I've learned to live with a dirty car in the winter. I only wash it once a month. I go to a drive-thru brushless car wash that uses an air dryer at the end so my car is not covered in ice when I leave. Other than that I always hand wash it and wax it on a monthly basis.

My wife thinks I am nuts because with my 97 GT I washed it every other day, regardless if it was about to rain or not. I proved to her that by doing this it takes me less than 10 minutes to do an awesome job because the car is already pretty clean. Whereas she washes hers (or should I say I do) about once a month and takes close to an hour to clean it and it still doesn't look that great.

 

Mr. Clean Auto Dry, Pressure Washer.......Hose. Wax. There are a couple brush free car washes, but they tend to miss the wheels and bumpers.

Actually right now Mine is so filthy my Dad asked if I was feeling ok, but when its 28 frigging degrees out I don't mind having a dirty car.

 

This is true. I used to work for a supply house where I used to sell these special stainless pumps to some car wash facilities. The water is recycled and filtered. Imagine what your water usage is and your bill. If a busy car wash was to do the same, it would make a car wash not affordable. They have to be self contained. I sold quite a few pumps to these car wash companies because the dirty water and chemicals would tear up the pumps. They had to have special seals and such just to get maybe 6 months out of them. I can't say this is for every single car wash out there. I just know this is for quite a few of them out there.
To topic, I have never been in any car wash that cleans a car like I want my car cleaned. I clean down the door jambs, gas cap housing, wheel wells, etc. You can't get that in anything automated and if there are people involved, they don't really care about the little scratches the apply by using the same cloth or rags they just used on the muddy car they cleaned before your's. Besides, if people are involved, it's gonna cost you more. Might as well clean it yourself, do it the way you want, and save up that money for mods.
I do have an explorer that I run through the car wash occassionally, but I don't have the love for it like I do my Mustang.

 

I take a bucket, clean sponge and towels to the coin operated wash near me during winter. I do the presoak and a quick wash to get the bulk of easily removed grime off then use my sponge starting from the top down to get the remainder off, rinsing the sponge often before doing the rinse cycle. In New England with road salt and sand used on roads frequently you have to be sooo careful not to get anything gritty into the sponge and end up with scratches on the finish. Sponges are cheap - I often will toss one after a single use or even use more than one per wash. I've seen the Cal blades recently and have to get one soon.

 

If you like to keep your car show quality and plan on owning it for a long time....hand wash with 100% cotton and special wash soap

If you are leasing, have a ton of cash, or just don't care about the finer details, get the 1.99 special with a fill-up at the gas station

 

I use powerwasher (by hand) whenever I can. If its too cold, I'll take her to the "touchless" car wash. I never take my car anywhere that has cloth/soft cloth etc. because it WILL scratch your car, it doesn't matter HOW soft the cloth is. Dirt on car + force of cloth (even a very soft one) = pushing dirt across paint = scratch.

 

Dan, No I'm not leasing, she's ALL mine and will stay that way for a LONG time I hope. Special wash soap.......any suggestions on a good brand?

We just had a dusting of snow over night and it's freezing out now. According to the weather report the rest of the week will be well below 30 degrees.......(sigh) I guess she'll have to remain dirty till it warms up! B) God, I'd kill to live in a warm weather year round state.....hmmmmm California sounds good about now.....