Keeping Your New Car Looking Sharp in Illinois
Nothing beats bringing your brand new car home from the dealership. You've probably already caught yourself scanning the sky for dive-bombing birds. And well you should - a car is an investment that you will likely be making payments on for years, so you want it to keep that "newness" for as long as possible. Your car insurance isn't likely to cover wether damage, or other harmful effects from car washes and the like. It's up to you to take care of your car.
New Car vs. Weather
Illinois has its share of heat and cold waves, as well as floods, tornadoes, and lightning. In fact, floods in Illinois are responsible for the most weather-related damage in the state. Storms occur during all four seasons, and while tornadoes can occur at any time, they are more prevalent during the months of April through June. Keeping your car in the garage will not only protect it from these ever-changing conditions, but it will also keep those pesky birds away, as well as protect your paint from oxidation. Since Illinois experiences snow in the winter, a big hazard to take measures against is rust. Rust is typically caused by the salts used on roadways in order to combat slippery conditions, and this salt acts with the wetness as a corrosive agent on your car's paint. While many car dealerships will try to get you to purchase a clear coat product that is supposed to prevent rust, your best bet is just to keep your car clean, getting the salt off of it as quickly as possible.
Working at the Car Wash
In the summer, you can probably get away with washing your car once a month (maybe more often if you tend to get a lot of suicidal bugs on the front of your car). In the winter, every week would be best in order to keep the salt off, but every two weeks will do in a pinch. The most important thing is to keep a coat of wax on your car. You'll know when it's time to apply another coat when water no longer beads up on the surface of your car.
While you can always wash your car at home, sometimes you're just too busy for it. If you are thinking of getting it washed instead, here are some things to keep in mind.
The typical gas station car wash (also known as the "robowash") comes in two forms. Some of these car washes offer a "touch-free" wash, which is the type of car wash you should use when you're in too much of a hurry to do it yourself, and you don't want to take it to the detailer. The touch-free wash uses high-powered blasts of water to power off the dirt.
The other type of "robowash" is the "friction" wash. You should avoid this type of car wash, particularly the type that uses plastic brushes to clean the car. The bristles on these brushes can put tiny scratches all over your car's paint. The other type of friction wash uses synthetic cloth strips to clean the vehicle. While these aren't as bad as the plastic bristles, you're better off going with a touch-free wash.
Devil in the Details
Every now and then, you should treat your car to a full detailing - thorough vacuuming, inside window cleaning, and wheel and trim buffing. And when you wash your car by hand, be sure to use a good chamois product or microfiber mitt to dry it off, *not* a squeegee. The rubber blade on a squeegee can scratch your car faster than anything because tiny dirt particles you may not see could get dragged across the surface of the car by the squeegee's blade.
Take good care of your car because your insurance doesn't protect you from everything.