Well, I
do wash my car. Living here in Los Angeles, the mild weather allows me to park outside 365 days a year. I'd love to park in the garage, but I've got two drag boats in there, and there's no room. So, being outside, it gets dusty when it's windy , it gets wet when it rains, it's in the sun when it's 100 degrees out . It is my only car for the last 30 years now and gets driven every day, to and from work, as well as serving as my tow vehicle for the boats. It is not "baby-ed", but I maintain her better than most.
When I wash it, I use a bucket of Zip-Wax liquid car wash, after completely soaking the car's exterior with the hose. I dry it with any one of a huge lot of old bathtowels, kept for car and boat drying. Now and again, I'll dress the tires with any one of a half dozen products in the cabinet designed for tire dressing, including , if that's what I have, Armor-All. Except for those times right after driving in the rain, my car pretty much always looks as good as anyone's. I have used a number of different waxes over the years, and the car gets waxed a handfull of times each year. Even the drag boats get waxed, EVERY time they're taken to an event. Crazy? Like a fox....
Don't be afraid to go the extra mile, or put extra effort into your maintenance, but don't be afraid to use it or get it dirty either, just clean it after.
I'll park my Mach right next to any one's machine any day of the week and be just as proud of it's appearance.
Here is where it sits, in the driveway. Looks like the tires could use some "tire shine" come to think of it....
