Well i never use car washes, you haven't a clue what chemicals they are using or how.

Unless there is a hose pipe ban in place when its pouring rain every day..;) i wash the cars weekly and always wash the wheels with normal car wash detergent, left for longer than a week and you'll probably have to use strong TFM on the wheels as the brake dust will gain a hold, this will inevitable destroy the wheel paint over time.

Keeping alloy wheels well depends on how they are coated, if they are painted well like BMW's the finish will last indefinately so long as you don't kerb them.

If they are diamond cut and clear coat lacquered like MB's and some Fords and others then no matter how well you look after them the lacquer will pit and salt corrosion will set in and creep underneath, there is no way to prevent this happening, and regular refurbs are the order of the day (expensive process and you can only cut in so far) till you get fed up and get them powder coated and baked....like BMW's-;).

The only way with keep lacquered wheels long term is to have a second set of wheels (winter tyres?) fitted whilst salt is on the roads.

Don't envy you a black car, wouldn't have one as a gift, though admittedly they do look the business the day you wash them.

You'll have to wash it weekly if you don't want it to look like an unloved repmobile.

Wash and wax...find the local Autosmart bloke who goes round the garages in a large van selling trade car care chemicals, buy the standard wash and wax from him in 5 litre form, tenner or fifteen quid, can't quite remember, its good stuff....but don't wash your windscreen or wiper blades with it, i keep a separate sponge with some non wax wash for that purpose, no smearing and your wipers last indefinately.

Wax and polish is a whole thread on its own, i only do it once a year with a decent Carnuba wax.

The dealer washes mine at its annual service, they do a good job ;)

But seriously, while I'm fastidious about keeping the interior clean, dirt on the outside of the car really doesn't bother me.

The alloys on my previous Passat and Mondeo IV were rarely washed more frequently than once every 3 months or so, yet always came up spotless with Wonder Wheels. Same with the paintwork: Turtle Wax shampoo did the job.

If I'm going to wash the car, it's usually when the car is already wet from rain, or when it's drizzling -- the muck is then already softened and loosened.

I haven't used polish on a car since I dropped and broke my last bottle of Simoniz Liquid Diamond, that was excellent stuff but not sure it's available these days.

>>i'm paranoid that their sponges mush be full of little stones scratching my car

Your sponge paranoia serves you well especially with a new black car! Wash it yourself with a cotton or lambswool mitt or choose a hand car wash where they power wash off most of the dirt first and then use mitts and regularly rinse them. In the early spring and late autumn polish it for the shine and then wax or glaze seal it, more layers = more protection. I use Jeffs Werkstatt polish and glaze, not particularly cheap but go a long way making them relatively cost effective. A carnuba wax would bring out the shine and give decent protection on new black paint.