Any vehicle is a big investment for most people. It is also a depreciating asset to say the least. Most average americans buy a car and they want it to last. The average lifespan of a car is 8 years or 150,000 miles. The average car on the road is pushing 9 years old. 1 in 4 cars you pass on average is older than 11 years, and some really look like it! Some people's cars might be well maintained at 200,000 miles and still running good, but cosmetically not the greatest. It's important to take care of your vehicle mechanically obviously, but also physically. Now let me tell you why. It's funny I know so many people who have had mechanically sound vehicles but they were trashed inside and out. So many of those people dumped those vehicles for that fact alone thinking there was no way possible to get it back from that state. There's also so many people I know that didn't take care of their paint or interior and now it is too late. It is extremely important to clean and protect interior surfaces and exterior surfaces. It will keep your car looking brand new even after 10 years and 200,000 miles. So where do we begin. Your car's paint is porous just like the pores on your skin. The paint on your car takes a lot of beating over its life. Rock chips, bugs, road grime, dust, pollen, air pollutants, road salt, bird crap, anything you can think of I've seen it. I used to work for a body shop. It's hard to believe some of things I've seen! Like I was saying, overtime all of this stuff builds up deep in your paint and clear coat. Routine washes just isn't enough to keep the paint looking healthy. You may not even see any of this grime because it's embedded deep in the paint. You can tell if your paint is dirty even right after you wash it just by running your hand over the paint. It will feel rough and bumpy. It most likely will look dull or not as shiny as it used to. If you run your hand over a polished and waxed vehicle it will be smooth and shiny and have an almost mirror like finish. Overtime road grime, the sun and even automatic car washes will destroy your paint. If the paint is protected with a wax or a ceramic coating it creates a barrier that keeps UV ray out that fades paint, repels water, and keeps road grime out of your paint. In turn your paint will last longer and keep its original gloss for a long time. Protecting your paint will also keep salt from eating into your paint if you're located in the north where snow is prominent. Most people buy a car and they wash it but they don't properly protect the paint. So many people contact me telling me their paint is faded and they ask if it's fixable. Or they contact me asking for a detail and they come pick up the car after and they're shocked by how I was able to restore their paint. So what can you do to prevent the death of your paint and how do you keep your car looking showroom? You have a few options depending on your situation. So if you buy a brand new car the first thing you want to do is get a coat of wax on there. That is something you can do yourself at home. I wouldn't recommend using a cheap wax like turtle wax. Yeah it works but it's not going to give you long lasting protection like some other higher end waxes will. With an asset as expensive as a car it's worth the extra money to buy good products. Some of the best wax I've used and usually my go-to waxes are: Butter Wet Wax by Chemical guys. They make fantastic car detailing products whether you're just using it on your own car, or using it for your detail business. My next favorite car wax is Meguiar's G200416 Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax. It provides an amazing shine! It works really well on black cars as well to help fill in small scratches and swirls. Will link products on my website if you want to check them out for yourself! These waxes will protect your paint for long periods of time, keep your new car looking great, and keep your paint looking new for years to come. I recommend adding one of these waxes to your car every 3 months. I know they say that they last longer than that but in my experience and opinion I recommend every 3 months. Now let's say you bought a used car and it's a few years old and the paint is okay but not where you'd like it to be. To protect it surely you can put some wax on there. But to properly bring that shine back and fully protect the paint you should elect a full paint correction. What that entails is something you want an experienced detailer to properly perform a paint correction. A paint correction entails removal of paint contaminants, a full wash with special detergents to remove any existing wax and grease that may be on the paint, then a full buff with a polish or compounding agent, maybe some light wet sanding to remove any deeper scratches or oxidation, and finally a nice coat of wax. After those steps are performed you wouldn't believe how good your cars paint job will look! This is something that is a little costly to have done but will make your paint look showroom and protect it for the future! So if you're wondering what you can do to keep your vehicle looking fresh follow these tips. Next blog I will go into detail about car interiors and how to maintain them and to keep them from falling apart. Stay tuned for part 2!
-YUCK! Auto Detailing
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