Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

[TJPark01]

A reader sends in a question, How do you prevent rust on cars?,
Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"
Click on the video to see what product he recommends to keep his cars clean:
2:10 if you want to skip the other questions
Jay Leno's Garage

[Bill Davidson]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Thanks for the link. I never knew Jay's site existed.

Regarding "I rarely wash any cars", and using Quik Detailer. This is great if you rarely drive your car or if you live somewhere extremely clean, but in many cases it's unrealistic for a daily driver.

Where I live, there is a lot of sand on the roads. If you go more than 2 days without using Quik Detailer, you need to wash the vehicle or you risk inducing swirls/ scratches. This first time you drive your vehicle in the rain you need to wash the vehicle.

I haven't washed my Camaro in 3+ years, so this certainly works for my weekend car.

[TJPark01]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Obviously this will not work for a daily driver in Colorado, or some place with a lot of variable weather. In the summer here in LA, it never rains, I went 4 months last year without washing my cars just using Last Touch/MF Towels and the California Car Duster. Of all the Meguiars products that routinely get used on the 3 cars I have, Last Touch (or Quick Detailer, what ever you want to call it), gets used the most and I find it to be the most useful in terms of maintenance for those neurotic enough to to care, which is basically everyone on this forum.

If I could only choose 1 Meguiar's product I choose this.

[Bill Davidson]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

I went 4 months last year without washing my cars

I'm lucky if I can get 4 days without rain during the summer. The other 8 months, snow is possible (with 4 of them being a given). This is why I seldom do a full detail on my own vehicle. Usually I give something some extra attention with each wash. Yesterday it was the trim and tires. The time before it was the interior. With the next wash it will be the paint.

p.s. I love Last Touch as well, it's one of my favorite Meguiar's products.

[TJPark01]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Yeah I used to live in Boston, it was basically pointless to have a nice car.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Regarding "I rarely wash any cars", and using Quik Detailer. This is great if you rarely drive your car or if you live somewhere extremely clean, but in many cases it's unrealistic for a daily driver.

Very true. All of Jay's cars are in running order, and they are all driven. But they are obviously not all "daily drivers" - there just aren't that many days in a month (year???? - how many cars does the man have at this point??). In any event, yes, his suggestion for using a quick detail spray is sound if the car is rarely driven and only driven in nice weather.

We know plenty of people here in SoCal with weekend toys that haven't been washed with soap and water in years. Heck, we know some daily drivers that only get washed a few times a year here, but are wiped down daily with something like UQD and garaged at night.

Some of those old cars were notorious for retaining water though, and would rust out fairly quickly. But for routine maintenance, like Jay asks in the video, where do you live?! Bill Davidson may find it rare to go 4 days without rain, be we sometimes go 8 months without it here in SoCal.

[TJPark01]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Bill Davidson may find it rare to go 4 days without rain, be we sometimes go 8 months without it here in SoCal.

Yeah we're pretty spoiled here in SoCal. I was up in the Hollywood hills this morning and there was drizzle. The windshield wipers came on a startled me, that's how infrequent it rains here. Incidentally it may even drizzle again tonight Mike.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Incidentally it may even drizzle again tonight Mike.

Drizzle??? The horror!!!

[TJPark01]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Drizzle??? The horror!!!

Yes even in the ivory towers of Orange County.

[Bill Davidson]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"



Here is what my truck looks like today after yesterday's wash.



Here is what the sky looks like today

You do the math... . It looks like, I'll be washing it again tomorrow.

If I don't drive it while it's raining I may be able to get away with using Last Touch.

[BobbyG]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

My neighbor must be related to Jay Leno, he never washes his "car" either!

[TJPark01]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

You do the math... . It looks like, I'll be washing it again tomorrow.

If I don't drive it while it's raining I may be able to get away with using Last Touch.

And it's black. You could keep a black car in a hyperbaric chamber and it would look dirty. I swore off black a while back, it was giving me anxiety attacks.
Also, it's a truck, it's meant to be dirty.

[Barry N]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

I have silver car,and hence my washing is minimal. Between a regime of a California Duster and Ultimate Quik Detailer I wash maybe once a month.

[Tuck91]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

Even if a car is sitting in the garage collecting dust, I still would wash it once a month.

Constant QD applications would eventually streak.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Jay Leno Garage: "I rarely wash any cars"

It must be nice to live in a environment were it rains infrequently. I am not that fortunate. I have to regularly wash my vehicles. I do qd them frequently in the winter. But during hurricane season, washing is the norm.