirt without scratching. Use the detailing spray on the wheels and clean off the brake dust with the microfiber cloth. Use a wooden paint stirrer with the cloth wrapped around it to clean deeper into the wheel. It works. Otherwise I just keep rolling the car into positions that allow me to get my hand in there. It's a bunch of work, but worth it.
 
As a relatively new owner, are you people actually washing the car 1 to 2 times a week, and waxing once or twice a month? I bought the car for enjoyment and find using a detailer spray on a weekly basis is more than sufficient. Waxing only on a 2 to 3 month basis(Zymol). Am I the only Vette owner doing this "minimal" upkeep?
 
I've never seen a red vette dirty. The navy blue shows the dirt, pollen and bugs so well as to make it look dirty after a very short time. With the number of bug strikes I get after driving mine for more than an hour, am thinking of getting it a bra.

The only bugs that fly that low are only the fat juicy ones. Too bad they don't make a bug repellant for cars.
 
Mag01: I'm using detailing spray whenever the car gets dirty. I haven't actually used a bucket and a hose since last year! - and the car looks stunning.

Singledad_9: there is a bug repellent - wax! My last trip to Michigan (625 bug infested miles) was preceded by waxing the front bumper and hood. When I got there, one of the neighbors came out to look at the new Vette and looking at the layer of bugs stuck to the front said "Wow! You need a bra!" So I whipped out the detailer spray and he was amazed at how all the bugs just wiped clean off.

I had a bra on my last ride: I wound up cleaning the bra as much as the bumper and hated the way it looked.
 
Thanks for your responses so far...

Okay, I've never heard of a "detailing spray", but I'm gonna look for it!

Also, besides my prior questions...

What is your experience/thoughts of those car dusting brushes? Pro/Con?
 
So really the only difference between us is I choose to use a hose instead of a detailler spray. Different strokes, thats all.

I also figured that the bra would get dirty, but with the dark color on my car it wouldn't look too stupid.

Mike
 
Wash once a week by hand and detail enterior, deatail spray about twice a week, wax once a month. Wash all the white 100% cotton USA made towels, no fabric softener every two weeks. I use 3M hand glaze every three months. I enjoy every bit of it.
 
My "BLACK" 85 gets washed the most!I dont have a garage, so I put up 2 of them WALLY MART car ports.NO more tree sap or bird crap!!!
 
I have a 2001 Black/Black. Looks great when clean, but looks like crap when not. I wash 1 - 2 times per week depending on the weather. I wax once per month. There's nothing better than a Vette shinning!!!!
 

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