Car and playa dust

[zonka]

I have an 8 years old SUV which was kept very well - metallic paint, leather seats, looks almost like new.

- Should I worry about the playa dust harming it? (... that is a permanent damage, anything that a thorough car wash and vacumming will not repair).
- To what extent will covering the engine area with a tarp help?

Anyone with experience please do chime in!!

[Jackass]

Don't cover anything, just let it be. Get it detailed after you get home, tarps will slowly sand your vehicle down to the metal. So will a rubbing guy line, don't let anything rub against it. You'll be fine.

[weather man]

I have an 8 years old SUV which was kept very well - metallic paint, leather seats, looks almost like new.
....
Anyone with experience please do chime in!!

I took a 6 month old Chevy truck out last month. The dust KILLED the exterior black plastic trim. It is now "playa black" or black-ish. I don't remember my Toyota showing it as much. I've put dressing on it, but I think it's more of a cover than a cure.
Other than that, dust gets everywhere. If you look hard enough, you'll always be able to find evidence of being on the playa. Everyone says to keep windows shut, but several hour long waits at entrance and exodus make this difficult.
Eight years and almost like new? Treat yourself- don't worry about it!

[Canoe]

Don't cover anything, just let it be. Get it detailed after you get home, tarps will slowly sand your vehicle down to the metal. So will a rubbing guy line, don't let anything rub against it. You'll be fine.

Same.
Only wax the car before going. Makes cleanup easier. Some people using the RV wheel covers to protect the tire rubber from UV & heat. Watch that it can't rub the van in the wind.

And for the interior.
Protect the dash from sun/heat. Protect the whole interior with interior window covers, like foil-sided bubble-wrap or other reflective material on the inside. Hold it in place with gaffer's tape or painter's tape (NOT the delicate surface stuff - won't hold squat). The cheap dollar store shades are better than nothing.
Cover any textured plastic floor with something (mat-tack?) to keep playa dust off to make cleanup easier. If you've got the "pitted" texture, this is a must!!!
Have a new air filter handy for when you get off the playa (back in Fernley or Reno is fine). Consider doing the same for the oil & oil filter when you get home, or before that if you're driving to the other side of the country.

[Token]

You SUV will never be the same. The dust will get in there no matter what you try to do.

The good news is that in all likelihood, once you have been there a week, you wont really care.

[BBadger]

Maybe invest in a shop vac and air compressor to blow out and then suck away that dust. That'll only be for cosmetic reasons though.

I've tried hosing off my tent multiple times and there is still always a film. That dust is special, like a living creature that doesn't want to leave. Nothing less than soaking it in acidic solution would do, and I don't think you want to do that with your car.

[Ugly Dougly]

Yes, nobody has EVER asked that question here.

[Bob]

Apropos of nothing, it's ironic that the evaporite mineral trona, mined at some of the dry lakes in the Mojave Desert, is the source of chemicals used in many cleaning agents.

[Homiesinheaven]

- To what extent will covering the engine area with a tarp help?

hee hee, zero. all it takes is driving in and driving out to get the engine extra dusty. you cant escape the dust and you'll just be stressing out.

[Rice]

My Escape was new when I drove it to the playa 4 years ago. It just stopped bleeding playa dust out of the trim this last winter.

No matter what you do, playa dust will get in and on everything. Either accept or get a different ride...

[Ugly Dougly]

It's just possible to over-engineer this. Let's go for it!
Two layers of tarp on top. The top (loose) one serves to keep the wind from buffeting the lower (tight) tarp around too much. Then a third, inner layer, maybe a blanket to keep the lower tarp from abrading the vehicle.

[Bob]

You are as doomed as you think you are.

Friend of mine w/ DPW would drive her vintage Mercedes onto the biggest blue tarp she could find, throw a cloth car cover over it, then tightly wrap the blue tarp over it with a hundred feet of cord. Caveat -- DPW has the luxury of arriving before before you people tear the shit out of the playa, camping inside an established windbreak, and leaving after the fences are down.

[Ugly Dougly]

Fuck you, it's the Miracle of Modern Chemistry to the RESCUE!

http://3mauto.com/paint-defender-spray-film.html

- Invisible, seamless car paint protection applied as a spray-on liquid and dries to a continuous clear film
- Completely removable and safe for clear coat
- Protects any painted surface such as hoods, bumpers, fenders, mirrors, rocker panels, and more
- Guards your car’s paint against rocks, bugs, sand, scratches, dings, road debris and more to keep your vehicle looking newer, longer
- Includes one can of 3M™Paint Defender Spray Film 17.5 ounces, one 1-ounce packet of Wax and complete, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for application in approximately 30 minutes

Okay, here we go:

phpBB [video]

I guess your car finish is going to be all right after all.

[mgb327]

My first year, taking my pristine Midnight Blue Suburban was nerve-wracking while in entry. "All this dust, can't let any get inside! Barely crack the window for communicating with someone outside.....can't let this messy dust inside....look at my paint!"....that attitude lasted about 1/2 hour. Then it was, "whatever". Embrace the dust, let it go.......now, when I find some hidden somewhere on my precious Sub., I am so happy. It is and always will be a Playafied vehicle, no down-side to that at all in my world.

