Is rain a car wash substitute?

If you’re like me, the downturn in the economy and increase in gas prices have hit your wallet pretty hard. People nowadays will try to do anything to save an extra penny or two. Should you skimp when it comes to washing your car? I know that I have been guilty of this. When I know that it’s going to rain, I park my car upstairs at work so that it’ll get a nice soak in while it’s raining, so that I don’t have to wash my car. Is this an acceptable practice?

Well, it turns out that it is and it isn’t.

Why Rain Can Help

For obvious purposes, having it rain on your car is simply more cost efficient than washing your car yourself, or paying to have it done.  Many express car washes run between 6 and 10 dollars, and if you go to a professional car washer, it could cost even more.  In this case, you can see how the rain will help.

It’s also true that a good rain will manage to wash off pollen, and some built up dirt on the outer surface of your car.  There’s nothing better than a good rain after your car has been pummelled with pollen.  You’ll see the paint job again, instead of having it be all green and gross from the pollen.  Bugs and other various things that are stuck to your car also tend to come off.  Seems pretty sweet right?  Well hold on, there are cons to leaving your car out there for the elements to deal with.

How the Rain can Hurt

Acid Rain.  Simply put, acid rain is damaging to the exterior surface of your car.  First off, acid rain is simply any rain that has a pH of less than 7 (which is neutral).  While the initial rain on your car may not be that bad, it becomes worse once the water evaporates.  Once this water has evaporated, the acidic contents become concentrated on the surface of your vehicle (or any other surface for that matter).  These chemicals become reactivated whenever they become wet, so they cause damage again as early as the morning dew.

You can recognize the damaged spots as “water damaged” spots that won’t wipe off.  As these spots remain and keep becoming re-activated, they burn deeper and deeper through the clear coat of your car, eventually causing more and more damage.

Source: Best Auto Finish

Overview

Leaving your car out in the rain and not washing it afterwards is a gamble.  Yes, there are benefits, and it can be considered a cheap car wash.  However, I would not look to it as a permanent replacement for car washes.  The overall damage that it may cause will more than likely outweigh the temporary benefits that it can provide.

We’ll take a look later on at what you can do to prevent this type of damage to your car.

That being said… I’m going to get my car washed….