washing your car in the winter....

[ashleymc_38]

How many of you wash your car during the winter? My b/f is trying to make me see the point of not washing it because of the fact that the doors might freeze. Any of you seeing the picture along with me that its okay to wash it in the winter? Any tips on not getting the doors froze shut though so I can shut him up about it? lol

[scherry2]

once a week, weather it needs it or not. road salt or sand or this stuff they put on the roads here in Indiana isn't good for your vehicle. I've never had my doors freeze shut on me and its been 4 years now.

[BlueCrush]

In winter I only take mine to a Mister Car Wash where they will hand towel dry it for you. I usually get the monthly deal for winter only in which I can get a basic car wash and hand towel dry whenever I want for $25/mo. I great thing to have in winter.If you are concerned about it just make sure you have a towel with you when you wash your car. When done, pullover somewhere right after and open all your doors and dry the openings of all the doors and hatch(don't for get that). Nice thing about keyless entry is you don't have to worry if your locks freeze. lol.

[ArcsVibe]

I usually wash my car at least every second week during the winter. I do it by hand at my friends' garage. Give it a few hours to dry properly. If you don't have power locks bring a lock de-icer with you.Here in Montreal with the amount of salt they throw on the street it would just kill the body and paint if I didn't wash it off all winter.

[Raven]

To stop the doors from freezing, spray silicone spray lube on a rag and wipe all the door seals once every month or two. It's good for the seals too, keeps them soft.

[redlava]

I will wash it every once in a while. Don't want the road salt on there for any longer than it has to be. I will usually wait for a day where it is warmer out and no snow in the forcast for a few days.

[KNINE]

Does anybody use the drive throught automatic car washes, or are they bad for the paint?

[ragingfish]

I've used drive-through washes with both the Vibe and now my G6. Sadly, we don't have those fantastic "touchless" ones around here -- just "brushless." I've never had any problems with my paint. In terms of winter washing, I do recommend it periodically, if weather cooperates. As has been said, the faster you get road salt off the chassis and body, the better you are looking for preventing rust and corrosion. What I usually will do is find a day where it will be above freezing (doesn't need to stay higher then about 35°F or 2°C for the duration of the day), and wash early in the morning. Then throughout the course of my daily drive and just from time lapse, the majority of the moisture should evaporate, and you should not have issues with frozen locks and/or doors.I have to be especially careful with the G6 because of window indexing. If ice forms along the bottom or top of the window, it can cause serious problems as it will prevent the window from dropping and resealing when the door is open and closed, respectively.

[BlueCrush]

I use the soft touch automatic carwashes for mine and never had a problem in 2+ years.

[KNINE]

Do you guys remove the antenna? It unscrews, right?

[Atomic]

I'll go through an auto wash a couple of times during the winter if it gets really gross looking, and I don't have the time to go to a spray wash and do it myself.There is four drive-thru washes and three manual washes within 5 minutes of home.Here, it's best to get the road salt off the body as soon as you can.

[zionzr2]

Durring the winter,Wash early and wash often!The faster the salt junk is removed from the car the less likely the Cancerous Rust will rear its ungly head.

[keithvibe]

I wash my car as often as possible, once a week pending weather. Salt goes on one day and off the next if possible.

[ColonelPanic]

I bought my Vibe in early January, so the winter didn't keep me from washing my new car. I never had any freezing problems due to washing it... The only times that car ever froze shut was when it had a thick coat of ice on it from sleet or freezing rain. I always make it a point to dry off the door sills and the insides of the doors themselves, and make sure all related rubber seals are dry. Hasn't failed me yet. Sunny's right on about the use of silicone on the seals too, that is a wise thing to do! For the how to wash it... Only touchless for me... I always get the best wash and only at the places that have the dryer. If it is dirty enough and not too cold, I'll spray it off in the bay first then run it through the automatic; otherwise it wouldn't come clean to my satisfaction by just running it through the automatic. Always have had to remove the antenna since I often go to the ones with the blow dryer duct that rides just inches above the surface of the car. I forgot to take it off once on the Vibe, it was flexible enough to not do any damage though. I must go wash mine tonight, no salt, but plenty of bird crap! I'll write back tomorrow if I end up not being able to get in my car tomorrow morning as it will be in the 20's when I leave for work.

[Tubaryan12]

Quote, originally posted by scherry2 »once a week, weather it needs it or not. road salt or sand or this stuff they put on the roads here in Indiana isn't good for your vehicle. I've never had my doors freeze shut on me and its been 4 years now. yeah, what he said

[ashleymc_38]

Quote, originally posted by Sunny »To stop the doors from freezing, spray silicone spray lube on a rag and wipe all the door seals once every month or two. It's good for the seals too, keeps them soft.I tried this trick on my old car. Learned it from a Consumer Reports magazine but didn't seem to work to well But i must say i got my b/f to take the car up to the car wash for me and get it nice and shiny w/o any problem w/the doors getting frozen shut

[KNINE]

Boyfriends are good for that. How come girlfriends won't wash our cars in the middle of winter????

[ashleymc_38]

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Boyfriends are good for that. How come girlfriends won't wash our cars in the middle of winter???? If it was summer it would be a different story...lol. I know in the summer its at least once a week hand washed...can't get any better than that

[joenobodyx]

I washed mine last night after getting a dose of snow (and road salt) the night before. The doors did freeze, since it was only about 20 degrees outside, but I was able to muscle them open without any problems. I'm just glad that my Matrix has solid door handles on it. Had I tried the same thing in my old Nissan Sentra, I would be holding the detached handles in my hands.

[Mase]

Why not just open the doors and towel dry the rubber before it freezes? It'll save some $$ on replacing torn ones from forcing them open.I don't have any salt around here but if I did, I would be washing at least once a week.Quote, originally posted by nbkoontz »I washed mine last night after getting a dose of snow (and road salt) the night before. The doors did freeze, since it was only about 20 degrees outside, but I was able to muscle them open without any problems.

[joenobodyx]

I did, for the most part, but apparently, I didn't get it all...