I was even contemplating running it through a manual car wash, drying it off really fast obviously, driving home, closing the garage door and using my detailer spray. Looking at that dirt this long is driving me nuts!

 

Put your wollies on a go wash that puppy!! :D I've even washed my 8 in the rain. I'm sure my neighbours all thought I was insane!! :D Where are you?

- Irish

 

Missouri. I have to wash it tomorrow. Its driving me crazy. I will probably take it to a touchless automatic then come home in the garage and detail it. I used the touchless once and it was the first one i saw that did a good job and it sprays the undercarriage. Damn, i hate winter.

 

Oh, p.s. in the rain?? I understand where your coming from but yes your a bit insane Aren't we all? I have had nice cars but in the winter I just say screw it until it warms up and it never bothered me until now.

 

Take a deep breath, count to 10, and remember the acid-based soap and recycled water that those places use, and the urge will pass.

Instead, go to your local hardware store and get an adaptor that you screw on to your (kitchen/downstairs bathroom) faucet in place of the usual aerator screen. This adaptor will let you attach an ordinary garden hose to the sink. Fill a bucket with HOT water and your favourite auto shampoo. Then attach a hose to the sink and turn on a fairly warm mix and you'll be able to wash your car in even really damn cold weather without being miserable with frozen fingers.

 

Yeah bmcc49er, I feel your pain. The best policy is: don't look at it!

I know around here, keeping my car clean has been a futile pissing match. Thursday morning I washed it, knowing it was gonna get reeealy cold throughout the day. By the time I got home from work, the car looked as bad as, or worse than it looked when I left that morning, even though the roads were fairly free of slush.

MNDot has been salting the roads heavily every day it could possibly snow (which is about every day in the winter) as well as salting during and after each snowfall. The roads are kept white with salt here, and it is likely you'll be driving through a cloud of airborne salt kicked up from other vehicles when the roads are dry.

I can understand the use of some salt in some conditions may provide safety, but people aren't going to slow down anywhere if they aren't sliding on ice, even if there could be icy patches because of the conditions.

Sorry, had to vent.

 

Its hard to imagine that the car wash water and soap could be near as worse on your paint as the salt on the roads. Especially if you go home straight away and use a detailer to clean it up and also if you have a good wax job on it to begin with. Thoughts?

 

Well in Calgary you have to get used to washing your car in cold weather. I will wsh mine up to -15c (5f). There is a good place near my house that uses only fresh water. I dry it off inside and then let it warm up in my garage over night.

I like to time my wash just before a cold shap hits so I can have a clean car while others drive around with dirt all over their car.

 

Hell and I thought I was crazy washing mine in 30 degree temps ....every neighbor on the block wanted me to wash theirs too ! Seems like it has either rained for snowed every week , so I wash it weekly . If it doesn't rain or snow , I use a detailer to clean her up . I woke up Thursday , went online and checked the weather ... clear skys for a week , so I wash and wax her ... That night I check the weather service , all of a sudden its snow Sat ,Sun and Mon ! Luckly only a light mist of snow that didn't cover the ground and car still looks pretty good .

 

Just get out and wash it! It was around 38 today I was outside washing/drying for over an hour.

 

Do it by hand. There was a post not too long ago here on the forum from someone who ran their car through an automatic car wash and had the valve stem on one wheel destroyed.

 

I take my car through one automatic by my house that specializes in high-performance cars (for those in my area: Grand Prix Wash on Weiland in Buffalo Grove), and have never had a problem. And their "dryoff jockeys" all fight over who gets to work on it because i"m a big tipper.

Amazing how much service you can buy with a little finski into the right guy's hand.

 

you guys are crazy.. i just stick with the brushless carwash in the winter. The place i goto has some really high ends come in
Bentlys, M5s, etc... so the rx8 is acceptable there.

 

Check the Show & Shine section. This topic has already been discussed: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-show-shine-26/how-keep-clean-during-winter-45368/

 

yeah theres one like that around here, M3s, 911s, 7Series', escalades, theres always at least one or two...somehow i will trust these guys and get my car autowashed soon.

 

i feel the pain... my car is a total salty/muddy/crappy mess and they don' want it getting out of the 20's all week

 

It's 20 degrees outside and I'm driving a purpleish-blue '97 Escort as my 8 rests in my garage. I had made the mistake of driving the 8 through roads that were still wet/salty and had the same dillemma. In my mind, I can actually hear the salt eating away at my several coats of zaino. (It sounds sort of like rice crispies in milk)

When hope was lost and I was debating whether to touchless wash it (for the first time) or do it myself and freeze my digits off, we got a 65-70 degree day last week. I guess I'll be pimping the 'scort until better washing weather. Sigh.

At least I got one last jaunt to Philly for the Eagles game yesterday.

 

When I lived in the Cleveland area I used to wash cars in the winter. Fill a big wash bucket with warm (not hot) water from inside. For rinsing, get a "marine" hose -- it's a plastic hose that takes on a flat shape when it's not being used, and rolls up onto a small reel. Just attach it to an outside faucet and there you go. The faucet should work unless it's super cold. When you're done, roll up the hose and take it inside. Wear rubber gloves. If your hands start getting cold, just dunk them in the bucket of warm water for a bit.

 

washed mine at a manual car wash yesterday. It was so cold the water was freezing as soon as it hit the car but I got most of the dirt off.

 

I washed mine Saturday when it was 44 degrees. Once your hands go numb from the water its not that big a deal. I went 3 weeks without washing my 8. That's the longest ever in not washing it. Now its all clean and shiny.

 

Well, its taken care of. Took it to the touchless auto(first one I found that does a good job)took it home did the detailer, shined up the tires and cleaned the wheels, vacuumed and cleaned up the inside. Damn, forgot how great this car looks when its shining. People are going to look at me funny tomorrow at work when mine is spitshined and theirs still has the dirt from the last storm on it. New wax out. Meguiars NXT TECH, suppose to be great stuff. Anyone tried it? When it warms up I might give it a go.

 

I don't think using warm water in a garage is a good idea... my garage gets pretty darn cold and that water is going nowhere until the temperature comes up... which could be quite a while in January in the Chicago area.

I try to keep the salt off my car by taking it to the touchless, hand-dry wash ($10 + $3 tip) when the weather permits, and even brave the no-touch automatic machine ($7) for the "premium" wash, from time to time. When its really nasty, I take the "other" car (oh, the humiliation!). Honestly, when the weather is really cold, I prefer the machine. Even though most of the dry-off takes place inside at the hand-dry place, the temperature gets pretty extreme near the exit door, and I'm sure ice gets rubbed around by the guys drying the car on occasion. The whole point seems to me just to clear off the salt -- the ice that forms is not a big deal to me, but then again I'm in my "second" year of ownership now. The Zaino wax seems to take the whole thing in stride. Trying to make the car look like it does in July... not going to happen.

 

Done this several times.......you don't have to worry about water spots!!! Drying it off now is a different story.

 

The touchless auto I went to has a heavy duty dryer blowing on the way out. Just go out the door a little at a time and it dries up the water pretty good. I take it home to the garage and use the Mothers detailer and the car looks great.

 

You are supposed to tip those employees who towel-dry your car??? Hmm, I guess I never thought about it. Now I feel bad for going there over a dozen times and not once leaving a tip. Usually there are 3-4 guys drying, so are you supposed to give them each $1, or just give $3 to the guy closest to the door? I hate not knowing when to tip... or when I know I'm supposed to tip but I don't have any singles.