I wash my car every Saturday morning. I'm usually up by 7:30 to wash my car at 8ish. I spend a good amount of time washing it and making sure it's spotless. It takes about 3-4 hours total for everything (just wash no wax). I then towel down the car by simply dragging towels across the paint. DO NOT dry your car by applying force and balling the towels up. Let the towel do the work and just drape it over the car and drag to collect the water. I then open my sunroof and hatch and clean in the gutters where stuff can build up. After that, I move on to my lights and windows were I use plastic and window cleaners, such as Windex (I have a special plastic cleaner, but I forget the brand). Lastly, I shake out the floor mats (if you have them) and vacuum everywhere. I then finish up with Windex on the inside windows (don't forget to open the sunshade and clean your sunroof). All that should take 3-4 hours if you spend a quality time cleaning. I'm incredibly thorough and a semi-perfectionist, so although it seems weird to you that I'm spending so much time cleaning, it's normal to me and I find that a clean, well-kept car is a happy car. :D

 

7.30 am on a saturday morning? that's what's crazy

 

20k? that is not hard to do....im sure if i didn't spend on the things i did in highschool i could've saved up 20k by beginning of college. if i strictly bought pretty much nothing from birth to now. It's not hard...people just tend to buy a lot these days =).

 

x2... I'm up at 6:45 every day... and in bed at 3-4am on fridays... saturday is the only day i sleep in and do nothing.

 

It's better to wash a car out when it's still cold and not in the heat of the day when sunlight can prematurely dry the soap and make a bigger mess.

 

uhm yeah....that's what shade is for!

 

I think that's what time I go to bed after a good night of drankin'.
Windex?!!! Nooooo!!! Use "Stoner's Invisible Glass". You wont' regret it.

 

Well, there isn't a lot of shade where I live...


Ehh, Windex works and it's all we have at home, so I just get stuck using it. I'll definitely go pick up the stuff you recommended when we run out of Windex. I'm almost out of plastic cleaner though. Any recommendations for that?

 

^^

 

oops.. my ^^'s were towards what Hyghgynx said

 

Turtle Wax makes a product called "ICE". It's designed for polishing the car but you can use it for plastic as well (exterior and interior). Just don't get it on the windows. It works great though.

 

Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer Spray and a micro fiber cloth.

 

Awesome! Thanks guys!

 

Great advise guys. Thanks alot for the help, as i strongly appreciate it.

I know what you mean about the highschool thing, I dont have much enemies if any, Im hoping for the best of my car haha. And yes, 20k was hard to saveup for. Yes I do buy other things, I just moved back into my house with my parents i moved out for 8 months due to Strong family issues. I quickly learned to support myself as far as financial situations. I live pretty comfortably now, i might say . Im getting my car. I have a nice tV, ps3, Itouch and I have a nice wardrobe and it does feel good to make your own money. As being a youngin on this site, I feel pretty good about it.
Again I appreciate the tips guys. I am very excited.

 

you cant keep it in pristine condition, but you can try your hardest. wash and vacuum every week, wax every month, and have good parking habits and you should be golden.

 

After getting home...I get a Microfiber towel...spray some Mother's Spray Wax...and dust her off....then weekends do a more extensive exterior clean!....Then I just be careful where you park!!!....thats all....and some TLC!!!

 

that's what I use...but I hate the static that the micro fiber creates...so I think I'll switch to those round pads

 

Its a matter of when, not if, your baby will be damaged. In high school days, we had assigned parking. That helped alot, but you could always park betrween friends and look out for eachother. Hell, mine helped me do most of the body work before we painted it so they took it personally too, lol. Now, in an apparment complex? Oi. I'm careful to park between neighbors I know, and hope for the best.

Otherwise, cleaning is common sense. But wax is your friend. It'll make all the nasty crap easier to get off, plus it protects the paint and looks nicer. If you are really paranoid, you could always have a good paint shop clear coat it.

 

Not suppose to wash your car in the hot sun or shade, the car being to hot. The heat will dry the water specs and they can really mess up your paint. Happen to my last car....

 

Yeah I try to keep good care of my tC, I try to wash it every weekend and wax it about once a month. I'm actually going to wax it tomorrow. I clean the interior weekly and vacuum it out.

But, because it has 11K miles and is a daily driver, I have some rock chips because I'm on the interstate every day. I have a small fender ding from some rude idiot who apparently parked next to me. Plus, my rear bumper has two spots where the paint is chipping off just because Scion decided to use cheap paint.

I try to park far away, sometimes it just doesn't work that way.

I've actually had people in my apt. complex screw with my car and write obscenities on the hood with their fingers through the dirt and they stole my valve stem caps. I made reports and gave up my covered parking space to park descretely in a corner so it wouldn't be seen. That actually worked. But I have to pray the spot isn't taken whenever I want to park.