5 Tips to Keep Your new car Looking as new as Day One

Here are 5 tips to keep your new car looking as new as day one that I’m going to share with you today. How many times have you purchased a new car, and few months or even weeks later it starts to look kind of dingy and not in the best cosmetic shape? I’ve been down that road too many times. Let’s keep you from going down that road with these 5 great tips.

1. If you’re in an area where it snows a lot you need to take caution not only in the driving conditions, but with the materials that find themselves on your car. The ice melt that the city or state uses to keep freeways and roads clear is extremely detrimental to the quality of your paint job. When it’s snowing or the ground is icy I always recommend washing your car at least once a week. It doesn’t need to be an expensive car wash. Just a cheap touch-less car wash is fine.
2. In normal weather, car washes don’t need to be as frequent. I usually get a car wash about every two weeks to a month. Most of the nicer car washes are starting to offer a monthly membership where you pay a small fee each month and get unlimited car washes. While washing the car, take advantage of hot car wax that most car washes offer. Not only is it great for your paint job, it’s good on the windshield to create a water repellant surface.
3. This may seem like a no-brainer but hear me out. Avoid following too closely behind bigger vehicles or vehicles with bigger tires. The reason for this is the rocks, sand, and other foreign objects that have a chance of hitting your paint and causing chips. If you don’t notice a paint ship soon enough it can start to rust the underlying metal. A rusty car isn’t sexy. Sand can also start to slowly damage your windshield, something known as pitting. If you notice anything like that you should get it fixed as soon as possible.
4. Use car wax on your headlights. As weird as this sounds, I’ve been doing it for years. The wax creates a thin layer of protection against abrasive things flying through the air that scratch up your headlight casing and cause it to oxidize. The oxidation is what causes headlights to turn yellow. If your headlights are already yellow or cloudy just bring it in to your local repair shop or detailer for a headlight restoration. It’s usually not that expensive and will have them looking almost brand new, or you could just do it yourself and save a few extra dollars.
5. Washing the inside of your engine compartment is just as important as the whole car. You can do this at just about any car wash that has a pressure rinse setting. Simply open the hood, and spray down the entire engine bay. It’s totally safe as long as all of your seals are in good working order and you don’t get too crazy with the spraying or too close with the nozzle. If you are careful you won’t damage the electrical components as they’re usually covered by plastic or rubber casings. Just don’t get any water into the air intake and avoid your spark plugs. Keeping water away from your mass airflow sensor is a good idea too.

Buying a new car is an investment, don’t you want to make sure it looks as good as the day you bought it for years to come? Using these 5 tips to keep your car looking as new as day one will help you do just that. Which one of these tips do you think are the most useful? Are there any that you recommend? Are there any that you tried that you would have added to this list? Let me know down in the comments, and thanks for reading! If you would like a few suggestions on keeping the interior or your car looking new I have 5 tips for that too.