What's Your Breaking Point?

T

The Wraith

New member
So, my record for not washing my car(s) is 10 days. After seeing all the incredible detail jobs on here, it seems the dirtier the car, the better the results. What's the longest you guys have gone without washing your ride? Here's mine after 7 days. Not sure if I can cope with the filth much longer, but I have to see just how dirty it can get :2thumbs:



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My Candy White GTI went about 15 months without any type of wash. I had bought a house, found out my fiancee was pregnant, got married... had a kid (several months later) and finally got to use a 'swirl inducing' car wash one day when family was coming to town.



Car washes have really fallen on the wayside for me with an 11 month old. I don't have time some days.. or someone to watch the kiddo if the desire to wash the car hits me.



Now the GTI is sold and I have two family wagons, so I seem to care even less about their appearance most the time.
 
^^^ Sometimes life just gets in the way of a good detail...As much as I want an A5 after the GTI, I think the "family wagon" is the way to go for the long haul especially a new TDI Jetta Wagon w/ the panoramic sunroof. Which wagons do you have now?
 
The Wraith said:
^^^ Sometimes life just gets in the way of a good detail...As much as I want an A5 after the GTI, I think the "family wagon" is the way to go for the long haul especially a new TDI Jetta Wagon w/ the panoramic sunroof. Which wagons do you have now?
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Yep! Got a Platinum Grey TDI Sportwagen (no sunroof) and my wife's old Mazda Protege 5 wagon.
 
NICE!!! The Sportwagen is incredible. I hear it has more cargo space than the Tiguan when the rear seats are folded down. Grey is an easy color to keep clean. All you need to do is gel your tires, and the whole car will "pop."
 
The Wraith said:
NICE!!! The Sportwagen is incredible. I hear it has more cargo space than the Tiguan when the rear seats are folded down. Grey is an easy color to keep clean. All you need to do is gel your tires, and the whole car will "pop."
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We've not even had it 30 days, but my wife enjoys it. (She drives a lot more than I do for work/etc). It looks great when it's clean, which it doesn't stay for long with a 70 mile round trip drive for work, open parking (no covered parking) where she works etc.



This is the dark Grey (I think they call it Platinum Grey unless they changed it, not the reflex silver that was popular with the MKIV series cars. (I had a reflex silver 337 back then).



Zainoed 337 (digging this picture out makes me remember how much I loved using Zaino, I might slap some on the Sportwagen, that or BFWD or PowerLock.. hrmm)

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Wagen:

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Not sure if I have any good pics of my 08 GTI (Candy White) handy.



Then there was the 91 Corrado. This car never got washed while it was in my possession.



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I also had two different 98 GTI VR6's. Uni Black and a blue which I've forgotten the name of now. I miss that motor!
 
7 months. I usually don't wash my car in the winter, -65F for weeks on end isn't very cooperative for washing.
 
I imagine a lot of detailers avoid washing their cars as much as some other enthusiasts might, I don't think it matters how good a job you do, every time you wash it's always going to impart SOME damage in to the finish. I can tell you that my customers cars are always cleaner than mine is!
 
Barry Theal said:
Im pushing about 4 to 5 months now on my lincoln
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The longest I've gone on my LS has been about a month. I tell you, with all the money I've spent on recent repairs on this damn thing, the last thing I want to do is spend hours washing it.



Right now my car is going on 3 weeks. I've just been to busy with other people's cars and other things to bother with my own. The gold hides the dirt pretty well anyways.
 
After a full three stage & wax/sealant, I seriously wait at least 3 months before washing my car. Last time I waited 5!

But it ends up working out incredibly well. One wash in a few months = less scratches and no rewaxing.
 
Eh, I wash 'em when they're dirty, but my definition of "dirty" might be different from some Autopians' .



Seems like I'm almost always just driving the dog-haulers these days in part because they will need washed anyhow, driving something more fun like the S8 doesn't seem worth the added work of cleaning that up too.



I'm a little surprised that people here let their vehicles stay dirty...Besides the general "driving a dirty car" (which hey, I actually do consider justified in some circumstances), I'd worry about marring. Doesn't take much contact with dirty paint to instill serious scratches, whereas touching a clean car never seems as risky to me.
 
in the winter months iveletmy washing go a few weeks easy . when its below frezzing theres just no way im draging the hose out.. i just make sure i have afew coats of wax before winter sets in ...
 
just went 4-5 weeks on my DD...couldnt take it anymore, so I took it to a touchless wash...still dirty, but looks better..!!!! LOL Too busy to wash for free!!!



its like a plumbers house with a leaky faucet or a mechanic with a oil leak...
 
I've gone a month I think in the winter. Make sure whoever wrote in the dirt on your car gets a hand slap! :) That's scratch city there...



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Accumulator said:
I'm a little surprised that people here let their vehicles stay dirty...Besides the general "driving a dirty car" (which hey, I actually do consider justified in some circumstances), I'd worry about marring. Doesn't take much contact with dirty paint to instill serious scratches, whereas touching a clean car never seems as risky to me.
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You don't detail other people's cars all day either. :p



Most days when I get home, I'd rather get on my bike and go ride. Just need to unwind and get away from it all.
 
i went like 6 months without washing my own truck.

i had a wedding to plan and other details and this and that and it just got pushed off, i didnt take any pics. But i washed it 2 weeks ago, and i had to redo every panel twice just to get the dirt off.



i need to detail my own car bad.
 
Scottwax said:
You don't detail other people's cars all day either. :p



Most days when I get home, I'd rather get on my bike and go ride. Just need to unwind and get away from it all.
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Yeah, no doubt that'd factor in!



And I never saw detailing as a way to relax like some people do. It's work, even if it's not your full-time career.



I was wondering about that...how views of this whole topic differ between pros/non :think:



And if it matters, I wasn't thinking about overall Autopian/el Perfecto detailing, just keeping the daily driver reasonably clean.



There's also that " the image you project" thing...like the way the guys in menswear shops dress well.



toyotaguy said:
..its like a plumbers house with a leaky faucet or a mechanic with a oil leak...
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Thing is, while you hear that adage all the time, I don't actually *know* any professionals in other fields who let their own stuff go.



The plumbers I know are fanatical about their household plumbing, the mechanics keep their vehicles perfectly maintained, etc. etc. You can't *imagine* how nice a landscaper I know keeps his propery! Right off-hand, I can't think of a single exception :nixweiss



What I do notice about most of them is that they make the maintenance as easy as possible. Nothing overly fancy or likely to be trouble-prone.
 
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