How Often Should You Wash Your Car?
There are many suggestions on how, when, and why you should wash your car and there isn’t really a correct answer, but rather, a few things to consider:
Is it winter time and do they salt the roads?
If so, you should be washing your car regularly. This doesn’t mean every day, but you should most likely be heading to the wash around every week or two depending on the conditions. If the roads look white (because it’s covered in salt) every week would probably be a smart choice. Removing all that salt from under the body of the car is important for preventing heavy rust on crucial components.
Where is your car being parked?
If you’re parking your car in a garage or a heated space this can help get some of the snow off, but might actually cause the salt to settle into more places. This is why it’s very important to wash your car weekly when the salt is covering the roads. If you’re parking outside you want to be mindful of the temps outside. If it’s 20 or below the doors can freeze shut, and you can be causing more damage by washing the car. So in that case, it would be wise to just wait for a nicer day to wash your vehicle. If you’re also parking outside in the warmer months you want to be aware of tree sap or bird dropping which can cause damage to the exterior of your vehicle if left unattended.
Seasonal vehicle driving conditions
Like we mentioned before, you want to make sure you’re washing your car in the winter about every week or two to keep the salt away. In the summer if you live in a buggy state like Michigan, make sure you are washing those bug splats away. Those can eventually build up on the front of your vehicles and eat away at the paint by essentially bonding with the top coat. Also, make sure to get bird droppings off, as those can do damage similar to bug splats.
The appearance of how the car looks
Having a vehicle that looks nice is important to many people. Not just having it look good, but after spending as much money as we do on our vehicles, we want to make sure they are looking clean and tidy all year long. It’s a good idea to apply a nice coat of wax a few times a year, and also get out the vacuum to get the salt and debris off of the floor mats inside.
We hope this helps keep your car looking great for many years to come. The main concern is getting the salt, dirt, tree sap, and bird dropping off of your car so it doesn’t affect the quality of the paint. When the salt gets into the paint or underbody of the car, it can cause rust which can be damaging to not only the looks of your car, but also your wallet at the time of resale. So – what’s the correct answer to all of this? Salty wintery roads = about every week. Summer months or warmer conditions = maybe as needed or bi-weekly.
Just a reminder Auto Body Xperts offers hand car washes for $8 and full vehicle details (prices vary)!
Auto Body Xperts also offers FREE car washes for active military and veterans all year round! Thank you for your service to our country, we would love to service you!