One thing I do miss about living in Arizona is that there weren’t water restrictions, and I could weekly wash my car. I take pride in my S2000, and kept it pretty immaculate, washing it every week, waxing it every 6 weeks or so, and twice a year polishing the paint. Now that I live in California, it is a different story.
The first 9 months we lived here we were in an apartment. No facilities to wash. So a couple of times I took it to a local car wash. But, being parked outside, under trees is brutal for the paint. Sap, glop, and a shit-ton of dirt. I got to the point where I didn’t even bother to take it to the car wash. The last time I had it washed was before we moved into our house (March 24th), so it is long overdue.
I should point out that until I moved to California, my car had only been hand washed from the day I bought it until I left AZ. 3 buckets, one for the wheels, one for the soap and one to rinse the sponge. Chamois, squeegee, and glass polish.
Today, I bit the bullet. Since I am parking in the garage again, I splurged for a good hand wax, and claying of the paint to remove the schmutz and sap. Way more money than I wanted to spend, but it is clean and smooth now.
I hope the drought breaks, because I miss washing my car.
(sigh, I also need to find a good autobody shop, there are two places where the clear coat is peeling, and I need the paint touched up. That is for a different day.)
