If you wait until chips and dings on your car turn into rust before you take care of it, prepare yourself for bigger problem and heftier car repair costs. Here are five tips that will save you from an awful looking car and unnecessary expenses.
1. Use A Clay Bar
Washing your car with water and car specific cleaning agent is a great way to prevent any dirt from causing damage on the paint. However, even after washing, some contaminants still cling to the paint. To totally get rid of them, using a clay bar is the way to go. Using this product is very easy but time consuming. First, use a good quality auto detailing shampoo to wash the paint and get rid of dirt and grime as much as possible. After that, you can use the clay. Many clay bars in the market come with a lubricant but if it does not, there are products that you can purchase separately. It is extremely important to lubricate the surface first to enable the clay to glide easily across the surface. You’ll know it’s working because the clay gets dirtier as you go because of all the contaminants it’s grabbing.
2. Polish The Paint
Polishing is one of the most misunderstood paint care procedures and as a result many individuals skip this important step. Polish is an abrasive compound, which, when worked into the paint using the hand or a polisher, shaves off imperfections of the paint. It levels out the surface and makes it smooth, thereby preparing it for the next step of applying wax or paint sealant. If you wax without polishing the surface first, not only will the paint look dull, but you will also notice that the wax layer will wear off quicker than usual. So ultimately it is a huge waste of your time and resources. Because polish is abrasive as mentioned above, it is important to master polishing techniques especially if you are using a rotary buffer, or you risk burning right through the paint.
3. Waxing And Applying Paint Sealant
Most people love shiny cars because it makes the car look expensive and sleek. To achieve this look, they often opt to wax their car because we all know wax can help give that sparkling effect. However, the problem with this is that it is temporary and easily melts especially when constantly exposed in the sun. A much better option will be paint protection because it can provide the same luster for your car but is more durable compared to wax so it last longer.
4. Use Non-Abrasive Car Wash Methods
People don’t just seek car servicing in Singapore due to engine problems, more often than not it’s due to exterior damage from different kinds of dirt like grease, grime, and bird poop. When left unattended for extended period of time, they can cause serious paint damage on your car. Avoid the stress and unnecessary expenses by keeping your vehicle clean.
5. Prevent Sun Damage
Summer time is a fun season to drive to the beach, go on a road trip, or simply go anywhere because the weather is nice. But while you may not have to worry about slippery roads driving which can be dangerous, it’s the heat of your car that you should be worried about. This is why aside from preparing thick towels to place on the seats, and windshield cover, it’s also important to try to park your car in the shade as much as possible and invest in paint protection especially in such a sunny country like Singapore. Unless you’re fine with your car paint blistering and peeling as well as premature fading and cracking of your car interior.
Car repairs don’t come cheap. Actually they can really be hefty especially if it’s been awhile since your last maintenance and its condition is quite bad already. Take car re-painting for instance, when your paint gets damaged, you can’t just fix the damaged part, you have to repaint the entire car. If you don’t like to spend a huge amount of money trying to fix your car’s paint, better pay attention to this. They may seem nothing but could lead to serious damage in your vehicle if not taken care of.
