Most people know that regular vehicle maintenance can help you to avoid some significant repairs to your car down the road. However, people often do not consider washing their car as being part of a good vehicle maintenance plan. Despite this, washing your car is one of the simplest and best ways to preserve the quality of your vehicle and to ensure you do not have to make any major overhauls to the body of your car further down the road.
Here are a few of the biggest reasons why washing your car is important, from our Audi repair shop in Conway, AR:
- Dirt can damage your vehicle if left unwashed: All cars get a little dirt on them every time they go out for a drive. But if you let this dirt sit on the vehicle for weeks and months at a time, it can eventually begin acting like sandpaper, weakening and wearing down the paint over time. It can also mix with other pollutants, rain, bird droppings or sap, which will all combine to ruin your paint job even faster. Therefore, it’s important that you clean your vehicle regularly.
- Paint quality is important: If it is true that dirt and pollutants can damage your paint, then it follows that paint damage could also lead to other problems with your vehicle. Of course, there is the aesthetic quality of a good paint job that could be ruined if you do not keep up with washing your car. But there is a functional element as well. If paint starts to erode, the car’s body will be exposed to moisture. Once that happens, the metal on the vehicle underneath the paint can start to rust, and that rust will quickly spread. This could cause holes to form in the body, exposing some important parts and causing even greater damage.
- Not washing can lead to lower resale value: You never know when you’ll want to eventually sell your vehicle. When you do, a good quality paint job and a clean vehicle are two ways you can boost the resale value of your car. Nothing will kill your resale value quicker than rust spots and holes in the body of your vehicle. Keep your car clean, and you won’t have to worry about that quite as much down the road.
Ultimately, all you need to do is wash your car regularly and that will go a long way toward preserving the quality of your vehicle. You can either wash your car by hand yourself in your driveway, or you can take it to a commercial car wash and have someone else take care of it.
You should be sure to wax your car regularly, as well. Not only does this keep your car shining, but it also helps to create a protective barrier to shield the paint from the elements.
For more information about how to preserve the appearance of your car, contact Riverdale Automotive, your Audi repair shop in Conway, AR, today.