[Chowski]

I don't think it's as bad as some would have it seem.

I took my 6-month-old Honda Fit out to the Playa last year and did some basic things. After I parked, I covered all the seats and dashboard with cloths, closed all the windows, unpacked everything into my tents, and made sure to only open the car once or twice a day and only when there was NO WIND! I even accepted that I couldn't roll down the windows during entrance/exodus, bought an ashtray so I could smoke with the windows up, cranked the AC turned to recycle (not fresh air), and dealt with the clean-up later.

As soon as I got off the playa, I replaced the air filter, and when I got home I had it detailed really well ($150.00) including the engine.

For maybe six months after, playa mud would seep out of the crevaces whenever I washed it (this does not happen anymore), and there is (sometimes) a very faint playa smell when I turn on the AC, but other than that, you would never know it's been out there.

Just keep it closed up and it will be mostly fine.

[TT120]

My truck just recently quit seeping Playa mud from the cracks when I wash it and it still smells like Playa when I turn on the air conditioner but I kinda like that smell now. Always makes me smile.

[Captain Goddammit]

It is and always will be a Playafied vehicle, no down-side to that at all in my world.

Well I don't agree! My formerly pristine GMC crewcab dually is now rusty underneath and under the hood after using it for the Bman trip twice. I have an older one that I fucking knew I should have used... even if I had to swap the motor and trans from the nicer one into it just for the trip!

[Ugly Dougly]

....that attitude lasted about 1/2 hour.

You got a LOL out of me there!

[^Rhino!]

Apropos of nothing, it's ironic that the evaporite mineral trona, mined at some of the dry lakes in the Mojave Desert, is the source of chemicals used in many cleaning agents.

Even more ironic it's also mined in Wyoming from a larger deposit.

[bm_cricket]

I'm thinking of buying a car right now that I will drive to Burning Man (and the other 51 weeks out of the year). Has anybody taken a Toyota Yaris to the playa? Specifically a newer one like the 2012 model? It's great to hear that a Honda Fit can survive the trip. What model of Honda Fit?

FYI, I've taken my old 1994 Miata out there TWICE! It survived the trip just fine but it's also older and simpler. Personally, that's the easiest answer. Bring an OLD car with simple electronics and good air filters.

[BBadger]

I'd wager that any running car will survive the playa. It's more that you need to accept that you're not going to get all the dust out of your car. Even then, if you cover the vents with some plastic or something and don't enter your car much during the trip you shouldn't expect to see much dust or other crap in there.

[C187]

I'm thinking of buying a car right now that I will drive to Burning Man (and the other 51 weeks out of the year). Has anybody taken a Toyota Yaris to the playa? Specifically a newer one like the 2012 model? It's great to hear that a Honda Fit can survive the trip. What model of Honda Fit?

FYI, I've taken my old 1994 Miata out there TWICE! It survived the trip just fine but it's also older and simpler. Personally, that's the easiest answer. Bring an OLD car with simple electronics and good air filters.

I've seen them, but haven't known anyone that actually owned one, so I can't speak on the subject past that I've seen them in the city. But consider this, my 1997 Honda CR-V not just survived Burning Man multiple times, but it also survived the cross country road trip to get to BRC multiple times. That car had kissed a doe with one headlight, it's had all manner of doors and shopping carts dent it, heck it even had that peeling hood thing going on because the QC guy was sleeping that shift. But it got me to the desert, and then some. It would get a new air filter after leaving black rock and a washing at 80mph across the great plains. The point I'm trying to make here is no matter what type of car you get it'll be fine.. fine up until the point a tree falls on it. Where you will discover lost playa of the years that was kicked up from the impact settled in areas you've swept the fuck out in the past. Because after all, once you take a car to the playa, the playa will be with your car forever from that point on. But at least in my case, a crane, and then a little joy ride in the now airier CR-V gets rid of some of the dust.

Edit since we're still on page one..
Something I don't see done as often as it should be, especially with a newer car is blocking out Sun light hitting the interior. Depending on the manufactures choice of materials this might not be that big of a deal for you. But a Sun screen in all the windows will do wonders for keeping your darks, dark, and preventing that grey cracking look. Also to reduce the amount of dust inside simply don't enter and exit the car that much. Pack everything up in groups that you can easily move so your loading and unloading times are reduced.

[geospyder]

My vehicle is a Jeep so the intake for the cabin air are the louvers on the hood. I tape a cut to fit piece of furnace filter over the louvers and tape close all the other "open" areas where air can enter. This at least prevents the vast majority of dust from entering my air vents. I also put up a sun screen on the windshield. But in the end you will get dust - that's a fact. But as others have said - do not cover your vehicle - it will get "sanded".

[bm_cricket]

I drove in top-down with my miata a few years ago. It wasn't the worst thing I have ever done. I wouldn't do it again.

[BeeWeeDee]

I took my 2010 Honda Insight last year and did fine. I took the back seats out to haul more stuff and that was a good decision and today 200+ days after the burn I still think I need to put the seats back in at some point.

I did buy a new air filter pre-burn and put it in when I got to Winnemucca post-burn.

I live at the end of a dirt road in WY and dust is pretty much a fact of life so I don't worry about the playa dust.

[unjonharley]

You have to understand... Dust is the playas main export..