When you are buying a car many factors influence your decision. The color is one of the most important among them. It renders a temper to your vehicle – black is hot and serious, silver is stylish and elegant, white cars are sober, red being energetic and impetuous etc.
But just a few years on the road and it is difficult to guess what character this car has had earlier. The white is now shabby grey, the luxurious red has lost all its luster, the black is no more imposing and elegant but dirty and worn away. The nature and environment can damage your vehicle’s exterior with rain, mud, snow, sleet and salt.
But you can turn the clock and set things right – what you need is to know as much as possible about proper care of car’s finish. The article below tells you what affects your car finish, its paint and shine, how to avoid problems and how to return back the lost luster of your loved automobile.
How to avoid the environmental damage:
Do you know that the ultra violet rays that come along with sun greatly diminish the gloss of your car surface? To deal with this factor you have to use protective coatings and sealants.
The following factor is chemical abuse which is the result of air pollutants transformation into sulfuric or nitric acids. Both wet and dry vehicles are subject to these acids which gradually eat up the paint. Frequent washing will help you to cope with this type of damage.
The road salts triggering off the chemical reactions also can accelerate the rusting of the car surfaces. Many out-of-sight areas (for instance, undercarriage) are especially subject to the negative impact of road salts. To deal with this type of damage you should resort to a specialized undercarriage rinse in combination with rust inhibiting agents.
Related: Why Its Good To Keep Your Car’s Engine Clean?
Most people don’t realize that their cars are being damaged right now. UV rays can damage a car’s paintwork but this can take years. More immediate danger is bird droppings, which can damage paint work within a few days as they can contain high levels of acid. Remember acid damages paintwork.
There is nothing better than regular washing:
Keeping your vehicle clean by frequenting a professional car wash every 10 days is one of the best defenses in protecting its finish. One of the most critical times to wash your car is immediately after rain. Even after the lightest rain the acids remain on your car surface. Of course, you can’t prevent acid rain but you do can protect your vehicle from its negative impact by removing acids from the finishes at a good service station.
In some regions mud makes a real problem for cars and their owners. Unfortunately few of drivers realize the importance of cleaning mud from the undercarriage. Undercarriage washing, suggested by most car washes, removes caked-on mud that holds moisture to metal and causes rusting.
Snow, sleet and road salts result in the same damaging effects as acid rains. To prevent this damage it is highly recommended to wash your car during winter. This is especially important in those regions where snowfalls are frequent and heavy.
Related: 5 Benefits Of A Clean Car
You should also observe the following tips for cold weather car washing:
- When wash the car yourself, don’t forget to thoroughly dry the area around the inside of the door and trunk, as well as around the area where a power antenna is mounted to the car. In professional car washes this rule is always strictly observed.
- Immediately after washing the automobile, open and close all doors, the trunk, and other outside parts of the car with locks several times.
- To prevent collecting water on surfaces, apply periodically to good silicone spray.
- Resort to a pressure wash from time to time to clean away the dirt especially from the areas like behind the moldings, inside wheel arches, under the bumpers etc. Remember that after-winter is the best period for pressure wash as it drives out all the salt accumulations that speed up the corrosion process.
Here are some golden rules for careful car treatment:
- While washing the car it is very important to use a good quality car shampoo as it minimizes surface scratching from friction.
- Never wash the car in direct sunlight.
- Don’t wash your vehicle in unenclosed areas.
- Don’t place the car through brush car wash systems.
- When wash the car, never use anything acidic to speed up the cleaning.
Waxing for the vehicle’s perfect appearance:
To protect the vehicle paint and minimize the chemicals negative impact you should wax your car regularly. Besides it will take you only half an hour to wax the whole car. To be sure that waxing will really protect you vehicle, use only high quality car wax.
However you should keep in mind that waxing is good for the show cars. But these cars rarely stay in hot sun for a long time. Besides wax because of its nature, adheres to the car badly and is easily washed off leaving little protection.
Some car wax can also take a top layer of paint off the car – giving it a newer look. Cars have a limited number of layers.
If you follow these basic car care tips, you’ll extend the life of your vehicle’s appearance, and feel great pleasure driving a clean car for many years.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
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