When it’s cold and nasty I will go to the wash and blast it off. If it’s decent outside, I wash by hand in the driveway. I am particular about my windows and I find that when I wash and dry a vehicle by hand that I tend to keep better overall care of it.

Monthly subscription with local automatic 

By hand, but not often enough. When I had a boat I’d wash it after washing the saltwater off the boat, but sold that thing. My FIL is super into it though, clay bar detailing and the works. 

Mike’s Car Wash, but only a few times a year. 

Wash it myself…..windex on front bumper and lights and side mirrors, this makes the bugs easier to remove. Spray top, hood, trunk…..wash all then do driver side then passenger side, dry off windows first then car. Wheels get cleaned last.

Sometimes a quick $3 in quarters in a car wash bay to get the main stuff off if weather is meh or car is super bad

Also don't know who Mike is

posted by Verbal Kint

Also don't know who Mike is

In regards to OP: I let my car get dirty until it gets into embarrassing territory and then I take it to the automated no-touch wash. It does a shitty job, but normally takes it from a 2/10 to a 7/10 which is good enough for me.

once in a blue moon I will swing by the manual bay at the carwash and do it myself

Prefer to wash at home, if not go to an old school bay or full service place.

I don’t really like the auto drive through car washes. 

I forgot to post this in the OP because I got distracted. I went thru Mike's this morning and the car in front of me, I think it was an Explorer (older model), got their front wheel stuck on the wheel brushes at the very end of the line, and went off the belts and was stopped completely. The belts were still going so my car wasn't stopping so I was sweating a bit for a second. Luckily I wasn't right on their butt, the belt stopped in a few seconds and the person figured it out. Don't let them stack you too tight the next time you go, make sure you give plenty of space between you and the car in front.

I'm contemplating this kit at Chemical Guys. Anyone use their stuff? Seems to be well reviewed. 

https://www.chemicalguys.com/all-season-arsenal-builder-kit/HOL340.html

posted by justincredible

I'd like to build up a car washing/detailing kit so I can start washing cars at home.

i have two products on-hand that were absolutely worth the money:

1. chemical guys quick detailer

2. meguiars cleaner wax

chemical guys has another product for general cleaning that i use to wipe down the inside of my car but i find myself using it around the house too. might be worth picking up.

there's links to the aforementioned products in my post but the clueless webmaster apparently doesn't have hyperlinks underlined for some reason so now i have to type a paragraph explaning that my post contains hyperlinks.

posted by Verbal Kint

Monthly subscription with local automatic 

I think I'm going to do this for my Outback. A place right down the road has the following plans. I know I've had it washed twice in the last month and it needed at least 3x as many washes as that given our dust situation.

posted by justincredible

I think I'm going to do this for my Outback. A place right down the road has the following plans. I know I've had it washed twice in the last month and it needed at least 3x as many washes as that given our dust situation.

Interesting

posted by MontyBrunswick

there's links to the aforementioned products in my post but the clueless webmaster apparently doesn't have hyperlinks underlined for some reason so now i have to type a paragraph explaning that my post contains hyperlinks.

Ok I fixed it.

posted by justincredible

Ok I fixed it.

posted by justincredible

I'm contemplating this kit at Chemical Guys. Anyone use their stuff? Seems to be well reviewed. 

https://www.chemicalguys.com/all-season-arsenal-builder-kit/HOL340.html

you can buy chemical guys stuff pretty much anywhere, including locally if you wanted to piece meal something together. i know meijer carries their products, as does most auto parts stores. amazon as well.

Whichever gas station is giving the most off per gallon at the time. And probably only a few times a year. I’ll get the salt off in winter if it’s warm enough for them to be open. That is about it unless it gets closer for some reason during the spring - fall months.