How To Protect New Car Paint In Auckland

New paint is at its best on the day you collect the car and never again, unless something is done about it. The first few months decide how it looks for the rest of the time you own it.

In Auckland there are four things working against it, and one of them starts before you have driven the car home.

One, The Dealership Wash

The pre-delivery wash is where a surprising number of cars pick up their first swirls. It is usually quick, often done with shared media, and it puts fine scratches into paint that had none.

If you are collecting a car soon, asking them not to wash or polish it before handover costs nothing and prevents the most avoidable damage a new car takes.

Two, UV

New Zealand UV is harsh on clear coat. It is what turns dark paint chalky and flattens a finish over a few summers, and it works on a car whether it is driven or parked.

Three, Coastal Air

Salt carries a long way inland across Auckland. It settles on paint, sits in panel gaps and accelerates everything else that is going on, which is why cars near the coast need a shorter wash interval than cars further in.

Four, What Lands On It

Bird droppings and tree sap are acidic. On unprotected clear coat they etch, and an etch is not dirt, it is a mark in the paint that needs polishing out.

What To Actually Do

• Ask the dealer not to wash or polish it before handover
• Get it decontaminated and protected early, before the paint picks up wash marks
• Have any dealership swirls corrected while there are few of them
• Wash it properly, two buckets and clean media, and never in an automatic brush wash
• Get droppings and sap off promptly rather than leaving them to bake

Protection Options For A New Car

On paint that is genuinely new, very little correction is usually needed, which makes it the cheapest moment in the car's life to have a coating applied properly. Titan is Gtechniq accredited and certified, with a 9 year warranty available on coating work.

If a coating is more than you want to spend, a complete detail with protection still puts a barrier between the paint and the weather, and keeps the car easy to wash.

Just picked up a new car, or about to? Send the model and the collection date and Ab will tell you what is worth doing and when.