cja

A friend of mine who lived in Edinburgh said because of the rather rainy and moist weather in Scotland, cars tend to rust more easily.

A friend of mine shared his maintenance tip with me and said that cars in general would be better off to avoid as much water as possible. Hence he said that the better way to keep cars would be to use wet clothes to wipe your car on a daily basis and spray hose it maybe once a week. He also said to never spray directly at the rims like those car washing houses do but on the tyres more because spraying directly at the rims would mean spraying too much water on the brake discs and it wouldn't be good for the car either.

The weather in HK is defintely great for keeping exotic cars like Porsche. We never snow in the first place so salt and dirt and mud aren't too much of a problem.

Just want some inputs on maintenance and care. In general, does using a hose to spray the RIMS of a car on a daily basis to clean the dirt tend to cause premature rusting on the rotor and brake disc?

The disc always rust to a certain degree and I believe that washing on a daily basis is not a problem as long as you drive it after instead of letting it dry naturally. I believe that from a maintenance POV, it is always better to wash the car in the morning and then drive it right away so the heat can evaporate the water instead of letting it stick with the axles and rotational system overnight. Any input?

Intuitively, the more frequent you wash the car, the more chance for you to cause premature rusting?

Norsk

Here are Mr. Compulsive's two favorite washing tips:
1. Use a leaf blower to dry the car before using a microfiber cloth to hit the last spots.
2. When the car is dry, spray Pledge furniture wax on the rims to make them easy to clean the next time. Helps repel brake dust, I've been using it almost 20 years on alloy wheels.

I would use a hose before using wet cloths, as you will just grind in dust/dirt without a rinse first. After washing, drive enough to make some stops to really dry the brakes. When you get home, one more walk-around with your rag will get the last drips from the mirrors, etc.

MarkM963

Hey Norsk I like the pledge Idea but how do you keep it off the disc brakes ?
Wouldn't it get on the pads ? Over spray .
You said that you have been doing it for 20 years. So it must work for you . Fill us in . Thanks

Norsk

A little overspray doesn't hurt. I spray the center hub and outer rim directly from the can, then wipe with a soft rag and do the spokes by spraying on the rag and wiping them down. You just need a light coat. After doing this after every wash a few times, you can get away with doing it every other wash. Works slick. A can of Pledge lasts a long time .

MarkM963

Thanks ! Sounds great I'll definitely give that a try !
Have a Great Holiday ! ( politically correct -Yikes )

Buzz911S

Get the Mr. Clean autowash kit. It's a gun that screws on the end of the garden hose. It contains soap and a filtered water setting. Also, a regular hose water selection. I wash from the top down ... no soap... using the hose water. Then, I go back over the car with the filtered water selection and park it in the garage. It leaves absolutely NO spots..... and my Pcar is black! Go invest $20 and save yourself a lot of work. For wheels... why use anything. Mine wipe clean with a wet rag. You can also cut down on wheel cleaning by washing them first, then take the car out and run it around the block. That flings all of the rust and goo out of the inside of the rotor, and then you can wipe that off. Rust on your rotors is nothing to worry about.... if you drive in the rain, they'll rust up like crazy. Just drive the car a few blocks and stop a few times and it's gone. I also use a leaf blower to dry, but I've also successfully gone through a car wash with high pressure. Nothing but water touches the car. Then, I hop out with a chamois and finish drying off any water. The carwash also cleans the wheels with pressure spray. Overall, I find the Mr. Clean car wash kit to be the biggest bang for the buck. Get them at Walmart. They also sell refills for the filter cartridge and the soap if you use soap.

Almost forgot....... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

05Boxster

Don't use the soap that comes with the Mr. Clean...it leaves a film on the paint that doesn't come off until the next time you wash with regular car soap. Also, if you're like me, you wipe it down with a damp microfiber cloth in between washes to get light dust and/or pollen off. The Mr. Clean soap leaves a film that will streak if you try to dust it.

BTW Norsk, nice Carmon Red Boxster! I definitely think we're in the minority with our color. I've only seen one on the road since I bought mine 6 months ago.

Buzz911S

What he said! That's why I don't use soap at all. Only, I never drag anything over the car dry to clean the dust off. I'd be scared to death of scratching it by dry wiping it anywhere.

Norsk

Thanks. You've seen one more than me. After I got it, I kept combing the classifieds in Auto Week and have seen only one ad for another Carmon/Sand/Coco. That one was at a dealer in Virginia, so yeah, they're scarce.