Paint protection. It’s all futile.

[Ihatetochangeoil]

Three choices. The third being the best of the three. There are multiple fluids out there, take your pick.

Passenger Vehicles

There IS a fourth choice, but it's optional on whether it counts. Truly classic and valuable cars are simply not driven in the winter. My garage queen is simply my wife's car, which she can take it out anytime she pleases, but she doesn't like to drive after dark, and she won't go out in bad weather. In the last 2 years it has been driven less than 3K miles. Not sure if it qualifies as a "garage queen" though, it's probably got a 1/4" of dust on it.

 

[JRHAWK9]

There IS a fourth choice, but it's optional on whether it counts. Truly classic and valuable cars are simply not driven in the winter. My garage queen is simply my wife's car, which she can take it out anytime she pleases, but she doesn't like to drive after dark, and she won't go out in bad weather. In the last 2 years it has been driven less than 3K miles. Not sure if it qualifies as a "garage queen" though, it's probably got a 1/4" of dust on it.

Very true, I have 3 cars that sit during winter. I was referring to daily drivers though.

 

[Carmudgeon]

If you are not parking your car in a garage/carport, paint care is futile.

A garage is the best sort of protection there is. Not cheap though.

But it's not futile. We're all gonna die, but that doesn't mean trying to live a decently healthy lifestyle isn't worthwhile. It just reduces the risk of that end coming sooner, and in a more ugly and uncomfortable fashion that one might prefer.

The car care industry shares much in common with the cosmetic industry, even if it's not nearly as large.

 

[PimTac]

I believe it does make a difference. Having a protective coating of anything helps keep the clearcoat viable. The clearcoat is the main protective coat on a car. Another big advantage of keeping cars clean and protected are the plastic trim pieces. Don’t do anything to those and within a few years they will start to show fading. Once that starts it’s not correctable.

Dirt, bird and bug spatter, industrial pollution, and whatever else will deteriorate the clearcoat in a short amount of time

 

[RooflessVW]

I think primary protection is the factory applied clear coat, and that thing’s lifespan can’t be extended significantly by products, imo.

Against the sun? Probably not.

Against everything else? Certainly.

 

[Blueshound]

Against the sun? Probably not.

Against everything else? Certainly.

Can't protect against third parties in parking lots either, unfortunately.

 

[RooflessVW]

Can't protect against third parties in parking lots either, unfortunately.

PPF would like a word.

 

[Blueshound]

PPF would like a word.

Interesting, I was not aware.

 

[tessaseveride]

PPF > Coating > Wax > Nothing

I think you are confusing paint protection and hydrophobic properties. Coatings are leaving a sacrificial layer between the elements and your clear coat. The fact that they are also hydrophobic is just byproduct of protecting the paint. PPF is more protective because it's adding a relatively thick layer of film on top of your vehicle, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be hydrophobic. Coatings definitely help with self-cleaning as well. You end up having to be less aggressive with your washes to get it as clean when the exterior is hydrophobic, especially if you're washing properly and topping off your ceramic coating with an additional sacrificial layer. If you never wash your vehicle, it ends up staying cleaner than if it wasn't coated. Less things stick to your paint and whatever does stick gets washed off next time it rains. The same can't be said about non-coated vehicles. I would never park my vehicles outside like I do now if they weren't coated.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Our Nissan just passed 10 years old and has been waxed, ceramic coated, washed & spray waxed.... more often than any vehicle I've owned. Sort of as an experiment. It's garaged at home but not at work all day. Unfortunately some on the plastic flat surface are showing oxidation, the spoiler is the worst, the top of the bumper is just starting to show some bad spots. Can't polish them out, it's like the paint just degrades over time or something gets absorbed into the plastic.

 

[wemay]

Miami sun:

Wife had a 2013 Santa Fe bought in 2012. Her aunt bought one a week later, same color, lives about 2 miles away and they both park in covered lots at work, outside at home. We sold ours with 240k miles. Her aunt's has approximately 175K miles.

