An automobile that spends most of its life parked on the street will eventually experience premature paintwork aging in a nation as sunny and warm as Spain. If you don’t have a garage, we’ll explain why it happens and how to prevent it.
Whether private or shared, we would all prefer to have our covered garage. However, not everyone has access to one, and your automobile will be forced to endure the weather’s indignity and search for free parking every day.
In addition to warning you about how much the situation can alter depending on where you park your car, we gave you some advice on starting your vehicle in cold weather without harming its mechanics last winter.
The quality of the paint varnish will be lost after extended exposure to UV radiation.
Similar things occur during the summer, especially regarding automotive paint. The bodywork resembles our skin in specific ways. And our skin, the color.
We are all aware that the longer we are exposed to the sun, the more care we need to take to protect our skin. Even though it might not appear like it, the car is the same. The difference is that our skin starts to burn quickly. However, years later, the impacts of the sun are still visible in the paintwork.
Why does the sun harm the paint job on cars?
Modern automobiles have multiple coats of paint. The final one is the clearcoat, which offers protection and the ultimate sheen that makes any new car appear so lovely.
The paintwork will eventually become bare as a result of this varnish losing its characteristics due to prolonged exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. As a result, the paint will become duller and lose its color, intensity, and shades.
It is usually best for the car to park beneath protection. In addition, it will be comfortable for us to enter.
To verify this, all that is needed is to walk around a large parking lot and compare how the paint on the roof and hood, which receive the most direct and prolonged sunshine, looks. In these locations, you’ll notice that some older cars’ colors have a drabber appearance.
You can even clearly see in some of them where the layers of varnish and paint are being lost. This is because they have spent their whole lives experiencing the bitterly cold and sweltering heat.
How can the paint on a car be kept from being harmed by the sun?
The car should be parked in the garage as the first obvious solution. However, you frequently are left with no choice.
But suppose you’re one of those people who has a covered garage because, for instance, you live in a single-family home but park your car outside because you’re too lazy to bring it in and out every day. In that case, you should be aware that you are ruining your car and that, in a few years, it will look pretty unsightly.
Knowing how to prevent corrosion on your car from salt and humidity crucial if you live close to the ocean is vital.
If you’re one of those people who have no choice but to park in the street, you may either cover it or protect it using waxes that are often done twice a year or more. The varnish and paint are better able to withstand UV rays thanks to the protective layer these waxes help build.
It’s a preventative measure. However, if the harm has already been done, our only options are to polish or repaint. Polishing is a viable solution for minor or isolated damage in a particular location. The only other choice is to repaint the vehicle.
An illustration of paint that has already started to lose its finish as a result of exposure to rain and sunlight
Do pigeon poop stains harm a car’s paint job?
Bird droppings do, indeed, severely damage a car’s paint job. This is because they are especially caustic and acidic.
If we do not remove them quickly, they will continue to be thoroughly stuck due to the action of temperature variations that contract and expand the metal of the bodywork and the paint.
See also: 7 vehicle habits that cost you money every day.
When washing the car, this can cause a discolored stain in that specific place. If that is the case, certain goods may be able to fix the flaw, but it will depend on how severe it is.
The easiest way to remove solid residues, such as dirt or feces, is to wash with pressurized water to remove them entirely before scrubbing, as we advised you in our guidance on cleaning cars that reside in coastal areas. If we don’t, we’ll probably scratch the paint.
