Practical Tips For Avoiding Scratches On Your New Paint Job
Posted on: 19 August 2015
So you just had your paint restored at an auto body repair shop. It looks good, real good, maybe even better than it was originally. The last thing you want to happen is for some random event to leave a scratch. Unfortunately, scratches are very hard to avoid depending on where you live and how you drive.
Common Sources of Car Paint Scratches
Scratches can occur randomly for any number of reasons. However, you can scratch your car's paint as well. Sometimes this can even happen while you're attempting to take care of your vehicle. Consider where scratches come from:
- Temperature fluctuations
- Hard debris
- Moisture
- Inappropriate cleaners
- Inappropriate cleaning methods
- Toxic liquids (like gas)
- Abrasive car covers
- Bird droppings
And that's not even the half of what can scratch the paint's surface. In fact, it may seem like a hopeless situation if you think about it too much. Your best bet is to do what you can to avoid scratches to begin with.
Avoiding Car Paint Scratches
There are many ways to avoid having your paint randomly scratched. A lot of these things are just habits that you can start practicing until they become second nature to you.
Isolate your vehicle – Always give your vehicle as much room as you can in a parking lot. You don't want to scrape against anything or hit anything with the door. Equally, you don't want anyone else to scrape your car or hit it with their door.
Park in the shade, but avoid trees – Finding a shady place to park will protect your paint job from harsh sunrays. If there's an awning or a tall building, then go for it.
Unfortunately, you'll probably see way more trees to park under than anything else. You have to avoid trees though, because birds hang out in trees. Fruit or nut bearing trees can also do a lot of damage to your paint job.
Keep your car out of crowded areas – If you park your car where there's a lot of people, it's kind of like asking for trouble. If there's a lot of foot traffic, or loitering, or kids, then it's almost a guarantee that a scratch will appear. If you must park in high traffic areas, try to make your stay brief.
Avoid bad roads – It's not always possible, but try to avoid bad or bumpy roads when possible. All that debris that your car kicks up will inevitably lead to scratches.
Also, your own driving habits can do this as well. Always try to maintain an appropriate speed. If you're tearing through the streets, you're sending a whole lot of hard debris flying around.
Treat Your Paint Like Sensitive Skin
The main point is that you should show care with your paint job. Fret over it. Pretend it's sensitive skin and you don't want nothing out there in the abrasive world to rub it the wrong way.
No matter what you do, a scratch will likely appear sooner or later. If it happens, there are many products out there to help you conceal or get rid of it.
If it's a deep scratch, you should not attempt to deal with it yourself. Take it back to the auto body repair shop. They will know how best to deal with it. You may even have a warranty on your paint job so you won't have to pay out of pocket.
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