Debunking the myths
What are the do’s and don’ts when it comes to maintaining your car’s paintwork? Read on.
IN this article, we examine some of the popular myths concerning what you should or should not do to the paintwork of your brand new car.
Myth 1. A brand new car shouldn’t be detailed as the paint is still fresh.
Perhaps one of the biggest myths is that a brand new car shouldn’t be detailed. Mixed opinions will be thrown in that the car has fresh paint and polishing it will degrade the paint prematurely.
Fact: Any brand new vehicle goes through a lengthy process from the assembly plant to a client’s doorstep.
In between that, a vehicle gets shipped, awaits clearance at customs or port holding, moves into storage for processing and allocation, goes into the pre-delivery center for quality-control checks and adaptation before being transported to the dealerships involved.
Any fresh paint would have cured sufficiently by then.
And while new vehicles come shipped with protective stickers that partially cover certain panels, it has to be removed at the pre-delivery centre and decontaminated.
A quick polish and wax is usually already performed to have the car presentable.
These services are volume-based so a finish would largely depend on the skill level of the polishing crew involved.
When the car has passed the necessary checks and gets delivered to the dealership, another round of polishing is carried out. From our experience, these new cars require some measure of corrective detailing.
Myth 2. I should wait until the paintwork or leather worsens before detailing it.
Fact: Corrective work almost always affects (to a certain degree) the integrity of the original material.
As the adage goes, prevention is always better than cure.
Take the necessary steps to protect your new car’s finish so that you can enjoy an effortless maintenance and superior aesthetic quality.
A brand new vehicle usually requires a lighter detailing programme compared to one that has been on the road for a while.
An exterior detailing programme for new cars would cover removal of fine scratches, swirls and holograms.
These imperfections in detailing-speak are affectionately known as DISO or “dealerinstalled swirl option”.
Removal of paint texturing or otherwise known as orange peel isn’t usually in the scope of work for this level of paint correction.
After a proper light detailing programme is carried out on a brand-new car, it should be imbued with a much higher level of shine, deeper reflections and should be swirl-free.
An interior programme for a brand-new car would entail a light cleaning module coupled with UV protection for the plastics and trim, including a quick leather feed programme to maintain the hide’s suppleness.
Inversely, if a new car is left to the elements and neglected, watermarks and acidrain etchings can degrade the paint, causing it to weaken and the surface becomes oxidised.
Tar and road contaminants could bond with the paintwork and in certain cases cause discolouration.
Correcting this would require heavy abrasive detailing, thus affecting the clear-coat of the paint.
In the case of the vehicle’s cabin, upholstery and trim would melt, discolour and harden in our climate. Myth 3. I’ve heard of coating systems that can protect my car for many years.
Fact:
We have a pretty harsh climate and humidity which requires regular washes and a paintwork protection system that can resist weather elements.
There have been in the last few years a deluge of so-called “coating” systems that have been advertised to be miracle products that can somehow prevent stone-chips and even last indefinitely.
These coating systems are generally accepted to be chemically superior to waxes and synthetic sealants but to be quite frank are still subject to the laws of physics.
And while the American and Japanese coating systems allow for some fairly durable performance in their respective climate conditions, the weather isn’t as punishing to their paintwork as Malaysian climate.
The key elements that will identify a quality coating are:
a) It will perform optimally for a year by providing robust protection to paintwork.
b) A weekly quality wash routine and application of a quick detailer spray should be sufficient for hassle-free maintenance.
c) Annually, the vehicle would require some minor paintwork correction followed by a re-application of the coating system.
d) If it requires constant paid maintenance, then it is very likely to be a sub-quality coating system.
The paintwork on your car is much thicker than any coating that can be chemically applied onto the surface, so it is therefore physically impossible for any “coating” system to prevent stone-chips.
Paint protection films, on the other hand, are designed for that purpose and are typically made from impact-absorbing flexible high-density poly-vinyl chloride films specifically for automobiles. >