Daily driver car care

[robpopper]

I live in the northeast and time is approaching to lower the top with my hoist and am thinking about car care for the coming snow and winter weather. I am looking for a recommendation for waxing my wife's gorgeous Cashmire bird. Something that could last for 6 months or so of daily driving. Not for any show or competition, just to have the car, looking fine. Can anyone suggest a moderately priced buffer and would the Zaino AIO be the right product for me. I've read the threads but most seem to be for "show" cars rather than daily drivers. Any thoughts on the subject will be appreciated. Thanks for looking...

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Daily driver car care

Sadly, In my experience.....and I've tried with Pick Up trucks...... there is no way to keep a car sacrificed to the ravages of salt and sand from deteriorating very quickly. If it's truly important to you to keep the car looking good.....

Are you certain you can't find a way to get your wife into another car for the 3-4 months?

Personally I'd sell our T-Birds before I'd drive 'em in a New Hampshire winter.

Not sure the T-Bird would make a very good winter driver anyway. Lot's of AWD Subarus out there that just refuse to die and there really is no better winter car in terms of what you get for the money, IMO.

[5bird7]

Re: Daily driver car care

Bob, Gobird will probably weigh in here as his was a daily driver for a number of years when he lived in Pennsylvania. One thing he did religiously was to wash the car underneath. Seemed like he did it weekly if not oftener.

[Gobird]

Re: Daily driver car care

OK Dot...

Bob, I didn't wash the undercarriage every week but I did do it about once a month. I did wash the car once a week, even when it was snowing outside. Just had it in the garage with my two heaters going. For years I used a wax called Klasse. I now use Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0. Just about any good quality wax will do the job. IMO if the car isn't in bad shape I wouldn't use a buffer but that's just me. I did clay bar my car twice in the past 8 years. The main thing for a daily drive up north is to keep all the road crap washed off the car. That's about all I did for cleaning and waxing while we lived in PA.

You might want to keep the leather seats clean and treated also as the cold dry weather up there during the winter will tend to dry out the leather faster.

[Leroy]

Re: Daily driver car care

I don't care what you put on your Bird you're still going to ruin it driving it in the Winter. The salt is going to eat up all the rubber bushings and start rusting all the bare metal parts under the car. It will also pit the aluminum wheels , if you have them, not to mention the slush and salt that gets tracked inside on the floors. My advice is park the TBird for the Winter and buy your Wife at least a front wheel drive car to drive in the Winter. I drive a 04 GMC Z-71 4x4 truck all year round as a daily driver and my Wife drives an 08 Malibu LTZ as hers, but in the Winter if it gets real bad, she'll drive my truck to work. I'm retired. The Bird goes in the garage covered up with a full tank of gas right after Thanksgiving and doesn't come back out till about the 1st of May after the April showers wash all the salt away. Leroy

[Gobird]

Re: Daily driver car care

Bob, I wouldn't worry too much about driving in the winter. Ours was a daily driver for over the first three years of it's life. With the 50/50 weight distribution on the car it goes in snow pretty well. We didn't have any choice as for using it as a daily driver, we couldn't afford another car for Judy to drive back then. I haven't had to replace any bushings on my car and the under carriage still looks very good. The car is now approaching 9 yrs. old and still runs and looks great.
It now has over 73,000+ miles on the clock.



Go for it, just remember to keep it clean.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Daily driver car care

I don't care what you put on your Bird you're still going to ruin it driving it in the Winter. The salt is going to eat up all the rubber bushings and start rusting all the bare metal parts under the car. It will also pit the aluminum wheels , if you have them, not to mention the slush and salt that gets tracked inside on the floors. My advice is park the TBird for the Winter and buy your Wife at least a front wheel drive car to drive in the Winter. I drive a 04 GMC Z-71 4x4 truck all year round as a daily driver and my Wife drives an 08 Malibu LTZ as hers, but in the Winter if it gets real bad, she'll drive my truck to work. I'm retired. The Bird goes in the garage covered up with a full tank of gas right after Thanksgiving and doesn't come back out till about the 1st of May after the April showers wash all the salt away. Leroy

Salt really is the enemy and I don't care what anyone does to avoid the damage the effort is a losing battle to one degree or another.

With all due respect to conflicting opinions on this one.......... put even a 3 winter only car, vigilantly and aggressively cleaned, up against any car of similar vintage, that hasn't seen winter driving, and I can point out the damage without the need for a fine toothed comb or microscope.

Then again if this is a daily driver that will be traded away in a few years I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it either. Keeping the exterior paint in reasonable shape requires little more than the waxing and cleaning GOBIRD speaks of.

If you want to keep the car longer than that though.......LEROY is spot on in his description of what you can expect to see over time.

As for the idea that a T-Bird is "capable" in the snow......well that one depends on what you expect.

