Seven Common Things That Can Damage Car Paint

If you own an automobile, you know that a part of car ownership is accepting some level of paint imperfection. We’re not talking about a bad paint job—we’re talking about the unavoidable damage that can occur at any time, on any day, when driving or parked. To keep your car’s paint looking the best it can for as long as possible, it’s important to be aware of the things that can cause damage. You know that sharp objects are not nice to car paint, but other stuff can wreak havoc on paint, too.

So, what are some of the most common things that can damage your car’s paint? Let’s ask a local car body shop in Visalia, CA:

• Sprinklers: The combination of water from sprinklers and the sun can damage car paint. Unlike drying your car after a wash, automatic sprinkler systems will leave water droplets on your vehicle’s paint. The hot sun may burn the water droplets into your paint, creating ugly marks.
• Road construction: Just as rocks can hit your windshield, they can cause similar damage to car paint, including dings, cracks and scratches. For this reason, proceed through road construction cautiously. Debris like loose gravel, rocks and pebbles can get kicked up and fly at your car. Wet tar in particular can damage the paint on your vehicle.
• Shopping carts: Shopping carts are notorious for scratching and dinging car paint. Although someone may carelessly push a cart into your parked car, unattended rolling carts are known to cause the most damage to paint.
• Animals: From sharp claws to droppings, animals can do a number on vehicle paint. Just the act of a cat jumping up or a bird landing on your car’s roof, hood or trunk is likely to leave scratches on paint. And bird droppings are naturally acidic, which can quickly lead to paint corrosion.
• Dead bugs: Here’s something you may not know—you see those dead bugs splattered all over the front of your car? Those little bug bodies are acidic. Wash them off before they get a chance to harden—otherwise, you could be looking at costly paint damage down the road.
• Coffee: Since we’re on the subject of acidic substances, coffee is also acidic (so is soda). If any of these beverages spills on your car’s exterior paint, wipe it away and clean the area immediately. The most common reason for coffee spills on cars is people putting cups on the roof to free up their hands to open the door, then driving away having forgotten about their hot beverage.
• Finger writings or drawings: As innocent as writing messages in dirt-covered cars seems, doing so can cause damage to paint. That dirt being pushed down with fingers is like sandpaper, meaning words or drawings could end up being permanent.

If you didn’t know that some of these things could harm car paint, you’re not alone. However, chances are, your local car body shop in Visalia, CA has seem them all! Contact the team at Tom’s Body & Paint, Inc. anytime for information about paint services.

Categorised in: Auto Body Shop

This post was written by Writer