Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

I have never been to a car wash or had my car valeted. Personally I think its just laziness. There is no way I would pay £5 to have it washed or £30 and upwards to have someone else to valet it for me. Its different if you are not fit to do it yourself. Many arent washed properly anyway. Times and habits are changing. Sunday was always a day for cleaning and polishing the car. I never see anyone doing that now. Are times changing or am I just becoming a miserable old sod in my old age. Laughing

_________________
The Clan Chieftain

ka · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 600 Location: Orkney.

We travel to Nottingham from home three or four times a year, just to visit kids, grandkids, friends etc, and usually find the previously black car, a sad and sorry sight, particularly trying to see out of the side windows. So last time, I invested my fiver in the (old) local Polish car-wash.
I will now do this everytime we travel south, excellent value; car squirted with some kind of fluid, pressure washed, hand washed with soap, sprayed with another anonymous fluid, dried, windows cleaned in and out, tyres cleaned with another fluid. End result, a super shiny black car, with clean windows!
_________________
KA

Better three than four.

petermeachem · Joined: 23 Sep 2013 Posts: 358 Location: Chichester Sussex

At the place I used to work a guy came round to valet cars. I don't know what he charged but the results were amazing, inside and out they were like new. Someone once left a bottle of red wine on the passenger seat, it got hot and the cork popped out and covered the seat with wine. They rang this chap who said to keep it damp with a wet towel. He came round and got every trace of wine out. very impressive.

kevin2306 · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 8:31 am Post subject:

I always wash/clean the old cars but I have way too many things going on in my life to wash my modern.
I do a lot of miles between projects so we have a bloke who comes to Head Office (twice a month) and for £15 he does a full valet and leaves the cars like new, I get the fee back during my self assessment so its not too bad!
My free time is too precious to spend hours on the weekend cleaning what is after all a work tool.

kev

lowdrag · Joined: 10 Apr 2009 Posts: 1600 Location: Le Mans

I shall be selling one of the cars and with the onset of rheumatism the job I enjoyed most of my life - cleaning my car - is now a chore and painful with it. So I've been investigating the cost of fully detailing the car, and while expensive I have seen the superb results. I'm not saying it is something I'd entertain if it wasn't for the fact that people these days seem to expect even an old car to be bright and shiny throughout, and as the car will be going to auction it will be done I guess. Pure commercialism you could call it.

ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4277 Location: South Cheshire

I must confess washing cars is not my favorite of jobs, and I'll quite happily pay the crew who wash cars in our local Sainsburys, imho its £10 well spent and 30 mins of my time saved Smile

I don't like car washes as although they have improved, they still always miss a bit and Im concerned that those spinning brushes are going to pick up a bit of grit with the inevitable consequence Sad

Dave

Minxy · Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 273 Location: West Northants

I always wash my dailies myself about once a fortnight, my son helps me to earn his pocket money. I imagine with a lot of folks its finding the time with our current busy lifestyles. EE's that do the car washing are on just about every corner and in every abandoned filling station site around here and I hear they do a good job cheaply, but.........the thing that worries me is the ocasional horror story of the 'gritty' wash mit causing damage to a car ( It happened recently to a colleague at school and when he complained was surrounded by half a dozen 'migrants' being very threatening) If your car was damaged, and it must happen quite regularly, would you (dare you) complain. I will continue to do my own while I can.

As an aside I remember my late father telling me when he was a cheufer for Mr Colman (of mustard fame) he had to wash the car he was using each time he took it out ( sometimes several times a day) Mr Coleman would always walk around the car and check for dirt before he got in.

bob2 · Joined: 06 Dec 2007 Posts: 1728 Location: Malta

I do all the cleaning on all my cars.
I like to keep all cars clean even the daily is washed once a week and polished with autoglym's rapid detailer. I manage to do the outside in less than half an hour including the detailer whereas if it was left for weeks or months on end between one wash and the other it would take much more time to clean and detail the paintwork.

I do not like to leave my cars at anyone else's premises if I can help it, so all the work gets done either at my place or with me watching or lending a hand.

52classic · Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 493 Location: Cardiff.

What a pleasure it is to clean a car properly. I am too selfish to share the experience with anyone else - much less PAY THEM!

Mrs C calls it a 'refurbishment fetish,' a ritual that can take all day if I am allowed.

TBH I have noticed that the finishes in modern cars just do not clean up as well as the older stuff but that doesn't stop me keeping a box full of preparations, brushes and various probes for cleaning everywhere.