Tips to protect your car paint

While there are many car manufacturers who provide a considerable warranty on the paint of the vehicles they offer, there are certain conditions where the paint of the vehicle loses its sheen over a certain period of time, mostly by unwanted and unknown circumstances.

Following are top key points to keep in mind if you want to maintain the shine of the paint of your car in the same way as you first witnessed it while purchasing from the showroom in a brand new condition.

Wash and clean your car frequently

There are strong chances that the dust and pollens aggregated on the outer body of the car do tend to create scratches if the car is not washed on a periodic basis. So, it is advisable to wash your car at least on a weekly basis, which will not only protect the car from paint deterioration but also make it look fresh every single time.

However, if possible, get your cash washed with a clay bar treatment, which is a more detailed way of cleaning some of the parts which are sometimes not accessible by a washing spray, like brake pads. Clay bar treatment removes fine residues of sand, which makes the non-accessible parts shiny. It is also advisable to apply wax polish post washing process, though not every single time you get your car washed.

Fill the scratches as soon as you detect them

In modern scenarios, the cars are more prone to scratches, owing to heavy congestion on roads and parking slots. While some of the very minute scratches can be removed by rubbing of wax and polishing, there are some deeper scratches – either small or large – which tend to attract rust in case the car is prone to moisture and rain, even at times you get your car washed.

So, get those scratches removed as soon as possible, by touch up processes. Those scratches which are prone in a more clearer way, like those on door panels and bonnet, should be treated with an immediate manner.

Removal of rust as soon as possible

There are times when you witness the formation of rust at places where there are or aren’t any scratches. While this is surely an undesirable and not a deliberate situation, the formation of rust can be reduced to some extent, so that they do not spread to more areas or even deeper.

Get the rusted parts of your vehicle checked by a professional mechanic and get those exposed parts applied with antioxidants, in order to prevent further formation of rust in that particular area.

Safe and secured parking

In many undesirable conditions, majority of paint scrapes and scratches happen while the car is parked in a parking lot, and another vehicle’s body parts like doors and bumpers touch with your parked vehicle, either in motion or in stationary mode.
Sometimes the owner of the car parked next to your vehicle carelessly flies open the doors of his car, thus scraping off paint on contact with the body panels of your vehicle. So, it is advisable to park your vehicle at a safe and secured place with enough space for other vehicles nearby.

Have a keychain with a smooth surface

While many modern vehicles are equipped with the feature of keyless entry with push-button start, which allows easy ingress and egress of the driver with the key in his pocket, the older vehicles come with the conventional locking and unlocking feature on door handles itself.

The owners of such cars tend to keep keychains, sometimes made up of metals with hard surfaces, which tend to scrape with the body paint when they are made in contact with the door handles. If such is the case, have a keychain with a smooth rubbery surface.

Get mud flaps attached behind the wheels

In many modern and premium vehicles, car manufacturers equip their car with mud flaps at the time of production itself. However, in case your vehicle is not fitted with mud flaps on all the four wheels, it is advisable to get it done right now, especially if you are residing in a wetter region where rains happen frequently.

The mud flaps prevent the splashes of mud on the underbody, door and rear bumper panels, and the constant accumulation of mud tends to fade the paint of that particular part.

Carefully remove the snow in case of snowfall

In colder and hilly areas where the condition of snow fall is constant and prolonged, there are possibilities that the snow gets accumulated in inaccessible areas and over body panels, which ultimately condenses down to water, the prolonged presence of which can form rusts.

In addition to it, there are times when snowflakes are thick and sharp, which can damage the paint of the body panels of your vehicle if tried to be removed vigorously. Therefore, it is recommended to use foam brushes or sponges while removal of snow by pulling it towards you in straight lines and not circles.

Use body covers

There are times when you don’t use your vehicle for a particular continuous duration of few days, and in that particular condition, the car gets severely accumulated with thick dust, sharp and direct sunlight, bird droppings and rain drops, the prolonged existence of which can make your vehicle’s paint lose its natural shine. So, in such a condition, try to cover your car with a manufacturer recommended body cover available in its list of authorised accessories.

Get your car protected with a premium protective coating

While this is not a must-to-do procedure, getting your car’s exterior body treated with premium protective coating processes helps a lot in retaining the original shine of your vehicle’s original paint.

There are many car manufacturers and aftermarket accessory dealers which have premium layer coating jobs done at their respective authorised workshops, where one can get his car treated with an additional premium, with which he can maintain the car’s paint equivalent to that of an all-new car in showroom condition.

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