How You Can Protect Your Car From Damage Outside

Your car is a big financial investment, and it’s needed every day for your family to do what they need to do for work, education, and even providing basic needs. So, as necessary as it is for your car to take care of you, it’s just as important for you to take care of your car. But, it’s both easy and common for cars to get damaged while outside, and sometimes in sudden ways which can’t be easily repaired. You want to be able to protect both your investment, and the beauty of your car for years, even decades to come. How can you protect your car from ongoing damage outside?

Keep it in the Garage

The first and easiest solution is to not have it outside, of course! Not everybody is lucky enough to have a garage to park in, and has to park in the open air. However, if you have access to parking where your car can be in a shelter, it helps with general damage signs immensely. It can be tempting to use your garage for a workshop, bonus space for relaxation, or even storage. Those things are also important, of course, but your car is a valuable investment, and worth the protection a shelter affords.

Avoid Parking Under Trees

Parking under a tree for shelter or shade in the summertime can be a temptation to car owners. However, from an insurance actuarial standpoint, lots of damage can be caused by parking under trees. Branches or nuts might fall at random, hurting paint finishes or even breaking windows. Windstorms in particular, or thunderstorms are dangerous times to park under a tree. There are even some tree saps which can cause damage to paint finish!

Wash Your Car

Washing your car makes it look beautiful, but did you know it also helps your car to look newer for longer? Your car gathers dirt and debris as it drives, and each of those pieces of dirt can scrape and scratch at the finish of your car. Over time, it will look older and less cared for. You want your car to maintain its monetary worth, and having a good paint job influences that considerably. Wash your car at least twice monthly. Use products formulated to help increase your car’s UV protection if possible.

Apply a Protective Coating

Application of a protective coating can help your car to stay shiny and healthy looking for longer. It’s easy for a car to get sun damage, and for its finish to begin looking as if it's a peeling sunburn. There are products, though, which can help keep the majority of element related dangers from damaging your car long term. Clear bra protects your car from damage from sap, debris, rocks and other elements. Your local car wash is happy to apply a protective coating after each wash, if you prefer to not need to do it by yourself.

Use a Sun Protector

A protective coating on the outside of the car still does nothing for the inside! Along with using a protective dust cleaning chemical coating on your interior plastics and leathers, using a Sun Protector in the windshield of your car can help prevent damage. They are easy to put in when you park, and will lower the heat of the interior of the car significantly, which makes returning to your car less uncomfortable. However, they also help prevent sunlight from fading all of the important interior fabrics.

Paint Protection Films

There are also films which do the same sort of protection from UV rays as sun protector sprays and waxing a car. They are clear, and won’t hurt your paint job or detail work. In fact, the protection is similar to laminating your car, only with a much fancier layer of protection, to help keep off grime and debris that could also cause issues by scratching your finish, while also protecting from things like UV sunlight damage. Films need to be replaced every few years, but in the meantime are highly effective protection of your investment.

Check Your Sunroof

If your car has a sunroof, the last thing you want is it leaking during a rainstorm while parked outside. Open and close your sunroof to make sure that it is working. There will be a seal, and drainage holes around the seal. To check drainage, make sure that water poured on the roof (with the sunroof closed) drained down and away quickly, out of the bottoms of the front doors. It’s possible for pine needles to get stuck in the drainage holes and make your seal leak. Nobody wants to sit in rainwater! Make sure your sunroof is working effectively before the next rainy season arrives, or you might have an accidental flooding.

Your car’s beauty has been chosen specifically to project the image, style and other aspects of your own personality!  It’s chosen to protect your family as it drives, and it’s meant to look amazing while doing it. So, it’s important to look around you when parking. Making sure you look upwards and downwards as well, such as not parking near overhangs, trees, or other hazards that could shorten the life of your paint job or dent your hood with an unfortunate fall. Make sure you check your sunroof to make sure it’s not clogged, and wash your car frequently. Use some sort of sun protection, whether this means protection film, a protective coating, waxing, or coating at your car wash, to protect your car’s finish from UV rays. 

And above all, park inside of a garage whenever you are able to do so. Think of it this way: which financial investment is worth more: the hideous old lamp you’re still storing, some sport equipment you forgot to put away, or your beautiful car? If you answered your car, remember which one you’re leaving outside for lack of space. Work to make that space and continue to protect your car from the elements. Safe and sound inside!

Read this next: How Post-Accident Negotiations Can Hit a Snag