I cared for the paint on my wife's vehicle. Washing once a week and waxing (spay wax "as you dry") once every month or two.
Her aunt's received a wash maybe once a month, and waxing once a year.

It was absolutely plain as day which one received the care. as ours looked and felt almost new. Unfortunately, her aunt's has pealing clearcoat on the roof and hood.

 

[Arc]

It all comes down to the guy who waxes his car all the time will always take better care of it and therefore it looks better than anyone else's. Its not the wax its the not parking under a tree full of birds and also washing it every other day care. I still have an old picture somewhere where I went outside and shoveled three feet of snow off a spot in the driveway so I could pull my car out of the garage and wash it. It had to be done so I could wax it on schedule lol A clean engine will also last longer. Yeah I have issues.

 

[wemay]

It all comes down to the guy who waxes his car all the time will always take better care of it and therefore it looks better than anyone else's. Its not the wax its the not parking under a tree full of birds and also washing it every other day care. I still have an old picture somewhere where I went outside and shoveled three feet of snow off a spot in the driveway so I could pull my car out of the garage and wash it. It had to be done so I could wax it on schedule lol A clean engine will also last longer. Yeah I have issues.

Same frame of mind.

 

[KrisZ]

Keeping the car in the garage and out of the sun is the best paint and interior protection. Everything else is a marketing game. And there are no studies probably because manufacturers know their products don’t protect from UV in any meaningful way. Just like there are no studies of engine wear between oil brands.

An educated customer is not a good customer.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

It all comes down to the guy who waxes his car all the time will always take better care of it and therefore it looks better than anyone else's. Its not the wax its the not parking under a tree full of birds and also washing it every other day care. I still have an old picture somewhere where I went outside and shoveled three feet of snow off a spot in the driveway so I could pull my car out of the garage and wash it. It had to be done so I could wax it on schedule lol A clean engine will also last longer. Yeah I have issues.

@Arc, don't worry having issues.....I think many BITOG viewers do too.

I call it maintaining an expensive asset.

In this world there are at least two different kind of folks....... consumers of assets, and preservers of them......LOL. Oh, there could also be a third kind, but one that is less common......people who preserve and leverage assets to their benefit.

 

[WylieCoyote]

I'm 100% sure that if I did nothing to the Canyon, there would be some pretty serious fade and oxidation, and rubber & plastic degradation happening after 8 years of sitting outside 24/7. I'm getting too old to be waxing it all the time, and have to say that Beadmaker performs as promised. I've only waxed this truck twice, and apply Beadmaker as a drying aide after every wash, along with various trim sealers, and the truck looks like it's close to new. Only the stone pitting on the grille and other chrome up front reveals it's true years of use. It's definitely not futile, but you have to put in the work.

 

[Hossman]

I clay bar and wax twice a year. Well worth it imo. Keeps the clear coat in top shape and makes our cars shine. I am getting up in age so have traded in many vehicles and I know for a fact keeping them nice makes a difference in value.

 

[nicholas]

Back when my car was new, I was all giddy’ so I had ceramic coat put on by a boutique detail shop. Looked and felt good for a few weeks, but then it was like it never had it.

That was not a good ceramic then or the paint was not properly prepped.

Carpro cquartz3.0 lasted almost 2 years on our red Santa Fe.

2 canadian winters and not 1 scratch or spider web.
Which says alot because we brush snow off of it hundreds of times.

 

[chris719]

Keeping the car in the garage and out of the sun is the best paint and interior protection. Everything else is a marketing game. And there are no studies probably because manufacturers know their products don’t protect from UV in any meaningful way. Just like there are no studies of engine wear between oil brands.

An educated customer is not a good customer.

PPF definitely provides significant UV protection though. Totally agree about coatings and sealants. It’s pretty hard to provide good UV blocking with just microns of thickness.

 

[The Critic]

That was not a good ceramic then or the paint was not properly prepped.

Carpro cquartz3.0 lasted almost 2 years on our red Santa Fe.

Problem is, in order to reapply again, you will need to polish. By default, polishing will removal some quantity of clearcoat - so any protection gained from the coating is probably a wash.