it only works if you have a source of hot water and a driveway, which pretty much means you have to live in a single family home or duplex. Otherwise you're at the mercy of the automatic car wash or detailing services.
Surprise, those of us forced by circumstance to live in other less appealing accomodations do not have such options.
I do remember living in one apartment complex that had a wash bay in the underground garage, but that was the exception rather than the rule, and you still had to bring your own bucket, sponge, soap, chamois, etc.
I did it in an apartment complex parking lot back when it was how I had to do it. Now I have a place I can wash my cars indoors so I don't have to be clever any longer.
just depends if you're willing to push the letter of the rules but keep within the spirit of them. All the apartment restrictions I took as 'clean up after yourself'. I always did that and never had a problem. Although one neighbor turned me in to the management office thinking that the early 70s mustang vert that had appeared in the lot belonged to me, which would put me over the car limit... but it wasn't my car. I think that was because I did the guy a favor and put the corner of his car cover back on after the wind had removed it.
Why not use a spray wand with your water hose connected to your hot water heater? That would be better than nothing.It would be simple enough to make something from a few pieces of plastic pipe with some holes drilled into the pipe.Lay it on your driveway and drive back and forth and rinse off the salty water crud. cuhulin
Most apartment buildings have a laundry room on the first/ground floor where you have access to warm water. Also on a sunny day, as was pointed out, you can use cold water. Most if not all apartments and condos with inside parking have water taps for hoses. How else do you think they clean the asphalt and/or cement in parking surfaces? I wouldn't doubt that most apartments have at least one maintenance room opening to the outside of the first level, all of which have water access for hoses to do outdoor maintenance like window washing. Ask your landlord if any access is available to you.
Do you really believe that none of the millions of people in America who live in apartment buildings wash their cars by hand in the Winter?
the vast majority of them use automatic car washes, I'm sure.
Don't get me wrong, I like having a single family home with outside spigots (and if you're handy, they now make hot/cold spigots) but haven't always had that option
Maybe some do. Never saw it. Never did it when I lived in an apartment, and never washed my cars in the winter either. Never saw anybody outside an apartment building washing a car in the winter either. Sounds crazy to me. Only washed my cars in the winter a few times in an auto car wash when they were all salted up and you got dirty just climbing in or accidentally brushing against it. Only did that for the ladies or when I was working suit and tie.
It's all nonsense anyway. If you wax your car in the summer that'll last through the winter. Cars rust from the inside out. Every single one I've had. Think you're helping it getting it wet in the winter? Nope. Just encouraging the salt to work on it. Keeping it in a heated garage isn't good either. Speeds up the corrosion process. A case can be made for cleaning the underbody during thaws, but like somebody said, the car washes are recycling water so it's loaded with salt. Might make it worse. Some cars are built better and don't rust as fast, but salt gets them all in the end. Usually time to move on to something more modern anyway.
Rust occurs as temperatures rise. Winter washing helps to prevent salt build up so when temps rise there is little to no salt to help the corrosion process. Waxing your car does nothing for the undercarriage where the majority of costly repairs do to rust will occur.. Our Toyota Camry and Ford Taurus were not waxed in the entire time we had them (both over 13yrs). The only rust spots on the body were rust from door dings, and no amount of waxing would have stopped that rust from occuring. We should have touched up the paint when first chipped.
You're contradicting yourself, but this last statement is correct.
You don't want to wait for thaws to get salt off the car, you want to get it off before the thaw. Carwashes that recycle water are definitely worse for the car, and especially the ones that have pressure sprayers to clean the underbody, as they just push salt into crevices it normally would not go.
The only car that stands out in the rust free department is Porche. They have their own patented rust coating that all higher end porches are dipped into by robotic arm 2x over 3 days, and then set to harden for 2 more before the paint and outer gloss is applied, and before any actual parts are added on. I do not know if they spray individual parts before they are added to the body, but if not then things like brake lines and manafolds will still rot out like any other car.
Really, I'd say the vast majority don't wash their car period, not carwash or by hand.
Don't get me wrong, I'm saying using living in an apartment building is just an excuse to not take the time to wash your car in the Winter. If the landlord won't let you hook up to the taps in the laundry room, or maintenance room, then there are plenty of manual wash bays around that cost less to use than auto washes. There are always family and friends too. Surely not everyone you know lives in an apartment building.
Mainly because of two things. One is the folks who bring in something that shouldn't be washed in there, like hosing down old greasy engines/tractors/and similar. This crap plugs the drains and recycling filters. Another item that falls in there are the mud covered 4X4s and 4 wheelers. Nothing like having big globs of mud all over the floor to attract customers. Another reason is cost of operations. Taxes/water/soap/fuel for the heaters, all cost money and unless you get a lot of customers it is hard to break even. Add to the above that the vehicles owner has to get out in whatever temperature it is, chance getting wet/dirty from accidental blasts and you end up with a wet vehicle with locks/windows and such that ice up.
With the drive through you just pull up. Pay the money/enter the code. Door opens you drive in. Stop, put car in park and drink your warm coffee while sitting inside the warm car and let the machine do the work. Then drive out through the driers and let them blow dry most of the vehicle.
Even these places get replaced though. Near me an outfit built a nice NEW drive in wash place with 5 bays and 2 manual bays. Was great and lasted about 1 full year. Then a drug store chain decided they wanted to build a new store on the same corner. The owner didn't want to sell at first, Then the town got involved and more or less forced him to sell.
Now the closest auto unit to me is 24 miles away. The closest manual is about 7.
And piss off their neighbors as well as risk getting fined for the run-off from your vehicle (yes there are a bunch of places where washing your vehicle in the family driveway is illegal)
Well you just need to make friends with that guy at 1600 Penn. Ave. There is a HUGE lawn there and lot's of hot water.....
LOL, you don't buy people a case of beer or something else of a value equal to the favor? Even my youngest knows if you ask for a favor you offer something up in exchange.
Do you really know someone who'd just let you use their driveway for several hours every week, or more than once a week? because really, in the winter around here, if there's any precipitation your car is white and crusted with salt within 20 miles of leaving the car wash.
A normal residential hot water heater doesnt have the capacity. At our car wash, we have a large industrial heater and that will do the job. Luckily here in the deep South, we seldom have the problem of freezing weather and salt on the roads.. (It is freezing tonight however).
In Norway, we had indoor wash houses at the service stations. Our cars normally came with special undercoat packages that prevented a lot of the salt damage.. But in the long run, it is very very difficult to salt-proof a car. Some of the Ford cars, for example, were dipped in a zinc rich coating up to midway of the chassis, and these lasted a long time.
Salt only goes into high gear when it is warm enough to be wet. If it stays real cold, or the salt stays dry, not much happens. Next time Discovery shows some salt mine footage, look at how un-rusty the machines are. Coated in salt dust, but because the mines are so dry, not much happens. That is why heated garages make cars rust faster. The snow pack melts, and the salt latches onto the steel, and does its thing.
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