Washing Cars in MD
 

I wonder why I even bother washing my car in Maryland! Every time I decide to spend the extra time and detail my car not 5 hours later it starts to pour down rain. I think that someone is out to get me.

Where in MD? I am in Bel Air and today was the first rain in 2 weeks.

Haha I actually took a towel out there to wipe it down while it was soaking wet. :D

Hopefully a soapy towel... Your car needs a good bath!!!

Same thing here, in western Pennsylvania. I check weather channel every night and most nights just shake my head and say, "Well, another rain day tomorrow---yet another day the Z spends in the garage."

over on the Eastern Shore Md and it does the same thing to me... just give it a good coat of sealant or wax and when it rains just wash and dry it... all you can really do.

I live in the Columbia, MD area and I swear it seems like every other day it is raining.

Weather here sucks. Now that I have the roadster, I'm hyper aware of weather like when I used to ride motorcycles. And it always seems like its freakin raining here.

Whats funny is I never noticed how much it rained until I got my Z a couple weeks back, and now that I just spent a good chunk of change on Adams car cleaning stuff I am wondering if its worth spending the time every other week cleaning if the next day it rains.

If you can, get a car cover. Definitely keeps it clean longer and once you get used to it, only takes a minute to put on.

Kirk, it's been two weeks since you've seen it!

Jeez, I get the point, it was dirty that morning.

I have been looking into getting a nice fitted cover just in case for the bad weather, especially snow. Just haven't found one that I like, but I was leaning towards:
Summit Racing Equipment | 1-800-230-3030

That's the same cover I have. The NOAH Block-It.
It was around $200 including shipping. I've had it for 2 months or so now.
I don't know how it'll stand up to snow, but it's lightweight and the water evaporates quickly off the surface.
Mine also came with a storage bag, so when I go for a ride, I take it off, put it in the bag, then pop the bag in my trunk and I'm off.

Thanks, that's great to know I was wondering how people liked it. How thick is it? Say the area got like a light hail or sleet does it seem like it would offer pretty good protection?

As far as dumb questions go, I know you haven't had it that long, but to anyone:
Say it did snow and I had to cover on would I be able to, using a normal scraper, scrape off the snow off of the cover enough to get it off without hurting the paint or scratching the paint? I guess that would go into how much protection from the snow does it give and how hard it would be to take it off after a heavy snow. I only ask because mine will be an outside car and my primary car so it will get hit with all the snow and weather that may come.

It's not as thick as a quilt, but more than a blanket. Only a guess, but if there was light hail that might slightly dent the car if it was just unprotected, then maybe this cover would prevent that from happening.

If it snowed, I'd think you'd just brush the car off, but not use the scrapper, and then peel the cover off the car (assuming it didn't somehow freeze to the car?)

One issue might be if its wet, thick snow and you let it sit on the car, then the cover may not be able to breathe so moisture might build up on the paint underneath. So I plan to get the snow off as quickly as possible. Also because I have the soft top and I'm worried about it caving in, but you dont have to worry about that.

If you come to one of the meetups or go on the Thurmont cruise, I'll show it to you.

I was looking at the BBQ tmw and the Cruise, but both those weekends I have military stuff going on so wouldn't be able to make it.

Of course it's raining right now haha

Exactly what I was just thinking:facepalm:

The rain hath cometh! I wish I had some mods sitting aside to bolt on!

You have to keep in mind when you spend your time cleaning your car and adding a wax or sealant to it that it's going to rain on it, but it helps to keep it clean much longer and when it gets dirty, it makes it much easier to give it a quick wash and dry... you just have to make sure you have a good wash mitt, some gentle car wash and nice waffle weave drying towel or chamios. Just make sure to be careful of things that would mar your paint up.

I personally wouldn't touch my car with a cover... some of them i'm sure are fine, but the strings attached to them and the edges can sometimes be rough and will mar the paint as well.. i'd much rather just rewash and dry the car.

I was only really thinking about the car cover for heavy weather like hail, snow, etc. just to add an extra layer of protection. As for washing stuff, I ended up buy a lot of Adams stuff so I think as far as getting the quality products for cleaning I should be set.

yeah, just make sure that you keep your drying towel(s) washed and inspect them for any kind of little things that might get picked up that might scratch the paint... same goes for your wash mitt.

I actually use a Grout sponge... I had done a search for wash mitts and A LOT of guys are now using them.. you can get them at lowes for a dollar or 2 each. The proline brand.. they are super soft and you can use it a few times and then throw it out and get another one. I think I bought 7 lol.

I live in Frederick, MD and just picked up my 40th 370z on Monday night! I just ordered this car cover off of Ebay.

2009 2010 2011 Nissan 370Z Car Cover - eBay (item 330584945904 end time Aug-04-11 07:49:56 PDT)

I had an Ebay gift certificate, so it was free. I hope it's a decent cover though, or I may be returning it.

Keep me updated in how you like it and congrats on you 40th 370Z.

Thanks, had to travel to Ardmore, PA to get it. Well worth it, what a huge upgrade from my 95 Civic!