How often do you wash/wax your Prius?

When ours was new, I was out there washing it down at least once a week.

I'm sure you'll find the time starting to stretch between washes, as time goes by.

 

If I had the resources and time, I would definitely wash more often (SoCal is in a drought and I spend most weekends catching up on classwork). As it is, i try to wash it every 2 weeks...preferably by my own hands, but if I'm pressed for time, I'll drop it off with the detailer at my workplace.
Is washing too often being eco-unfriendly? Just curious (and I'm not judging anyone since I'm just as obsessed with car care as the next Prius owner) since I would think most Prius owners care a bit about the environment...

 

I got my Prius a month ago and have yet to wash it.. planning to this week if we get another clear day. I must say, the silver sure hides the dirt!

 

Nothing wrong with taking care of your car! I try to wash twice a month, wax 2-3 times a year, and only have to vacuum once per month, as I don't eat or drink in it. Weathertech floor guards catch all of the sand and dirt.

 

I also have a Winter Grey and wash it every weekend since I have had it. I am sure my neighbors think that I am obsessed.

I work at a paper mill so when the wind is across the parking lot I can get "crap" on my car. So, I want to be sure to keep this off plus the fact that the Grey really looks nice when it is clean.

 

I wash it once a month. I only waxed it once since it was a gift wax

 

I want to wax the car every 4-5 months because that's about how long the wax I'm using can protect the paint. What I keep in mind is that every time the paint is touched, marring will in some way be induced. Therefore, I try to find the balance between protecting the paint from the elements and rubbing it too much.

For people that really like taking care of their car, there is always that desire to do something and be very proactive, but often times, less is more.

 

I thought I was the only crazy one in the world who blow dries the car with a leaf blower? I now know that I am not alone here... The good thing is you only touch the finish once while washing. Hand drying ... your touching it again. Use the leaf blower. Do you have gas or electric? I guess the car will look better twice as long? Any how, Wash your car at least once a week if you can stand to do that without going crazy You do have a few things against you, no garage and it is exposed to the weather.

YES... do the Zaino process but don't apply any wax on top of zaino. The Z-CS will help your situation of harsh elements.

Look at your car the sun if you have the wax still on it. With the Zaino process only you will see the entire panel with the metalic properties. This I have observed with my cars with metaclic paint. The 2010 Prius Black does not have any metalic in it what so ever. The Zaino process make it look as black a ONYX. Awesome!!

I had a Black Midnight Pearl Honda Prelude. I used conventional wax by Zymol. $$$ I had this mudded look to the panels with only a small area of metalic showing. I used the Zaino product and that changed my life. Awesome shine and easy to keep up and I could see the metalic properties..I found that wax makes the optical properties muddy. That is, if your paint has any metalic porperties, they will appear obviously in a 6 -12 inch area, outside that area you will see no metalflake in the paint.

 

I wash every two weeks with ONR and clean the windows twice a week (which goes a long way towards making it look and feel cleaner). Haven't waxed it since I bought it (when I wasted the money on the dealer paint protection) but plan on paying a detailer to do it a couple of times a year.

 

I wash once a week with ONR. I am a new convert to ONR and can't get over how much better/easier it is over a conventional wash. For me one of the great things about it is I can wash my car at night in the garage. Also, I live in SoCal and water restrictions are in place. I can easily wash the car thoroughly with two gallons of water. I also tried out Optimum's Opti-seal and spray wax. They both went on fast and easy. I can wash and wax my car in about 45min total.

Btw for the guy that was saying less often washing is less harmful on the paint. Don't forget the longer between washes, the more embeded grit will be on the paint when you go th wash it off which will be pretty harsh.

 

I pay to have it washed and waxed monthly.

 

Ok, this thread makes me feel bad. I haven't washed much less waxed my car since I got it in June. Is waxing really necessary?

 

I wash the outside about once every six months. The inside gets vacuumed and wiped down about every two months. Still have yet to wax it....

 

Wax, Zaino, Klasse, something to protect the paint is good, yes. If you want the paint to look good in 5+ years anyway. Nice thing about the Prius is that it's so small none of these tasks take very long.
A great resource for detailing products and info is autogeek.net.

- D