So... I never intended to take so long to get around to it, but Sunday I finally gave my car its first real wash after 3 years/36K miles of ownership. Well, I'm not counting a couple of times when it was in for service and went through the dealer car wash.

It's not as bad it sounds. I don't like a dirty looking car but I'm just not much of a detailing person. I am not a slacker and have spent many hours modding the car (just a portion can be seen in my gallery). I simply get little satisfaction out of the detailing process. Years ago, I learned that I could keep a car looking reasonably good by spraying it at a coin self-wash every couple of weeks. I only use the spray rinse -- no soap, no wiping, just 4 minutes of high pressure spray to blow off surface dirt, then let the car air dry on its own (their filtered water leaves relatively low spotting). Of course this isn't enough to thoroughly clean the car, but even this small practice is enough to keep a car looking cleaner than 90% of cars on the road. I should note that this is in California where we have good weather and a very long dry season with no precipitation, and my car is garaged every night.

With spray rinses keeping my car looking cleaner than the majority of cars around me, I had little motivation to do more. Weeks of no washing turned into months, then years. Over time, the surfaces accumulated a fine layer of stuff that doesn't come off with just spraying. I would describe the look as like a clean polished car that had been sitting outside for a couple of days. This weekend something possessed me to do what I don't enjoy, which is wash the car. I even followed it up with ICE polish. I know ICE doesn't get high ratings here, but it is quick and easy, and I didn't want to deal with polish or wax residue on trim.

Here is my clean, shiny MINI afterwards. Sorry the shots are not the highest quality.







Now that it's done, I guess I'll report back again in a few years . Actually it wasn't as much effort as I anticipated, so I won't let it go as long next time.

 

Only a PW can get away with such neglect. Glad we got to see it clean.

 

dang that's a tall curb.

 

It's all relative. It never looked neglected during the 3 years. As I said, just spraying it down kept it looking cleaner than the vast majority of cars on the road. When I did my RMW tune, it was one of the cleaner MINIs among the 8 getting tuned that day.

I think because it is a moderately steep hill (not obvious from the photos).

 

Ego Te Absolvo

Give me three Hail Mary's and ten Our Father's, and don't let it happen again.

 

I guess you probably don't have many swirls with that method.

 

actually i was looking at how high the curb is vs your wheel's lips...

 

And my wheels are 15's! That curb is taller than average for San Francisco, but not especially unusual.

 

ive not washed mine since july as not washed and its well into winter in scotland i figure the layer of summer dirt will act as paint protection