Learning All About Auto Body Restoration

Preserving Your Car's Perfect Paint Job

23 July 2015

Cody Wade

The color of your vehicle says a lot about you. When you drive down the road, you often want to be noticed--unless a it's a cop doing the noticing. To keep your paint job look fresh, you'll need to adopt a few practices to protect your car. From choosing your top coat to where to park your vehicle, these can all affect how long your paint job lasts.

Apply a Top Coat

The paint color is not only designed to make the vehicle look good, it also helps protect the vehicle.  About 95% of vehicles are produced with both a base color and a clear coat finish. The top coat keeps the bottom coat from chipping and fading so your vehicle keeps its look longer. The top coat of your vehicle can also help when you have shallow defects on the car. These can be repaired easily without messing up the base coat of the vehicle. 

Shade Your Vehicle

Parking your vehicle in the garage can help prolong the life of your paint job. Since not all vehicle owner's have a garage, you can also park your car under a tree or in the shade. Car covers are also designed to help protect your vehicle from exposure to the sun. UV rays from the sun can quickly damage the paint job of your car with constant exposure. The top coat helps protect this from happening. The longer your vehicle continues to sit directly in the sun, the quicker your paint job will start to fade. 

Wash Your Vehicle

Bird droppings, acid rain, and other pollutants can quickly damage the top layer of paint on your vehicle. The best way to prevent damage to the coating is by washing it routinely. This helps reduce the chances of the clear coat from fading and your base coat becoming exposed to more pollutants. Should you decide to polish your vehicle, you want to make sure there are no abrasives contained in the polish. This can take pieces of the surface off each time you polish it, making the bottom layer more vulnerable to pollutants and ultra violet rays. 

Wax Your Vehicle

Instead of choosing to polish your vehicle, waxing can be more advantageous and safer on the paint job. A good wax job will add an additional layer of protection to the vehicle so that the paint job keeps its shine much longer. Just be careful not to over wax or it could affect the look of your vehicle. 

For more information, talk to a professional auto body shop, like Blue Ribbon Auto Body.

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