How often do you clean your car?

[ASt85]

Sudden thought -
Do you ever park next to a dirty car in a car park if you can possibly park elsewhere???

Probably not - soooooo if you want to reduce the number of minor bumps, dinks, paint scratches from trolls etc. DO NOT WASH CAR....you never know, it could even reduce the cost of your insurance or maintain your no-claims if more major mystery car park dents appear.

[emmerson2]

I never wash my 850. It's self-cleaning. I drive it, it gets dirty: it rains, and it's clean again! Effortless!

[ASt85]

emmerson2 I firmly beleive that repeated washing/polishing of a car "wears out2 the paint!!!

I SEEM TO REMEMBER an AA research paper of the 70's or 80's demonstrated beyond doubt that weekly washing/polishing of a car prolonged the body work of the vehicle by no more than 2%.

GIVEN THE TIME TAKEN TO WASH/ CLEAN/ POLISH & ETC, THE TIME TAKEN WOULD BE BETTER SPENT!!! Particularly if you take into account the number of vehicles of Volvo origin failing MOT on bodywork issues........................

[Isis]

As necessary, usually with a good polish once a month, especially in winter to get rid of salt and other nasties, regular polish makes it easier to clean inbetween as the muck just rolls off..

[Stationwagondragon]

I head to the car wash rather often,the dark colour doesnt hide anything,it looks very dirty very fast.

[Ninja59]

Originally Posted by ASt85

emmerson2 I firmly beleive that repeated washing/polishing of a car "wears out2 the paint!!!

I SEEM TO REMEMBER an AA research paper of the 70's or 80's demonstrated beyond doubt that weekly washing/polishing of a car prolonged the body work of the vehicle by no more than 2%.

GIVEN THE TIME TAKEN TO WASH/ CLEAN/ POLISH & ETC, THE TIME TAKEN WOULD BE BETTER SPENT!!! Particularly if you take into account the number of vehicles of Volvo origin failing MOT on bodywork issues........................

washing will not wear away paint it is not abrasive unless your using something stupid.

Polish inherently (minus glazes which technically speaking should have nothing extra but to add wetness to the paint) will remove a few microns not a lot at all if anything removing oxidation, scratches, swirls, RDS. More heavy correction your looking into wetsanding to remove the peaks of clearcoat (or technically orange peel which many modern cars suffer from over application of clearcoat) so the finish is smooth to the eye if done properly then no more than 7-10 microns.

Last Stage Products (LSP) so your sealants and waxes will have no abrasives in...

there does is still seem huge confusion over the last two a polish provides no lasting protection it purely is there to improve the paint and remove defects in the paint.

Waxes and Sealants are your protection.

Many think Polish and Wax are interchangeable in reality they are completely different products serving completely different purposes.