limey940

I took my Silver 997.1 thru a local wash with no ill effects. but i hand wash my new car as its color will show up any small imperfections in the paint more than the silver. i actually enjoy the process, bought a griots orbital buffer as well.
re convertible top care, I bought some products from detailers domain, a site sponsor i believe. they have a cleaning product and a spray to re water proof/protect the top. I think its called ragtop or something.
in fact, drop me a PM, i think i have some unused products that i can send you.
cheers

Nicoli35

Another question how do we get hot water out of a backyard garden hose? I wash at home usually but would love to know I scold the hose, but he just doesn't listen.

fester

I've asked dealer not to wash my car let alone car washes. I do it myself, typically every other weekend. It's a good bonding time with the vehicle and little workout too

Techart_Dreamer

I've had a guy hand washing my car, sat there and watched him, to see if I could get away with having him do it from there on, save myself some time. It was all great until it came to drying, he dropped the micro he was using on the ground, shook it out, then was about to use it again. "Alright, that's good," is all I had to say, grabbed my keys and left. Dried the rest of the car at my house.

Sadly the only person you can trust for a quality controlled wash, is yourself, or a pro.

-Markus-

chuck911

You can't be serious?!?! Surely you know not to use hot water as it can remove wax?

The problem with questions like this is you can't really answer the question because you never really know where people are coming from. In this case its even harder because some auto car washes are pretty darn good. I mean, even Porsche has one! All I can say is if you can be happy with a merely clean car and convenience is a priority then hit the car wash and never look back. But if on the other hand your priority is a car that glows with a buttery gleam and don't mind the effort (which, let's face it, being a Porsche its not an effort but a privilege) then you have much to learn, grasshopper.

And okay, yes, I have used hot water. But it was snowing. There was ice in the hose. And even then not really hot just warm enough to prevent frostbite.

LonnieR

If my car is basically clean but there is a layer of dust on the paint surface, I use a polymer called "No Rinse wash and shine" made by Optimum Polymer Technologies (www.optimumcarcare.com).
All you do is fill a bucket will deionized water, add a cap full of the polymer and using a microfiber towel, wash the car one panel at a time. You dry that panel with another microfiber towel. It takes less than 1 gallon of deionized water and about 15 minutes to get a scatch-free wash with no water.
Works great. It should not be used when you have a lot of grime, birdturd,etc. The you have to do a full wash.

holminator

Hahahahaha! Thank the gods I'm lazy.


Free yo' mind.

owng

Hand wash at home every 2-3 weeks, 2 buckets ( one with water for rinse, one with soap), rinse with pressure washer, use foam canon, and foam sponge. Never circular motion. Wash from top to bottom and front to back. Save back bumper for last because most dirty part of the car.

solomonschris

Pluses and minuses here in MD. We have a really great car wash that filters the water well and has a hard working crew of non English speaking soft towel wielding detailers at the back end. I can't do in two hours what happens there in 20 minutes. They do car, windows in and out a vacuum all for $16. After weekly visits with my silver Audi A6 wagon, it still looks new. I would never take my P car in the cold months because of the salt. Filters do zip to remove salt. Salt and aluminum don't do well together. In the warm months I enjoy washing my Porsches. I'm not a a DIY guy, so it's how I bond with my car.

adamsclubs

I am a DIY person but don't want to spend the time wash my car. Maybe I will find a car wash place where they have non-English speaking detailers who can do a better job, but don't they still have to run the car through auto wash first?

rbrenn

Silly question perhaps, but what do all of you hand wash guys do in the winter?

LonnieR

Since I live in Florida, there really is no winter. But seriously, If the car doesn't get too dirty, just dusty, you canwash it panel by panel with polymer and water in the garage, Salt,etc in the winter would be another story.

goatboy

I have three seperate micro-fiber mitts, one for the top half of the car, one for the bottom half, one for the inside of the fender lips, under side of the rocker panels and bumpers, wheels and tires (in that order). That and the two bucket technique really diminishes the scratches. But, my city water has sand in it. I found this out when fixing the toilet. I thought the black stuff in bottom of the tank was mold, but it was sand. I'll have a filter system in the new house.

I live in Flioriiduh now, but when I was in Virginia, I'd wash cars as long as it was above freezing with rubber gloves and boots, and a bucket of hot water. Water can get behind trim (espically rub strips and badges and freeze, pulling the trim loose). It does that when it rains or snows and freezes, but washing forces water into places where it wouldn't get naturally.

I now have a 1.75 car garage with a 16-foot wide single door and a sloped floor. My problem now is sunlight and heat. So, I generally spray the car off outside, and then wash, rince, and dry the car in the garage. My hose nozzle has a SHOWER setting and a throttle valve, so I can rince the car off without water splashing everywhere inside the garage.

I played hooky from work this morning and washed the M3 before swapping it out for the nasty Cobalt for commuting the rest of the week. It's going to rain here tomorrow through Friday. But, Saturday morning I willl have a clean M3 to drive.

Those Russian dash camera crash videos are cool, but those filthy cars depress me.

Quadcammer

oh for christs sake. there isnt a emoticon big enough for comments this ridiculous

rnl

Suffer

I wait until the temperature exceeds 45f, use warm water in the wash bucked and the two rinse buckets. Yes two, one red one white.