how lenient are you with your daily driver?

[VISITOR]

how many of you are pretty lenient on your daily driver and don't expect near perfection, but rather close to maybe 80% or so?

[civdiv99]

THE daily driver gets washed fairly often to keep paint clean, remove contaminants, etc. Maybe clayed and sealant semi-annually with a Meg's product perhaps.

Semi-daily "there be some nice days this week" car that generally lives under cover and/or garaged gets washed after every drive, or possibly skipped only if driving the very next day anyway and no distances involved or bugs sacrificed in the journey. Overkill and amusing to the neighbors, who don't have a 2K mi annually driver car with no flaws. Gets Optimum spray wax at least every wash, and gets a BFWD routine every few weeks.

Let's just say if the aliens ever arrive, the gov will call me to bring the car. All the alien goo and stuff will just slick right off and back into space. Invasion averted!

[Pureshine]

My daily driver has my business name on it so its always clean :)

[zmcgovern45]

Mine is almost always clean, but I do not expect perfect paint... I'd say it is at about 80% most of the time. It is coated with 22ple VX1 Pro (soon to be removed and coated with something new) so that helps with easier routine maintenance.

[tuscarora dave]

Mine is an absolute mess.

It's used to cart around fishing gear and shop supplies on a regular basis, I rarely can find time to clean it and when I do it will make good before and afters for the interior job. The outside stays fairly clean looking because it has Opti-Coat applied to it that's been abused in durability testing. It's ready for another coat that will be just for protection as I've concluded the torture testing on it.

[mswerb]

I try to keep mine as clean as possible at all times. My daily "after dinner" routine usually invloves wiping it down, dusting it off..etc.
it kinda makes my day "complete". I enjoy touching it up because it gives my mind a break from the daily grind.

[BlackHawk]

Mines at around 80% id say. Being a black car, i try and not worry to much about perfection. Most of my car is swirl free, except for my rear and front bumpers, which have super soft paint that corrects well but gets scratched by EVERYTHING. Still the front bumper is decent but the back is just a pain.

Anyways, my car is cleaned every week. Its smooth as glass (22ple) and i take pride in having it as a daily.

[VISITOR]

Mine is almost always clean, but I do not expect perfect paint... I'd say it is at about 80% most of the time. It is coated with 22ple VX1 Pro (soon to be removed and coated with something new) so that helps with easier routine maintenance.


Mines at around 80% id say. Being a black car, i try and not worry to much about perfection. Most of my car is swirl free, except for my rear and front bumpers, which have super soft paint that corrects well but gets scratched by EVERYTHING. Still the front bumper is decent but the back is just a pain.

Anyways, my car is cleaned every week. Its smooth as glass (22ple) and i take pride in having it as a daily.

agreed gentlemen. other than some defects that are beyond my control and are going to happen at any given time anyway (stone/rock chips, debris flying, etc.), i try and bathe her weekly and make sure she has some sort of protection at all times...

[BradsDetailing]

MIne gets treated fairly well and when I have time. It's one of the shinier cars in town and probably the best well kept non garage queen in the area. But I don't expect it to not have a bug or a chip in it from time to time

[Chevota Guy]

I keep my truck and my wife's SUV up at about 90%. Weekly washes, every other day or so a light exterior detail spray. It just makes me feel good when they're kept clean inside and out. Both are 7 years old and look near new after 90K miles.

[FUNX650]

Uh, errr...For the last couple of years...well, you know..Very lenient.

-Don't know why I felt so reluctant to answer your question OP...
But I suspect it's because I'm concerned my above response could somehow be
misconstrued as being related to any emotional issues I may have.

Going forward:
I believe a logical test should be applied in this instance of your thread starter's question.
As such:
Take a Ferrari and park it next-door to a person that maintains (wash, polishes waxes, etc.) their Daily Driver 2-3 times a week/month...
and then take note to see if the frequency of washes increases or decreases, and to which vehicle the increase or decrease occurs.
(I'll take a wild guess that the Ferrari would be the vehicle to "suffer".)

A random thought, or two:
-I'm starting to think that people who wash/wax/etc., their vehicles too often, are treating them like pets.
A vehicle, in reality, is purely for transport.

Also: (Unless it's a drop-top)...
Very seldom are the person(s) in a vehicle actually seen. (Even less chance when the windows are tinted.)

So...In this vein of thought...a vehicle can actually detract from the person and their true identity/individualism.
The vehicle, then, becomes the identity of the person instead of it being just an entity<<<(Always!)

IMO, then...
This really is a sad situation, which opens-up many arguements that
exist between: Materialism and peoples'...NAY!..Our true-identities.


BTW: I no longer cleave to the adage:
"Women like men with clean cars".

True story:
When I was dating my Wife-to-be...
She once alluded to the fact that my truck was: "kinda dirty".

I replied (as lovingly as I could muster at that moment):
'Dirty...You think my truck is dirty?!?!
Wait 'til you see my apartment!!'

We've cleaved-together ever since.
{I love it when a Woman decides to change me, and her plan comes together. :D}


In retrospect:
I now take back what I said earlier...
I've since come to the conclusion that I shouldn't have any emotional issues.


OK...What was the question again?

http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/crazy.gif

Bob

[Klasse Act]

My DD is taken care of better than 90% of cars that you see at the average cruize night, I care for my DD greatly as I can't afford a "toy" so my DD represents how I am w/ cars. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to get another "toy"!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

[Gen9Rolla]

Always clean, but the paint is far from perfect. But with silver paint, I'm not overly concerned with it

[Vegas Transplant]

Classic, Bob :props:

[lokerola]

I try and keep it at 80-90&#37;. Another black car here, so it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it, right? :) It gets washed and vacuumed weekly, and waxed monthly. Usually there's a spring or fall light polish and deeper detail. But I don't go crazy with over-detailing either. I think touching the paint too much on a black car is asking for swirls. I'd rather let it go dirty for a few days, then give it a gentle wash, than run around trying to clean every single dirty spot and get a lot of swirls. But boy, do I wish I had a garage! The driveway thing is killing me. Oh well...