Essential Vehicle Maintenance: Exterior Care

Aside from keeping your car running great, maintenance needsto be performed to keep your car looking great too. After you've repaired your worn out diesel injectors and diesel fuel pump, your exterior needs some TLC. Keeping your car clean andwaxed will prolong the life of your paint job and make your car more fun todrive. Here are some tips to properly washing, waxing, and detailing yourvehicle.

 Beyond the normal dirt and dust that collects on the surfaceof your car, there are other, harder to see contaminants that can damage yourclear coat over time. Airborne pollutants, bugs, tree sap, and bird droppingscan all degrade your paint so it’s important to scrub it all off frequently. 

Before washing and especially before waxing, make sure yourcar is parked in the shade if it is sunny outside. The sun can prematurely dryyour car leading to water spots, or hamper your waxing efforts. If you plan onwaxing your car you may even want to wash your car twice because dirt isdifficult to see when the car is wet.

Make sure to use the right solvents for washing anddetailing your car. Dishwashing soap is not good for your paint. Buy some kindof actual car wash, and make sure to buy a high quality wax like Turtle orMeguiar’s. Wash your vehicle thoroughly, using a soft sponge or towel, payingspecial attention to the front grill of your vehicle where bugs and debrisoften collect. Rinse and dry your car carefully, inspecting the paint foranything left behind. Make sure to go back and scrub spots that did not comeclean – if you attempt to wax the paint with dirt or debris on it, you willscratch the clear coat of your car.

 In decades past itwas agreed that the best wax to use was very-hard-to-apply carnauba wax – the“wax on, wax off” kind; nowadays technology has advanced enough to provideexcellent, more easily applied waxes that are just as effective at protectingyour clear coat. Some of the more advanced systems currently require just sprayon application and spreading evenly over the paint, no buffing required. 

If you decide to use a more traditional paste wax or creamwax, use the applicator recommended or provided by the wax manufacturer. Ifthey don’t have a recommendation, use a foam applicator pad to apply the wax.Work in small areas, rubbing a small amount of wax and spreading it to the surroundingareas. Apply the wax in a back and forth motion, not in circles, and make sureyour applicator and buffer are clean before you begin. If the wax residuedoesn’t buff off easily, switch to a very clean towel or cloth.

After you are done buffing, use a soft toothbrush ordetailing brush to clean the wax out of the cracks and crevices of your car.After you’re done waxing, your car should have a smooth, glossy finish thatlooks almost wet. 

Paste wax systems require you to re-apply the wax every 30-90days to protect your paint, depending on weather conditions. Newer syntheticsystems can last up to 9 months without re-application, but some people saythey don’t give off the same “three-dimensional” shine that carnauba waxprovides, so you’ll have to make a judgment call on what is most important toyou.  Either system will protect yourpaint and keep your car in excellent form for years.

Porsche Goes to New Heights

One of the downfalls of living in a high-rise building is that you have to park your diesel turbocharged VW in the garage, and take an elevator all the way up to your floor.  How many times have you wished that you didn’t have to park in that dark concrete maze, which smells like someone’s old diesel fuel pump? Well, it looks like Porsche has figured out a solution.

A new building in Miami, Florida called the Porsche Design Building is about to take residents directly to their apartments.  It doesn’t matter if you are on the first floor or the 50^th.  The high-tech car elevator will take you right to your front door.  Think of the elevator as one of those claw machines at the local arcade that your kid wastes $100 bucks on to get a stuffed animal, but instead of a stuffed animal it’s your car.

The apartments are going to have windows in the front, so you can see your car while lounging in your living room.  This also means when you pull in, you can wave hello to your family. Just like all the people living out in the burbs. The only thing missing is the annoying neighbor, demanding that you trim you hedges.

Each car elevator ride to an apartment which may cost a mere $9 million, will last approximately 45 to 90 seconds.  That sure is one expensive ride.  For that amount a money they better have some really good elevator music.