Automotive

Top 9 Tips to Make Your Old Car Look Great

Picture1Wouldn’t it be great to just go on down to the car dealer of your choice, look around, see something you like, and buy it, without even haggling over the price? Yeah, so would we. But come on back down to Earth! It may not be in your power to buy a brand new car right now, especially after just completing traffic school, but there’s a ton of options you can choose from to keep that old car of yours looking brand new! Here are the top 9 tips:

  1. Get hold of an air compressor and start blowing dirt out of all the crevices and niches on the floor of your car out onto the center of your carpet, where it’s a snap to vacuum them up. Next loosen dirt from your upholstery and carpets with a good stiff brush.
  2. Do you have leather seats? Massage them with conditioner containing aloe! You won’t believe how soft and glossy they’ll become, and appreciative as well.
  3. Use a non-acid product to remove brake dust from your wheels .Yes, the pros use specially concocted acid solutions to clean up dirty tires, but that same acid-based cleaner could definitely damage clear or colored painted wheels.
  4. Here’s a tip for keeping your car smelling new. Take a smaller-sized portable compressor and blow some compressed air into your air conditioning and heating ductwork. Aim that pressurized air at the duct walls behind your vent grills; that’s where dirt and dust stick and create a musty smell. Also remove your cabin air filter and blow out all the dirt and dust. You’ll be amazed at how much cleaner your car will smell!
  5. Your paint might need more cleaning than just a good washing. Various pollutants and even bird droppings can penetrate right through clear coatings and wax right into the paint underneath. Run your hand along the paint’s surface. Does it feel rough to the touch? If so, first you’ll need to get a paint cleaner which can remove wax and swirl marks. Next, clean the paint with a block of special paint cleaning clay that has been saturated with liquid wax cleaner.
  6. Hand-wash your car, but don’t ever use dishwashing detergent! That stuff strips off the wax coating, and makes your vehicle much more liable to get scratches, nicks, and stains. Use a special carwash solution – that works best!
  7. Get rid of all your old standbys for cleaning and buffing your car like leather chamois, old rubbing compounds, and newspapers for buffing. Replace those items with microfiber cleaning cloths, a chemical paint cleaner, aloe for healing leather, and a block or two of paint-cleaning clay.
  8. Wax it up! A coat of new wax will only last a few months, but it will absorb tiny scratches and stains before they burrow into the paint. Liquid wax or paste will do the job. If you want your shine to look professional, you’ll need two coats of wax; the second coat will get those areas that might have been skipped the first time. For touch-ups between full waxings, you might want to use a liquid spray wax.
  9. Finally, make those windshields shine! – But remember, don’t use any glass cleaner that has ammonia in it. Don’t forget the top edges of the windows.

If you have any questions, please ask below!