Are All SUVs A Pain To Clean?

Rabbers · February 20, 2022

I recently had an UX250h for a few days as a courtesy car. Being prejudiced against SUVs in general, I did not particularly enjoy the experIence (especially when comparing the car, admittedly unfairly, with the 2022 NX350h I was lucky enough to try a few weeks ago and which could well be the only SUV I might be tempted to buy).

Be this as it may, my general lack of fondness for this type of car was unexpectedly augmented when I decided, perhaps against my better judgement but out of normal courtesy, to give the UX a wash before returning it to the dealer, snow and sleet during the week having dirtied the flanks and rear. Of course, one thing LED to another so that the sponging and wiping of one area naturally extended to others with the result that I ended up washing the whole car. With no other car I have ever known or examined have I found myself cursing the presence of so great a number and variety of nooks and crannies, many of them reached only with difficulty and all of them capable of attracting and trapping amounts of filth whose removal would require the sort of effort that only an owner’s love for the car would justify. And, of course, this having been the only SUV I have ever washed or tried to wash, I had previously not fully appreciated how difficult it would be to access the roof without recourse to steps or an extendable brush, neither of which I had on hand or, given my increasingly bad temper, that I was willing to go and fetch.

Phil xxkr · February 20, 2022

5 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

I recently had an UX250h for a few days as a courtesy car. Being prejudiced against SUVs in general, I did not particularly enjoy the experIence (especially when comparing the car, admittedly unfairly, with the 2022 NX350h I was lucky enough to try a few weeks ago and which could well be the only SUV I might be tempted to buy).

Be this as it may, my general lack of fondness for this type of car was unexpectedly augmented when I decided, perhaps against my better judgement but out of normal courtesy, to give the UX a wash before returning it to the dealer, snow and sleet during the week having dirtied the flanks and rear. Of course, one thing led to another so that the sponging and wiping of one area naturally extended to others with the result that I ended up washing the whole car. With no other car I have ever known or examined have I found myself cursing the presence of so great a number and variety of nooks and crannies, many of them reached only with difficulty and all of them capable of attracting and trapping amounts of filth whose removal would require the sort of effort that only an owner’s love for the car would justify. And, of course, this having been the only SUV I have ever washed or tried to wash, I had previously not fully appreciated how difficult it would be to access the roof without recourse to steps or an extendable brush, neither of which I had on hand or, given my increasingly bad temper, that I was willing to go and fetch.

Sounds like it should be on the Today I'm moaning about topic 😂

The-Acre · February 20, 2022

4 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

I recently had an UX250h for a few days as a courtesy car. Being prejudiced against SUVs in general, I did not particularly enjoy the experIence (especially when comparing the car, admittedly unfairly, with the 2022 NX350h I was lucky enough to try a few weeks ago and which could well be the only SUV I might be tempted to buy).

Be this as it may, my general lack of fondness for this type of car was unexpectedly augmented when I decided, perhaps against my better judgement but out of normal courtesy, to give the UX a wash before returning it to the dealer, snow and sleet during the week having dirtied the flanks and rear. Of course, one thing led to another so that the sponging and wiping of one area naturally extended to others with the result that I ended up washing the whole car. With no other car I have ever known or examined have I found myself cursing the presence of so great a number and variety of nooks and crannies, many of them reached only with difficulty and all of them capable of attracting and trapping amounts of filth whose removal would require the sort of effort that only an owner’s love for the car would justify. And, of course, this having been the only SUV I have ever washed or tried to wash, I had previously not fully appreciated how difficult it would be to access the roof without recourse to steps or an extendable brush, neither of which I had on hand or, given my increasingly bad temper, that I was willing to go and fetch.

I agree with the washing routine. I've got a Volvo SUV and washing means using a step to clean the roof! Having said that, I would never go back to a standard car, I love the SUV driving position, including the way I can "slide" into the seat!

