So, over the weekend while I was getting my car gassed up, the gas station attendant decides to wash my windows with his dirty squigee car window cleaner.

I usually dont have an issue with this, but he cleaned EVERY window. My driver side, passenger side, front windshield, the back seat windows, and the little windows in the back hatch, oh and the back windshield.

It been freezing cold here in Jersey, and we did get a bit of snow, but mostly its the salt from the roads that's been sticking to my car. But my windows were fairly clean. So, what happened is, the dirty soap from the gas guys squigee seeped all over the exterior of my car, on my door, my hatch, etc. It dryed up and looks horrible! I tryed cleaning it off with some wet rags and alittle soap, but since its been so cold, it freezes up and leaves more of a dirty look to it.

I have only hand washed my A3, never took it to a car wash.

But I may have to, since its very cold here I dont have the chance to hand wash it yet.

My new A3 heading into a car wash with all those brushes just makes me cringe.
Trying to look for a brushless one actually, that may work.

Darn gas station guy! They never clean my windows when there filthy on my previous cars! Just my luck.

 

I never use car wash ( if I cant clean it then it dosnt get done ) its that simple

 

Black on Beige... hmm

Word of advice. Dont even go to the touchless ones. You probably have a bunch of grime on your car and the high pressure wash will only force these hard tiny particles slide into the paint causing tiny scratches into the clear coat. Just wait till the weather is better.

 

Yep, my thoughs exactly, black on beige.

Two of the toughest colors to keep CLEAN.

Especially in the Winter.

Anybody have the clear-bra? I am looking into it, just for the front end and some of the hood.

 

I have the Formula One clear bra plus protection on my mirrors and headlights (the installer did the latter for free). There is a barely noticeable difference in sheen if you stand near the car in bright daylight, but not bad...way better than rock chips.

On a side note, after all the protection plus mud flaps I just found a pretty large chip on the bottom of the driver's door. Car's first paint chip...yay! Ugh!!!

 

No argument with winter environment that clear bra helps against frequent chips. But in milder climates I rarely see anyone's car with clear bra installed, and I have checked out lots of expensive cars! You know if you’re worried about chips hitting the plastic headlight shield, I looked at that piece on the A3 and it just unsnaps out and inserting a replacement is easy. Also the A3 already has what looks like 3M protection on the mirrors as standard feature.
In my mild climate area, my gripes are jacked up AWD trucks with large off-road tires and no flaps, and particularly annoyed by Japanese motorcycles with big tires in the rear for kicking up large stones at high velocity.

 

I wash my car at the self-serve carwash. Just make sure you don't use the brush which can trap dirt and form an abrasive, harming your paint finish. Use the high-pressure wash, aiming at an angle to push the dirt off your car, not into it.

 

I have yet to wash my A3 since back in Nov.

We just had a snow/ice storm here in NJ and even though my A3 was in the garage during it, I tried it out in the snow after the snow and ice hit the ground. And the A3 did impress me. I dont have the 3.2 quattro, but this thing held its own in about 2 -3 inches of hard snow. I was totally impressed. Audi sure knows how to make vehicles for these conditions. My Pirelli P6 all season's were fine.

BUT, my car looks a MESS! Actually looks pretty cool though, like its been thru a snow storm. But, I cant wait until that very first sunny and warmer day when I wash this baby!

 

It must be tough with that cold weather up there...it was 80 with sunshine down here yesterday . I used to run a car wash a few years back that had the "soft cloth" system. I had a black Jeep Liberty that I ran through probably twice a week. And I used to swear by it. But after a while, I noticed tiny scratches everywhere. Also, I used to remove the bugs in the front with the chemicals and brushes that were intended for that task, and eventually the clearcoat was off the bumper leaving a dull finish. I would only go to a car wash in emergency situation (i.e. your drunk friend just puked on your paint).

As for the brushless, I have also heard that since the system uses high pressure jets with very strong chemicals, they can actually strip the wax from the clearcoat, leaving the finish vulnerable. My suggestion is get some high end wash and wax and pamper your baby.

 

Ditto that. You've spent all that money on the motor. Why skimp now?