Person Buffing the Exterior of a Car

7 Useful Car Paint Protection Tips to Keep Your Car Shining

A new paint job for your vehicle can cost anywhere between $500 and $5,000, depending on what quality of job you want. 

If you want to avoid having to pay for a new paint job all the time, the cheapest way is to make sure that you protect the paint on your car.

However, if you’ve recently painted your car, you’ll want to keep it shiny for as long as possible. These car paint protection tips make it easy.

1. Wax Your Car

One easy thing you can do to preserve the paint is to make sure that you wax your car. 

Making sure you wax your car on a regular basis can help prevent the paint from unnecessary damage. the wax will create a barrier between outside forces and the paint job.

It will also help prevent it from harmful sun rays during the summer. Even in the winter, it can help shield it from salt and snow. 

To make sure you get all the benefits from waxing, make sure that you try and do it every three months. It’s a pretty easy task to do by yourself, or you can hire a professional to do it. 

If you do get your car waxed professional, know that there is a difference from waxing it by hand and waxing it with an automated car wash. 

A hand wax job is more successful and worthwhile to help protect your car in the long run. The wax that you get in a car wash isn’t as thorough so it only provides short term value. 

2. Wash Your Car Regularly

In addition to waxing it, just washing your car regularly can help.

You might think that you already do this, but you may not realize how helpful it can really be to your paint job. 

When you wash your car, you need to make sure you don’t use soap or detergents that will damage the paint of your car. You should buy a high-quality paint that doesn’t have cleaner chemicals that will ruin the paint. 

However, when you do wash your car, the impact that the sun’s rays will have on it gets reduced, making the damage less.

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3. Use a Paint Seal/Sealant

In addition to those tips, you can also try using a paint seal or a sealant. 

You will probably have to apply it about once or twice a year to really help preserve the paint. However, it adds a protective shield around it to make sure it doesn’t chip or fade away. 

You’ll add one tablespoon of a bonding agent with the sealant and mix it together. The ratio may vary depending on how big your vehicle is, but you should make sure you have a 4:1 ratio. 

Once you’ve mixed the solution, make sure that you apply it in circular motions doing one section at a time. It’s pretty easy to use, and you can apply it like you would if you were waxing your car. 

If you’ve applied it properly, it will even make your paint look better and provide a glassy or glossy look to it.  

4. Touch Up the Paint

To help keep the paint in good shape, you should also make sure that you touch up the paint every now and then.

Even if there is a scratch visible on your car, you can just patch that up instead of repainting the entire car. Fixing that scratch may also help stop the problem from spreading. 

The best way to do this will vary depending on the specific problem with the paint. However, you should always make sure any paint job is done by a trained specialist. 

Don’t buy a new car right away just because of a small paint job. However, you should make sure that you know the correct color code for your car. 

Paint colors can be easily identified by an expert if you take your car in, but you should make sure that you have someone look at it rather than trying to figure it out on your own. 

5. Get a Car Cover

One way to protect your paint is to park under a shelter, like this product. However, if you don’t have anything to park under, you may want to invest in a car cover.

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Getting a car cover can also be a really simple and easy way to protect your paint job. If you have a good quality cover, you can wrap your car up in it and reduce the number of rays from the sun that hit your car.

When you are going to park, just throw on your cover and this will save your paint job and the engine at the same time. 

When you’re looking for a car cover, you should make sure that you never cover the car when it’s wet. Try not to keep the cover under the sun when it’s not on your car. 

Don’t keep the cover on it for a week or it will just damage your car in the long run. 

6. Use Reflecting Sun Panels

You can also try using reflecting sun panels to keep the paint from peeling off.

These solar panels may seem like hard work, and those panels will even reduce the temperature inside your car after a long day. 

These panels reduce the bleaching effect from the sun. It will ruin the interior of your car and the outside of your paint job. However, these panels will reflect the rays away from your paint. 

7. Quickly Remove Bird Droppings

You should also make sure that you remove bird droppings as soon as you notice them. They’re also easier to remove if they’re fresh. 

The bird droppings contain a substance that is high in acid. That means that it will damage the paint on your car, even if it’s a clear-coat finish. 

Learn More About Car Paint Protection

These are only a few tips to help with car paint protection; there are many more.

The bottom line is to make sure that you wash and wax it regularly to keep the paint looking fresh.

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