How much does a dirty Prius bug you?

*raises hand*

Did they have cars back then or are you refering to your horse-drawn buggy?

Just teasing ya man.

 

Black wood waxed with bees wax and looked great.
We had electric cars back then and trucks.:crazy:

 

Matt, I've no doubt you'll surpass me soon enough. The first six months of ownership, I drove the car cluelessly. That's a lot of overhead to overcome FE-wise. But I do love the summer months!

No pics, I'm afraid. The shaved wiper cover is only a convenience mod. It allows the wiper to be raised away from the glass and will stay in the raised position. It's just a matter of grinding a tab off the plastic cover.

Removing the rear wiper altogether may have some incremental FE benefit. I never thought of that.

The shark antenna has a sleek look, but most owners have indicated decreased reception.

No problem. I take more of a comparative view rather than competitive. I hope to see your numbers and mine climb.

 

+1


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I wash my Prius every few weeks. Since I show it often during the summer, it must be kept clean. Some things that I do to keep the amount of washing down:

1. Regular use of car duster

2. Go over the whole car with quick detailer, esp. before shows

3. Use an Absorber and a microfiber towel to wipe down the car after it rains. If the car has not gotten that dirty, and the above has been done, it is as good as a car wash.

Before the Prius, I washed my car every two years whether it needed it or not.

 

My car goes sometimes 2-3000 miles betwen washes (@500 miles a week). I did see a Civic Hybrid that even grossed me out the other day. It was far dirtier than mine ever gets even at the dirtiest. Both cars started out white, but the Civic was definitely a shade of gray.

 

I couldn't stand it - I did the touchless drive-through thing Sunday night and it rained this morning (Monday). Typical.

I had a friend with a 560SEL Mercedes that never washed it. They made 2 wheels, a gray painted wheel and a chrome version of the same. His were gray and he was always shopping for the chrome ones. I borrowed the car to drive for a few weeks and had it detailed. When I went to get back in it the wheels were CHROME! I never figured out what was on them, as drive-through washes had no effect, but the detail shop's wheel cleaner ate it off and revealed the chrome underneath. He couldn't believe he shopped for years for something he already had (he also didn't know the car was pearl gray rather than plain gray, either, until I detailed it). Now THAT'S dirty! Now the clearcoat is coming off in patches and it looks really ghetto. I can't help but think keeping it cleaned and waxed might have forestalled that for a while.

 

Well since I just got mine I'm being pretty picky about keeping it clean. It's just so darn easy to wash the little thing I can't help myself. It'll wear off eventually, these things go in cycles for me. Right now I seem to be on a car detailing kick but next month? Who knows.

- D

 

I actually washed my car yesterday, but only because I couldn't see through the half-inch-think layer of pollen that fell on it over the weekend.

 

I wax all the painted surfaces on the car when new, including hidden areas like inside the doors and door frames and under the hood and trunk/hatchback. I clean and wax the car after any long trips to get bugs and road tar off, and clean and wax the hidden areas about once every two years. But, because it rarely rains in the summer in CO or the winter in AZ, our cars don't get very dirty and may go months without a wash/wax

I use 3M Performance Finish wax, which is easy on/off, very very slick and shiney and long lasting, and NoTouch on the tires - great stuff!

 

I formally wash mine inside and out once or twice during Summer days only.
The rest I let the nature (Rain storm) takes care of it.....

Except to show mine off in the car show, keeping the car too clean and shiny on the streets do attract a lot of unnecessary (Good & Evil) attentions. You never know what people will do to a shiny car.

 

What is the best way to get insects off the front? That is a major problem for me this time of year. Two seasons 'round here: salt & bug.

 

The best way is -- immediately. I carry a microfiber towel and spray bottle of quick detailer. After every drive, time permitting, I wipe off any bugs before they have had a chance to harden.

Quick detailer works as well or better than Bug Off, which I found a waste of money.

Also, wipe the car down or do a car wash after a rain storm. The rain gives the bugs plenty of time to soften so they are easy to get off then.

 

A lot, but I think it is mainly because I picked my beautiful black Prius 3 days, 21 hours ago. I'll probably wash it soon, but I don't want to waste water. I don't know if the local Toyota carwash re-cycles the water. And I don't know if I want my baby washed with re-cycled water.

 

For those of you covering up your laziness with the excuse of water conservation, your cover is blown. Using products like Optimum No-Rinse (ONR), you can easily wash your car in a scratch/swirl-free manner with minimal water. Even in the winter.

 

When I bought my Seaside Pearl a couple of months ago, I decided to go with the "finish protection package". Not because of the exterior part, but for the interior. Supposedly much better than ScotchGuard, and never needs to be reapplied. I can sort of vouch for that, as I found a few drops of the interior protectant on the metal casing of the tonneau cover. I could not get if off with anything, until I tried denatured alcohol. So it will probably repel normal stains very well.

The reason I mention all this is because the "super" exterior protectant didn't do much to stop bugs, tar, etc, from sticking to the paint. So I went back to the tried and true "NuFinish" car polish that I've used for years. It is a cross-linked polymer polish that I've always had great results with. After using this on my hood and front bumper, the bugs now come right off with very little effort. Eventually I'll do the whole body with it. It is supposedly good for 1 year, but I'll usually put it on again in 6 months.

**********************************************************

OK, back to this thread: Pearl just sparkles when she's clean! So I try to wash the exterior every week with ZipWax car wash. This last time I had to go two weeks, but in between I wiped off road splash with a wet sponge. Equally important are the wheels and tires. When those aren't clean (and the tires dressed), the whole car can start to look "dull".

I dry with microfiber towels (much, much better than chamoises). The car stays in the garage when not being driven, which also helps it to stay clean, and protects the paint (Pearl has the whole garage to herself, car-wise). I have a wall mounted vacuum in the garage, and vacuum up any interior debris when I notice it.

And as most can testify: a clean car always runs better!

 

Tell us more...

 

That sounds like work, and I, for one, want no part of it.

 

"I last washed a car in 1983" best captures my attitude, but since I had the Porsche washed the other day, I selected "Guess I'll have to wash it eventually..."

When I have a new or really nice-looking car, I feel compelled to wash it. But my basic philosophy is just to drive it in the rain occasionally. A gas-burning car is an abomination, and there is something dishonest about a clean abomination. Abominations should look the part. Dirty, mean, ugly. I washed the Prius, and the Civic before it, while they were new, but after the first year or two I quit washing them. The rain limits their dirtiness at some point.

The Porsche is not new, but it's new to me, and really beautiful, so it will be getting washed for a while. And it produces zero pollution, so its soul is clean, and it's not so dishonest of it to have a clean exterior.

 

1 liter method (similar to using a quick detailing spray): Add about 50 ml of Optimum No Rinse to a liter of water, and put in spray bottle. Spray liberally onto one panel at a time, and wipe off with a microfiber towel. ONR lifts dirt away from the paint and the mf towel captures the dirt. Scratches and swirls are minimized if one uses a clean part of the mf towel per panel. Repeat until panel clean. Follow immediately with a dry microfiber towel to buff to a shine -- this towel should remain clean if the previous step was done correctly. Then spray/clean the windows, tires, and rims. Done in 30 mins, using 1 liter of water, and maybe 3 mf towels.

There are other rinseless products out there, but I don't have personal experience with them.

Here's a video on how to use ONR using the bucket method, which uses a bit more water but still much less than a traditional wash: