Three Ways to Keep Your Car's Body in Excellent Condition
There are several things which you should do if you wish to keep the body of your car in excellent condition. Read on to find out what these things are.
Wax it regularly
Waxing your car on a regular basis doesn't just give it a beautiful shine and help to prevent fingerprint marks; it can also protect it from damage.
Car wax is made up of a combination of beeswax, carnauba wax and oils, which form a protective seal over a vehicle's body panels. This seal prevents stones and other debris from scratching and chipping its surface.
One waxing can protect your car from damage for about three months. As such, you should try to have your vehicle waxed at least four times per year.
Repair paintwork damage promptly
The paint on a vehicle's body panels can be damaged by a wide range of things, including 'keying' (that is, a type of vandalism which involves using a key to scratch a car panel) and minor collisions. The tiny stones and shards of glass that are often found on road surfaces can also do damage, as they can sometimes become airborne and strike the side of a car as it drives over them.
In addition to being unsightly, scratches and chips on the paintwork can expose the metal underneath the paintwork and thus increase the chances of rust developing if the car is then driven in the rain. Once it sets in, rust can be extremely tricky to remove; in most cases, panels which have rusted need to be replaced.
Given this, if you want to keep your vehicle's body in good condition, it is essential to repair any scratches or chips promptly, before they cause serious damage.
This repair process involves several steps, including sanding, priming and spray painting.
Whilst there are plenty of DIY scratch repair and car spray painting kits available online, these will not deliver the same kind of results that an auto body repair specialist can. Car spray painting can be particularly tricky, and as such, it is not something you should attempt unless you have a lot of experience with this activity.
A professional repair specialist will have the skills and the tools to ensure that the damage done to your car is completely undetectable at the end of the repair process.
Remove droppings and dead insects quickly
Insects that fly into your car and end up squished on its body panels can damage its paintwork, as can bird droppings. This is because both bird droppings and insects contain several types of natural acids which can eat away at the protective wax and damage the paintwork. As such, it's crucial to wash your car regularly and to hose off any droppings or insects which land on its body panels as soon as you notice them.