Can over-washing your vehicles be a bad thing even if it's clean? Not that I don't like my "cars" to look nice and shiny , but I think even in the winter, washing it every week is still too much.

 

as long as the soap is fully washed off, youll be fine. the automatic car washes that arent touchless do create swirl marks on the paint and can actually scratch your rims (thanks to those rails), but really, theres nothing to be worried about.

 

Over washing just increases the need to wax sooner;I wouldn't do a full wash everytime unless it's actually dirty.

 

Whatever you do, DON'T use a self serve carwash!! Those bristles have left actual brush marks in my paint! ALWAYS ALWAYS hand wash with a quality wash mit..ONLY!

 

Because of where you live, I'd wash as much as possible in the winter to remove salt. It seems like my Runner has that white salt coating from Dec-March, even though I wash it at least once a week. I will rinse the whole thing off right after the salt trucks trucks go out after a snow, then again when the roads dry out a few days later. The rest of the year I wash at least once a week. You'll just need to wax more often.

 

Like the others have said; it will be ok. As long as you use a clean, high quality wash mitt and good car wash solution, you can wash it as much as you like.

In the winter, I take my cars to the self service spray wash and spray the wheel wells and the undercarrage since they use salt on our roads.

 

heck im a car wash boy and i wash my beast like 3-4 times a week! Just wax it a little more often and you'll have no problemas.

 

If anything, it should be washed MORE Often in teh winter to remove all that crud they put on the roads. Not sure if they use salt where you live, but whatever they put down up there, it can't be good for the paint/metal.

 

Should I stay away from hosing the headlights, grill and such directly so I don't get any condensation or moisture especially in the headlights? I noticed on some older vehicles the headlights looks hazy and yellowed and I'm wondering if that's the result of water seeping in over time.

Btw, What do you think of Eagle One's Wax-as-U-dry? I just started using it. Looked okay so far.

 

nope, no need to worry about washing any of those.. theyre all sealed up tight.

if youre gonna get condensation, youre gonna get condensation... hosing a headlight down isnt gonna be the cause.

 

Wax as You Dry is OK, but I had a hard time getting it off during drying. I usually use a water blade and then a chamois. When I used a towel and the Wax as You Dry there always was a haze left. So I started putting the stuff on right after I dryed the car. Very easy on and off that way. Only 5 min for the whole car.

 

If you get condensation in your headlight then the headlight seal has been compromised,they shouldn't just developed condensation.

 

The only way to get the condesation out is to remove the headlight assembly and put it in a oven on low (150 deg). Leave the light bulb out so moisture can escape. I've had to do this to fog lights after driving through rivers, because fog lights aren't sealed.