For millions of drivers in cold weather states, the long-awaited sights and sounds of spring have finally arrived, like colorful flowers, chirping birds and warmer temperatures. On the other hand, springtime also ushers in several damaging forces that target your car’s once-pristine paint job. Protecting your car’s finish from these sinister forces starts with knowing what you’re up against. To help you better prepare, here are 5 common signs of spring that you need to watch out for.
As our feathered friends become more active in the spring, they start bombarding vehicles with their droppings. Those droppings contain seed and berry residues that can quickly discolor your car’s paint, along with uric acid that can eat through the clear coat finish. If that’s not enough, the sun’s powerful rays can also bake bird droppings into the finish.
Left on the paint’s surface, it’s a corrosive combination that can leave ugly stains on your prized vehicle that are very hard to remove. To protect your paint from bird droppings, car care experts recommend promptly wiping them off with a damp cloth.
Anyone with springtime allergies knows when the air is full of pollen. Not only do they make your eyes water and nose run, abrasive pollen particles can scratch your car’s paint. Because they’re so tiny, pollen particles can also infiltrate the small pores found in your paint’s finish and then release acid.
If this happens on a large enough scale, that acid can cause irreversible staining, fading and oxidation. The best way to prevent pollen damage is to give your car a thorough washing with soapy water; as soap acts to block the acid’s activation.
If your state receives a lot of snow, road plows and salt team up to leave lots of loose pavement debris in the spring. Those jagged projectiles get picked up by tires on moving vehicles, and then catapulted into your bumper and hood. The resulting paint chips not only look bad, they can also cause paint flaking and even serious body corrosion.
To help ensure that doesn’t happen, when a rock chip appears promptly touch it up with matching auto paint from the dealership. Be sure to first carefully clean all dirt and old wax from the area so the paint adheres to the metal. If there are several chips and the resulting DIY touch up paint job looks tacky, you can have what’s called “flatting and polishing” done at a local auto body shop to get the finish smooth again.
As trees awaken in the spring, they tend to drip sap. When that sticky substance lands on your parked car, it can get baked in by the sun’s rays, crystalize into the painted surface, and then leave an ugly rough patch behind. Because of its chemical makeup, even fresh tree sap cannot be removed by simply washing the area.
Instead, promptly clean off the sap with rubbing alcohol by spraying it on with a clean bottle, and then wiping it off using a soft microfiber cloth.
Spring also brings flying bugs that get splattered on the front of your car. Bug juices contain acids that can quickly erode your car’s paint, especially when the splatters get baked in by the sun. To help ensure that doesn’t happen, experts recommend lathering up the bug guts as soon as possible with a soap and water mixture, and then rinsing them off.
If you drive frequently, you can even Scotchguard the front of your vehicle for added protection. Once you’ve waited too long and the bug stains are visible in the paint, you may have to take your car to a pro to get them out.
When your car’s paint job needs some professional TLC, take it to a nearby auto body shop featured in the nationwide Carwise referral network. I-CAR and ASE-certified technicians there have the training, equipment and experience to restore your ride’s factory paint job like new again promptly and reliably. If you need some accident repairs, most collision repair shops in the Carwise network speak directly with insurance companies, so you don’t have to, and warranty their outcomes to restore your peace-of-mind.
Search your zip code now for a customer-reviewed auto body or glass repair shop nearby: www.carwise.com.
