How often do you Valet your car? (from a car wash group £)

rev_henry

Usually only when I am attempting to sell my car. Paid some Eastern Europeans £15 the other week, inside and out, excellent job.

At the self proclaimed 'best hand job in the North West', which most Mancunians will be familiar with!

Other than that whenever I lend my car to my father, it comes back immaculate and waxed.

~Chameleon~

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've never ever had a car valeted (been driving 35 years).
Last car was brand new when I bought it, P/Xd it 9 years later having never washed/vacuumed it... it wasn't messy/dirty really.
This car, had for 4 years, never vacuumed or washed it - not intending to.

I did try washing some cars when I first started driving, but realised you just get wet and it still looks the same as when you started.

Oh, it was you after all. Puzzled! :huh:

Swampy3k

I used to pay £4.50 a week to get my car washed and another £2 to hoover it myself (active lifestyle, gets dirty/messy easily) but one day realised it would be cheaper in the long run to buy a pressure washer and I already had an old hoover in the garage, now all it costs me is my time and a tiny bit of leccy

PasturesNew

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Oh, it was you after all. Puzzled! :huh:

Last car, not this car. A one off, cost me £6k, so not a roller. Kept it 10 years, sold it for £1k. Hardly big bucks. Bought as I was driving 200 miles to work along motorways, so needed to be safe.... and I was earning £50k/year and expected it to continue... in the event, that stopped the week after and life changed. My first/only ever new car; all others before had been bought at least 10 years old.

Ximian

I wouldn't take my car to the car wash places, the car might look clean when they're finished but I always wonder about the products and techniques they use (dirty mitts causing swirl marks, products that strip the wax layer etc..)
I wash and wax my car, use a two bucket method, and wax the car roughly every 3 months. A full wash and wax (seal and polish) can take me around 5 hours.

pete428

I wash, detail, paint/windscreen + alloy wheel protect and valet inside along with carpet and seat upholstery protection. on a used car this takes approx 15 hours, on a new car approx 9 hours. results are amazing. i do this as a passion, not just as a job to get the day in.

lincroft1710

Wash car myself (once a year, if it's lucky). Hoover interior when it gets dirty (once or twice a year).

kboss2010

twice in 4 years and only when I got a groupon for 50% off. It costs £40+ for a valet here so I don't waste my money (I only have a VW polo!) I hate hoovering my car tho.

Richard53

Having said above that I wash my car every six months, I actually did it last week. Pressure wash and car shampoo for the outside, dusted and polished the dials etc inside, and cleaned windows inside and out. It's like a new car. Has anyone else done what I have - given a car/bike a meticulous clean in order to sell it, and then remembered how much you liked it and changed your mind?

Also, what is this two-bucket method? I get all the major muck off with a pressure washer, so the water in the bucket doesn't get too filthy, and I am careful to rinse and wring the sponge out each time it goes in the bucket. But I suspect there is a better way ... anyone?

neilmcl

2 bucket method is using one bucket with shampoo and then rinsing your sponge in the 2nd bucket of clean water before going back to the shampoo. That way you lessen the chance of transferring grit back on to the bodywork of the car. Also, I wouldn't use a sponge but rather a mitt.