NemesisUK · February 20, 2022

31 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

And, of course, this having been the only SUV I have ever washed or tried to wash, I had previously not fully appreciated how difficult it would be to access the roof without recourse to steps or an extendable brush, neither of which I had on hand or, given my increasingly bad temper, that I was willing to go and fetch.

Not owned an SUV but did have a people carrier for many years and I used to stand on the tyres to get to the centre of the roof.

I was a lot younger then though..... :wheelchair:

Rabbers · February 20, 2022

38 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Sounds like it should be on the Today I'm moaning about topic 😂

This assumes I moaned yesterday and will tomorrow, which I didn’t and won’t.

The-Acre · February 20, 2022

10 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

This assumes I moaned yesterday and will tomorrow, which I didn’t and won’t.

No it doesn't, not in my thinking, it was just humour surely.

Rabbers · February 20, 2022

10 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

No it doesn't, not in my thinking, it was just humour surely.

Yes it does, in my thinking. And of course it was just humour.

ColinBarber · February 20, 2022

1 hour ago, Rabbers said:

With no other car I have ever known or examined have I found myself cursing the presence of so great a number and variety of nooks and crannies, many of them reached only with difficulty and all of them capable of attracting and trapping amounts of filth whose removal would require the sort of effort that only an owner’s love for the car would justify.

Mainly down to Lexus' current over-styling across the range rather than a generic SUV issue.

Linas.P · February 20, 2022

I would not say SUVs in particular, generally all moderns cars are a bit annoying to wash and to detail, because of all fake vents and little plastic details serving no purpose except of trapping dirt. For example it took me ~16 hours to fully detail IS250, probably 40 hours to detail RC and I reckon I can do good job in just 4-6 hours on old LS400. SUVs obviously have added challenge of reaching over the car and often has extra bit of "rugged" lucking plastics surrounding the wheel arches. I have washed Toyota CH-R, which is basically UX and it was annoying, there is no single "body line" you can follow and it seems almost like race cars with all sorts of stupid vents. Although that said I didn't particularly enjoyed washing RC for the same reason. All in all, I don't think SUVs are particularly more difficult to wash and takes generally same amount of time per square metre of surface.

Phil xxkr · February 20, 2022

2 hours ago, Rabbers said:

This assumes I moaned yesterday and will tomorrow, which I didn’t and won’t.

Steve, raised a new topic some time ago entitled "Today I'll mainly be moaning about ..., its been highly entertaining and generated a ton of amusing comments. For example today I just may well moan about people who didn't moan yesterday and won't tomorrow! 😎.

Caspa · February 20, 2022

I just get someone else to do it, problem solved.

Rabbers · February 21, 2022

8 hours ago, Phil xxkr said:

… For example today I just may well moan about people who didn't moan yesterday and won't tomorrow! 😎.

Tomorrow has now become today and I confirm I’m not moaning. So go ahead and moan.

Linas.P · February 21, 2022

12 hours ago, Caspa said:

I just get someone else to do it, problem solved.

I just can't be satisfied with somebody else washing my car, never found anyone who does acceptable work by my standards.

Rabbers · February 21, 2022

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

I just can't be satisfied with somebody else washing my car, never found anyone who does acceptable work by my standards.

Rabbers · February 21, 2022

I couldn’t agree more. No question I should have taken the UX to a car wash rather than doing it myself, but as regards my RC, I don’t allow anyone else to wash it, not even my Lexus dealer.

Linas.P · February 21, 2022

6 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

I couldn’t agree more. No question I should have taken the UX to a car wash rather than doing it myself, but as regards my RC, I don’t allow anyone else to wash it, not even my Lexus dealer.

Isn't it funny ... that you bring your dirty car to Lexus and somehow they manage to return it even worse after washing (all scratched-up, smeared-up and with hard water spots) 😄

Last time I literally told them not to wash it, but they still forgot about it and did it anyway. Didn't want to make big scene out of it, so just mumbled to myself...