A Guide to Car Paint Repair and Maintenance

We all notice and appreciate a shiny car when we see one, but how do you achieve that aesthetic on your car? Long story short, it requires safeguarding your car paint and avoiding several external factors wherever possible. Thankfully, car paint repair and maintenance are Gino’s Panel & Paint’s forte.

Importance of Car Paint Maintenance

Car paint maintenance is important as the paint on your car provides protection to the metal underneath. If the car paint protection is scratched or heavily worn away, you run the risk of paint peeling and rust forming underneath.

What’s more, a well-maintained car with shiny paint looks great. This visual appeal becomes even more beneficial when it comes to selling your ride. Any buyer will be instantly impressed at first glance and be less likely to argue the price you set. What’s more, the prospective buyer will see the care you’ve put into the outside and will have little doubt about the overall condition inside.

What Causes Damage to Car Paint?

Below, we discuss the common causes of car paint damage. Many are unavoidable factors where the best defence is car paint protection or routine maintenance. If you’re chasing car paint repair processes already, we discuss these a little further down.

1. Dust & Dirt

Dust and dirt are both unavoidable and often overlooked. They both deteriorate the visual appearance of your paint job and may create small imperfections in places.

2. Bird Droppings, Insects & Tree Sap

Bird droppings are, without a doubt, the most clear-cut cause of car paint damage. It looks horrible, and the acidic nature of the excrement will wear down your car's paint. This causes dulling, staining and other serious wear on your paint. Likewise, squashed insects on your front bumper can create similar issues.

Tree sap spots are another natural ‘chemical’ to look out for, as they’re very hard to remove.

3. Direct Sunlight & Wet Conditions

While the sun is essential for life as we know it, your car paint will wish it didn’t exist! A car’s prolonged exposure to sunlight will fade its paint over time, which creates dull and uneven areas.

Another inevitable natural occurrence is rain, which, despite what you may think, is not a free car wash! Unless your car has recently undergone a paint protection process, the rainwater will mix with any dust and dirt that’s built up and may exacerbate the harm they cause.

4. Petrol, Oil & Other Car Chemicals

While petrol and oil should only be used inside a car, any unlikely spills that come in contact with a car's paint may strip the paint, causing ghastly stains and patches. Similarly, using the wrong cleaning chemicals on the exterior of your car can cause a similar effect.

5. Dents & Paint Scratches

Dents and scratches will appear from time to time, especially if you spend time driving on loose surfaces such as gravel.

A little-known cause of paint scratches is the use of a dirty wipe when cleaning a car. If you’re doing the right thing and washing or polishing your car, you’d hate for a cloth with hardened remnants of dirt to create new scratches.

Car Paint Maintenance Tips

Say you’ve got a new car, or your car's paint is in good condition, you’ll want to maintain it for as long as possible to avoid car paint repair. Consider the following tips to keep up the car’s appearance:

Regular Car Washing With the Right Cleaning Materials

Most of the common causes of paint damage can be avoided or mitigated with regular car washing. If your car is used daily, experts recommend washing the car every week! This especially applies if you frequently drive on gravel or other dusty roads.

As for cleaning materials, ensure the cloth or mitt you use is clean and non-abrasive, like a microfibre wipe or soft sponge. The cleaning chemicals you use are very important too, which is why we suggest a mild cleaning agent with a low pH. Ideally, purchase a specialised car shampoo which is formulated to clean and protect the paint simultaneously. Dishwashing liquid is commonly used for car washing, but this should be avoided as it contains harsh chemicals.

Now, what about automated car washes? Yes, these save you time and energy, but they may be causing unnecessary damage to your ride. You often won’t know if the brushes or cloths within the machine have been cleaned out properly, and they may be riddled with dirt, which scratches paint. Hand washing is always preferred, but a well-maintained auto car wash is pretty good too.

Ceramic Car Paint Protection

A ceramic car paint protection coating is the perfect way to safeguard your freshly cleaned vehicle. The coating is applied over the paint and is a great way to reduce the wear and tear on your paint from all the external damage recently mentioned.

Why Is Ceramic-Based Paint Protection Better Than Wax?

Wax has been used for decades to protect car paint, and it does a good job. However, the more recently developed ceramic-based paint protector is far more effective and durable than wax coatings.

The ceramic-based coating generates a curing process which creates a chemical bond with the paint surface. Once the protectant is applied and cured, it’s extremely resistant to any potential pollutants. This means it resists UV rays, heat, external contaminants, and harsh chemicals.

Wax only sits on the paint surface and doesn’t bond like a ceramic coating, which makes it less useful.

Avoid Paint-Damaging Factors Where Possible

Dust, sunlight, and other factors are inevitable when driving, though there are ways to avoid them and safeguard your paint a little longer.

First and foremost, avoid driving on unsealed roads where possible and avoid parking under trees or below ledges to avoid tree sap and/or bird droppings. When parking for a long period of time, seek shade or an undercover area to avoid damage from UV rays. If your home is without a carport or garage, consider buying a car cover to protect from the sun and dust.

Car Paint Repair Tips

Paint already damaged? Here we discuss the best car paint repair services to get your car back to its shiny best.

Car Scratch Repair

If your car has a few minor scratches, you may be able to pick up a small scratch repair kit. These can help to cover the scratch but won’t provide a long-term solution, especially for deeper scratches.

However, professional car scratch repair is always the best solution to paint scratches and other marks, given that the process entirely removes the scratch and polishes the surface afterwards. In some cases, the panel may need a respray as part of the car scratch repair, so chat to a qualified auto-refinish technician to find the best approach.

For more extensive panel damage, such as dents or minor car accidents, you’ll need a little more work. We recommend a paintless dent repair service or smash repairs.

Car Respray

Older cars that have spent many years in the sun often have severe fading or discolouration of the paint. Even if the overall body of the car is in good shape, the paint quality can severely detract from its appearance. Usually, the only solution to severe fading or paint discolouration is to have the car resprayed. This is especially important if you’re trying to sell the vehicle. It’s also a great chance to entirely change the colour of the vehicle if preferred!

After receiving a car respray, we highly recommend a ceramic car paint protection coating to ensure the paint lasts as long as possible.

Premium Car Paint Repair and Maintenance Perth

Perth experiences extreme UV rays, and there are many gravel roads around the south west, which means our car paint is constantly under scrutiny. If you’re looking to improve the resilience of your vehicle's paint job, then enquire about our paint protection services.

If your poor car is a little worse for wear and needs car paint repair, get in touch with Gino’s about a respray or scratch repairs.

Gino’s Panel & Paint uses the latest technologies to achieve outstanding results on car paint repair jobs. For example, our innovative Colorvation system helps us to seamlessly match paint colours, and our Symach Flydry machines help dry your car faster and more evenly.