You car is a complicated piece of machinery. For your safety on the road, all of its different systems and subsystems must run right. However, don’t fool yourself into thinking that your car is nothing more than a utilitarian tool: it’s also a work of art, and how it looks on the road matters more than you might think. A good-looking car can make a big difference in your life, and some skin-deep factors remain vital to the health and value of your vehicle. That’s why it’s a good idea to take simple steps to protect and improve your car’s looks.
More than Skin-Deep
Yeah, it’s nice to have a sweet-looking ride — but does it matter?
You bet it does. A car’s appearance matters to everyone you meet, from the people you date to the client or boss that you deal with at work. It sure as heck matters to the people that you may sell your car to. Cosmetic virtues can boost a vehicle’s sale price. Deeper reasons to care also exist. A well-kept car will keep looking great, while a neglected one can suffer from issues that become so deep-seated that they become permanent. An unkempt car exterior or interior can expose a vehicle to structural and functional issues that go well beyond concerns about on-the-road eye candy: unrepaired scratches and dents, for instance, can lead to rust damage that affects the reliability and value of your vehicle. Don’t let that happen to you! Stay on top of your car’s cosmetic needs by investing in these simple improvements.
Remove Overspray
If your car has little bubbles of waves of hard material on its clearcoat, you’re looking at overspray. “Overspray” is defined, on a broad scale, as any material on a vehicle’s clear coat that is tough to remove with normal methods, but it most often takes the form of paint or clear coat itself that is — you guessed it — “oversprayed:” applied in excess or sprayed somewhere that it should not have been. Paint overspray looks awful, so you’ll want to get rid of it to keep your car looking its best.
However, overspray removal is a quick and simple job. Or, at least, it is if you let the experts handle it. That’s what you should do, of course, so pick up the phone and get some pros on your side if you see overspray on your vehicle.
Get Your Car Detailed
The car wash is nice, and it’s an essential bit of maintenance that all car owners should be taking care of on a regular basis. However, if you want your car to shine like it did on the dealer’s lot or showroom floor, you’ll have to go with something bigger and badder: detailing.
Auto detailing is a deep and precise cleaning process that gets into every crack and cleans every area of your car. In the hands of the right experts, you car could look brand-new again. Since detailing work can help your car better maintain its value, you’ll know that it’s not simple vanity that keeps you coming back for detailing work — though, of course, it doesn’t hurt that the car looks so sharp!
Home, Sweet Home
Where do you store your car? With luck, you keep it in the right type of place, like a garage that is weatherproofed well. Depending on where you are in the country, keeping your car outside for long periods of time is often very, very bad news.
Sure, most of us drive our cars all over. That’s what they’re for! However, if you designate a clean, dry garage as your car’s home on your property, you’ll go a long way toward ensuring that it keeps its factory shine.
Remain conscious of this issue on the go, too. If you can choose a sheltered parking garage over an exposed lot, or if you can take a cab to the airport and spare your car time away from its garage home, do so. Your car will thank you!
