What Special Care Is Involved In Washing A Miata?

Miata owners,

I have just purchased a 2004 classic red/black manual top cloth Mazda Miata LS and was wondering how people in this forum are choosing to wash their Miatas. The owner's manual says to stay away from high speed car washes, but my salesman said that most of the automatic car washes are okay. The Mazda service shop leader says that I should manually wash it. How is everyone else doing it? Are you all manually washing them, or are the automatic softcloth car washes okay? If you are manually washing, do you have a favorite brand of car wash soap? What special care are you all taking concerning the convertible top? The manual says to brush it with a soft brush to remove the dirt, and then to wash it with a soft cloth and soap/cold water. I had the vehicle valueguarded at the dealer, if that matters. I'll be looking forward to your suggestions.

PM

StratoMX5,

Thanks very much for the info. Thanks for the welcome to the Miata family. I've had Mitsu's, Toyotas, Hondas, and still own a Subaru Forester. This is my first Mazda.

PM

I always hand wash my Miata. Blast off all the loose dirt with a hose first. Any decent quality car wash soap should work. Don't use dish soap, because it will strip off the wax. I used to use a foam sponge, which worked okay as long as you made sure to get the dirt off any time it picked up something visible. I now use a long-nap cotton car wash mitt. I think it's great. I got a synthetic chamois called "The Absorber" that is phenomenal.

I wash the vinyl top with the car wash soap. I don't know if the newer models with black tops are cloth or still vinyl. I know that they changed the tan/parchment tops to cloth. There is some special waterproofing stuff you can use on cloth tops. Maybe Scotchgard, even. For the vinyl top I occasionally put on "303" which is a protective spray like Armor All for plastic and rubber.

And I wax the car about twice a year, which protects the paint and makes it easier to keep clean.

Just say NO to auto car washes!!! they are bad for convertible tops and the seals WILL leak water into the cabin because of the pressure.

it's best to hand wash. You can't go wrong with it. Lots of good suggestions here.

I have a black Miata and wash it by hand. I just started using the Mr. Clean autowash thing and the verdict is still out. The good thing is you don't have to dry the car because the water sheets off but I could swear it gets dirty faster.

I never have to worry about cleaning the softtop because I have a hardtop.

What the hell, I'll chime in. lol. Yeah, hand washing is best all around. I really don't think any car should be taken through an automated car wash. Bad things happen in there. Very bad thngs. The touchless ones with the wand you use are fine so long as you don't EVER use the tire foam brush on your paint or wheels.

I too am a big fan of the Mr. Clean Autodry. Yeah, I'm lazy, but with five cars too wash (at the moment) I'm entitled. I like to use lamb's wool type wash mitt. I think it tends to pick up the least amount of particles, but terry cloth like Strato uses is good too. Biggest thing is just pay attention to what your mitt or cloth is picking up and don't continue using it if you drop it.

As for maintaining the top, we like to use Meguiars Professional Grade vinyl/leather protectant. It seems to moisturize the top well and gives it a nice shine. The bonus is that it has an SPF of 40 so it gives a little extra protection from what the Sun can do to your top.

Welcome aboard and enjoy your Roadster, er... Miata

Eunos!!

Mazdaspeedgirl said:

Eunos!!

Click to expand...

lol.