It dawned on me that all my efforts at never rubbing the paint unless absolutely cleaned are going to get shafted when i have to remove snow off the car.

Dirt/dust/sand/etc will be on the car in small amounts.

Snow will be on top of it.

I push the snow off.

Car is scratched/swirled/spiderwebbed.

What a freakin waste of detailing time.

Anyone have suggestions for a car that lives on the street?

 

just prep it for the winter with 2 or three coats of some sort of synthetic sealant like Zaino that will last and keep the car somewhat slippery for 3 months.....and try to still wash it every week or two at one of those dyi bays at a car wash

 

Get a cover for it.

 

Salt it nightly before bed so the snow just melts away.

 

A good coat of wax/protectant is a great idea. You could then use a Calif. water blade to remove the snow or better yet if the neighbors are cool you could just blow it off with a leaf blower.......lol.

 

don't touch it. seriously. just remove snow and ice off the windows,
remove enough snow off panel without penetrating the paint.

you dont need to make your car look good in the winter, just make it
durable so that it can withstand the elements until next season.

my 06Civic has not even been washed since late November...it is
covered with salt and crap (well, i did remove the bird crap), and
started to rain this week so will wash it this coming weekend.

 

I agree with Ken. Just clear the windows and lights. Brush off enough snow so it doesn't blow and block either your or others vision, and leave 1/2" or 1" on the car so you don't go down to the paint.

 

I read "... don't go down on the paint." Rather kinky but sage advise I thought.

Seriously though I've had a foot of snow on the car at times and when you start clearing it will break off in chunks, sliding off the car. Damn Epic! Oh well, if your car never got swirls, and if Epic lasted forever, Heather would go broke.

 

You people must be the jerks that get on the highway that cleared off only their windows. Meanwhile everyone behind you is blinded by the cloud of snow, if not downright injured due to the ice chunks that blow off. We've had a windshield cracked because of it.

Get a good snow brush that won't scratch. I use the OXO Twister Brush. If you're worried about it being dirty, just wash it out once in a while.

The best you can do is get a couple coats of good wax on the car in the fall to protect the finish. My spring detail consists of polishing out all the paint anyway. This is the least of your problems...wait till you see the hundreds of paint chips you will get thanks to the sand trucks.

 

Yep, that's me, and if you would get off my a** you wouldn't get all the snow in your face!

 

Maybe all that snow is dragging you down and that's why traffic is on your a** to begin with... :p

 

As a native Californian, I didn't understand all the effort taken to remove snow from the car in my first east coast nor'easter. Then, like jwardell I saw the chunks of snow/ice hurtling off cars on the freeway and I understood.

El Jefe, I don't know from experience, but reality is the dirt is going to get rubbed along the paint whether you push it off, or whether the wind pushes it off. Just don't use a shovel! (I watched someone do that.)

 

 

ive seen people use brooms to get snow off their cars.

 

Hm. I do think that the wind is more gentle than forcefully pushing it off the car. the 1/2 inch left on the car technique sounds decent. I am assuming that the hood will melt off much of the snow, it's pretty warm normally with the intercooler right there.

I wonder if I could keep using carnauba wax from griot's. I would hate to have to paint prep (thanks for the understanding of how to use it) and then use a synthetic, then after that prep again and wax. I guess it's not the worst thing in the world

 

im running Best of Show (which contains less carnauba than yours)
on my black legacy. I don't intend to wax again until Spring. I think
it will be able to go 4months without app as long as i don't keep
washing it every week.

 

how about a gore-tex jacket and gloves and do a swipe, being careful not to "go to the paint. that's actually kind of fun if you have several inches to swipe off.

 

Your right. All your efforts are wasted because you don't live in the South ... road salt will destroy your muffler

Sand, ashes and grit will scratch your paint.

 

i guess.

 

Its true ... when I lived in the Snow (er Salt) Belt, you bought a new muffler every year. Just the cost of living in the north.

And don't laugh. Everything the OP said is true, sand WILL scratch your finish, Salt will eat anything ... anything ..., and ashes will get everything dirty ...

Ever see NYC snow?

If your paranoid about detailing and live in the Salt Belt with a daily driver and no garage ...

 

see the funny thing is that i got commuters that are not garaged
and caked in road salt. but i dont need to buy mufflers every year...
in fact, i don't know the last time i had to buy a muffer other than for
performance enhancements (catback, header back, etc)
(thus the laugh)

 

Yeah, but you got one of those good Japanese stainless steel mufflers from Honda or Toyota

In the old days, you had to buy a catback to get a good stainless steel muffler rather than the junk they put on American and British cars. ... oooh "silencers"

 

u do too, chows! check out my post in the MINI Talk "motoring"
i was amazed your car beat out X3 and even the FX?!!

 

Yeah, I just did. Cool, but I could have TOLD you that

 

IBFTL??!!