What if you do two? During the Spring and Summer I most often hand wash and wax myself. During the cruel months of winter, I often use a drive through car wash. I know the risks of using drive through, but I'm willing to take them. I have found that if I continually keep a good protective coating of wax or polish on my vehicle, and I go to a "reputable" well maintained drive through, it seems to work. But my car care routine varies directly with the season. I think it's better to hand wash and wax, and I'd rather do it myself, but I don't do it when the temperature drops too low.
Wash maybe once a month, in the driveway. Actually wash more frequently in winter, especially if they've been salting. I make a point of dealing with the wheel wells, rocker panels, anything I can easily, and sometimes not so easily pull off and clean behind. Wax spring and fall. NEVER go through a car wash.
I wash mine around every one to two weeks. I had the G3 coat put on it at the dealers so all I really need to do is use the hose with brush attachment then leather it down. The Ultimate Protection Package | G3 Glasscoat Paint and Fabric Protection
I use Meguiars' Gold Wash and their polish and wax products. I can't remember the last time I took one of my cars through a commercial car wash, but it has probably been twenty years.
I really like the Zaino All-In-One, I also like many of the Meguiars products! If you are going to get really serious, like I did, a Porter Cable Random Orbital Polisher is just as important as the Goo you apply to the car! Whats another $99 bucks, it makes your Prius shine and feel as smooth as a new baby's butt, or is that not PC anymore....? It's what and how you apply that matters!!
a Porter Cable Random Orbital Polisher, works great!!! Porter-Cable 7424XP 6-Inch Variable-Speed Polisher - Amazon.com The price went up!
Do not use a detail service. There might be a few gems out there, but most of them cut corners and leave you with a car swirl marked to hell after a few months. They re-use towels, skimp on wax, don't apply products according to directions, rather according to speed and maybe glossiness. You got to do it yourself. I like Turtle wax premium products, McGuires, Zymol is highly rated but I havent used it. Chammy clothe. First thing I do is clean the wheels with a dirty towel from the last wash. No wheel cleaner just car wash solution, since prius doesnt gather much brake dust. Then wash from top to back to front to sides, and dry in the same order. If hand waxing, I wax in the same order to help avoid skipping a panel. I try to leave the wax on long enough for the paste to get really dry. It makes it a little more work to buff out, but if you run your fingernails across the car you can feel the fruits of your labor.
I wash my cars myself. I've been using the Mr Clean Machine for years. Simple wash and let it air dry. Still get a few spots, but not many. I haven't waxed a car in about thirty years. Too much time and effort. Hate the wax residue that's hard to totally remove. All cars have clear coat, don't see the need. I'll let the second or third owner deal with the results, if any.
Frequent drive through brushless washes, occasional trip to car wash that uses a brushless system then finishes the wash by hand and cleans interior. I have a pro that normally details high end cars detail it every year or two.
My car is an ex-rental and the drive through car wash they used must not have been brush less. I can lots of spider webbing when the sun shines at just the right angle. Is anyone else a "Zaino zombie"? I used the Z5 polish on the paint and that did help hide the spider webs a bit.
Always used Meguiars in the past but just ordered a bunch of Zaino products.... hope it works well. I enjoy detailing my own car, when it's all done I just sit back drink a cold beer and appreciate my work.