By way of comparison to a winter time DEATH TRAP like a Corvette or Mustang it's probably pretty good but let's face it a low stance and single track rear end leave little to recommend vs so many other FWD and AWD choices available at rock bottom prices in the used car market.

[04birdman]

Re: Daily driver car care

the owner of my car used it as a daily driver in spokane wa.....as long as the snow was not high enough to hi center it...i drive it when ever i feel like it,rain, snow whatever....some people on this site have thier heads so far in the dark they cant see stright....drive it,enjoy it..wash it often,wax it ,service it when needed....but most of all enjoy

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Daily driver car care

....on a more positive note?

You have to be safer in your T-Bird that this guy is in his ......uh........I think it's a pink Corvette!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q68LuAyXPLA

[04birdman]

Re: Daily driver car care

the owner of my car used it as a daily driver in spokane wa.....as long as the snow was not high enough to hi center it...i drive it when ever i feel like it,rain, snow whatever....some people on this site have thier heads so far in the dark they cant see stright....drive it,enjoy it..wash it often,wax it ,service it when needed....but most of all enjoy

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Daily driver car care

....and by all means..... NOOOOOO!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSqu1...eature=related

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Daily driver car care

OK, enough with the silly posts. (I'm sorry the idea of grown men in toy cars makes me laugh)

More seriously?

Here's what I do with the 2002 truck I own and it really does still look pretty good, even if the under carriage shows the damage.

I use McGuire's one step "Gold Class" wax in the fall. I'll spray the undercarriage any time I see a day above 40 degrees with a hose I drag in and out of the basement. (You'd be surprised how often the chance comes up even here in New Hampshire)

Come spring?

I use the 3 step wax. The deep oxidation and mess of winter really needs the extra work. The cleaner digs through and the separate polish really does bring back the shine. Finally the wax itself provides the sun protection for the long summer ahead.

This isn't gonna save you from all of the damage, the wheels are pitted and damaged and the underside is pretty rusty looking but in my experience it's kept a winter driven, now 8 year old truck looking nearly new on the painted surfaces anyway.

[BirdsAndBugs]

Re: Daily driver car care

the owner of my car used it as a daily driver in spokane wa.....as long as the snow was not high enough to hi center it...i drive it when ever i feel like it,rain, snow whatever....some people on this site have thier heads so far in the dark they cant see stright....drive it,enjoy it..wash it often,wax it ,service it when needed....but most of all enjoy

Frank, I agree with you and Spence. Drive these cars and enjoy them. I've babied the 2 Thunderbirds I have up to this point, but when it's time to replace my daily driver 04 Volkswagen Passat, my 03 Thunderbird will likely go into daily service. By that time it will easily be 10 or more years old anyways. Might as well use them while you can. These modern cars won't be as easy to maintain long term like some of the classic Thunderbirds of the 50's and 60's.

Any car I buy going forward, will be a driver. No more toys for me. I've had my fun over the years but this tough economy has definitely taught me some lessons. I've always been a saver although I did allow myself the luxury of a few "car toys" in the past. However I'll be even more frugal in the future.

[steelblue5505]

Re: Daily driver car care

I just now saw this thread and I'd like to put my two cents in since my 05 is our only car driven year around here in Washington St.

I think one has to ask themselves why they bought their Thunderbird in the first place. If it is to be their "show" car, their garage queen, then YES it should be tucked away for the winter months where it will age but not be driven & have little milage & little wear. And I'll bet that "show" car will be waxed and given the ultimate amount of care before it is covered and put to sleep for a long winter's nap.

But if your Thunderbird was bought like ours to be driven, to be enjoyed on the road 12 months of the year then it too must be given a certain amount of care and TLC through out the winter months.

We have snow, not much but enough to have the streets treated with either deicer compounds or salt & sand. I wash our Thunderbird weekly during the winter, not a commercial car was, but it is a touchless wash. Then I hand dry it. And about mid winter I wax the car again.

I bought our 05 Bird Nov. 2004. This Nov will begin its 6th winter. The car does not have any body problems, does not have any rotting rubber parts. In fact my 92 F250 that is exposed to the same winters doesn't have any of the winter woes you all speak of.

It is a matter of keeping the car clean inside & out. Certainly there is little places that are next to impossible to reach & get clean but even garage queens have those areas.

Drive it! Keep it clean and don't worry about it.

If it is going to be a worry..........
Then ask yourself why did you buy it?

[BIRD 42]

Re: Daily driver car care

I understand both sides of this discussion. I wish I was able to have a T-brid that I could only drive on special occasions, unfortunately, I cannot walk everywhere and therefore ours is a daily driver.

One thing that I do try and do every couple fo weeks (but this is actually year round) is to try and wash, and spray under the car and then use liquid TURTLE ICE wax and detailer as often as I can. Unfortunately the Cashmere does not look as good as the day it came off the showroom, but then again neither do I. I do have a big smile on my face every time I drive this great car.