Comments on: The car wash is a lie http://www.thebrokeyuppie.com/2009/06/22/the-car-wash-is-a-lie/ trudging slowly toward solvency. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:24:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1-RC1 hourly 1 By: Erin http://www.thebrokeyuppie.com/2009/06/22/the-car-wash-is-a-lie/comment-page-1/#comment-68 Erin Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:01:46 +0000 http://www.thebrokeyuppie.com/?p=173#comment-68 Good points, lh. I figured I'd still use the car wash in the winter (I, too, live in the Northeast. On some days I think the soap would freeze to the car before I could wash it off!) Hadn't thought of the maintenance issues though, so maybe an occasional trip to the car wash in the warm months would be worthwhile, too. Thanks for the comment! Good points, lh. I figured I’d still use the car wash in the winter (I, too, live in the Northeast. On some days I think the soap would freeze to the car before I could wash it off!) Hadn’t thought of the maintenance issues though, so maybe an occasional trip to the car wash in the warm months would be worthwhile, too.

Thanks for the comment!

]]> By: lh http://www.thebrokeyuppie.com/2009/06/22/the-car-wash-is-a-lie/comment-page-1/#comment-67 lh Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:58:46 +0000 http://www.thebrokeyuppie.com/?p=173#comment-67 I have a bit of a counterpoint, but it's not going to apply to everyone. I don't wash my car because I want it to look clean (OK, occasionally when it's been bombed one too many times by birds). It's silver and rarely looks very dirty. If you've got a car that shows dirt really well, maybe that's something to think about when you buy your next car. But I digress. I also live in New England, famous for cold winters and road salt, among other things. While washing your car in the summer is easy, cheap, and might even be fun for some, who wants to wash their car when its snowing and 28 degrees out? So if you live somewhere that has real winter weather and you'd rather not pay the $5 to $10 for a car wash, guess what, you're probably not going to wash your car between November and March. Which leads me to my actual point -- I wash my car to get that road salt off of it. And not just off the parts that you can see; the important parts are the ones you can't -- underneath the car. The ones that rust if left alone. Even if you do hand wash your car in winter, you're still going to have a hard time getting the undercarriage clean unless you use a pressure washer. And just spraying the underside of the car could make things worse by dissolving the salts and leaving a salty solution sitting there to rust everything it touches. I've done the DIY car wash (where you put in quarters to use someone else's pressure washing setup) in winter before, but it always costs me the same as an automatic car wash. Again, if you live in a warm climate or don't plan to keep your car very long, this doesn't apply to you. But otherwise, car washes are not simply cosmetic, but an important part of preventive maintenance, just like oil changes. I have a bit of a counterpoint, but it’s not going to apply to everyone. I don’t wash my car because I want it to look clean (OK, occasionally when it’s been bombed one too many times by birds). It’s silver and rarely looks very dirty. If you’ve got a car that shows dirt really well, maybe that’s something to think about when you buy your next car. But I digress. I also live in New England, famous for cold winters and road salt, among other things. While washing your car in the summer is easy, cheap, and might even be fun for some, who wants to wash their car when its snowing and 28 degrees out? So if you live somewhere that has real winter weather and you’d rather not pay the $5 to $10 for a car wash, guess what, you’re probably not going to wash your car between November and March.

Which leads me to my actual point — I wash my car to get that road salt off of it. And not just off the parts that you can see; the important parts are the ones you can’t — underneath the car. The ones that rust if left alone. Even if you do hand wash your car in winter, you’re still going to have a hard time getting the undercarriage clean unless you use a pressure washer. And just spraying the underside of the car could make things worse by dissolving the salts and leaving a salty solution sitting there to rust everything it touches. I’ve done the DIY car wash (where you put in quarters to use someone else’s pressure washing setup) in winter before, but it always costs me the same as an automatic car wash.

Again, if you live in a warm climate or don’t plan to keep your car very long, this doesn’t apply to you. But otherwise, car washes are not simply cosmetic, but an important part of preventive maintenance, just like oil changes.

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