We all love to hear our friends ask how we made our car look so good, or how we keep it looking so new. It is a fact that resale value is greatly affected by how your car looks and the better it looks, the more it is worth. Unfortunately, regardless of how much we car for our car, the inevitable does and will happen. Scratches, nicks and dings from road debris, bird droppings and tar from road work and construction, sun damage, acid rain and other things that are detrimental to the finish and look of the vehicle. Here are some tips on how to minimize these things happening and to lessen or remove their damage to your cars finish.



Bird droppings and tar are equally difficult to remove from the paint and chrome. Bird droppings are actually acidic and will etch the paint or even chrome if left on too long, especially in the hot sun. Most bird droppings will break up with a little soap and water. Some may require soaking by placing a wet, bunched up paper towel directly on top of the spot and leaving it there until it becomes easy to remove. This is better than picking at it as this can cause paint to chip or come off on older cars. Tar requires use of a special tar removal spray. These are made so they will not be caustic to your paint and will quickly remove the sticky tar.

Sun damage is generally going to dull your paint. This can be fixed by using a car polish or, in really tough cases with bad oxidation, rubbing compound. This will also work for removing most small scratches. Car polishes and rubbing compound come as either a liquid or paste and is applied to the paint in a circular motion. After it dries to a haze it is buffed off with a clean terry towel. Be sure to thoroughly wash your car first as the dirt can contain contaminants that will scratch your paint and make it worse (be sure to use specific car cleaning solutions only). This will make the paint smooth and should be followed up with either a protective car wax or car polish. Synthetic car polishes will last longer, but car waxes do give the best shine. A great secret of the detailing superstars is to use 2 coats of car polish and then follow that with 2 coats of a carnauba wax. This will give you superior protection and an unbeatable showroom new car shine.

Nicks and dings usually occur together. Parking lot dings are the most popular where , someones car door will usually nick the paint and leave a small ding. Most body shops will want $300 - $500 or more just to fix a small ding and nick. The best way to do this is use a paintless dent removal expert. They are in pretty much every town under names like Dent Wizard (Tip, use Dent Wizard as they are the best and cheapest) and they can remove almost any small dent or ding. They will remove the entire ding for between $30 and $90 and all you are left with is the nick. A nick can easily be filled in with touchup paint and a toothpick. You can buy a small container of touchup paint for your exact color at your local dealer for under $10. Do not use a brush as it will go on too thick and make the touchup obvious. A toothpick will put the paint directly in to the nick or deep scratch.

Another big item that many people overlook is headlight restoration and cleaning. According to the Institute For Highway Safety:

It is a fact that 80 percent or more of the vehicles on the road have inefficient and worn or cloudy and improperly aimed headlights.

Are you one of these people? You are at a higher risk of an accident if you drive with inefficient headlights without enough light output due to opaque or cloudy lenses. Not only is your vision reduced, but other cars will not be able to see you as well with dim lights. There is a patented headlight restoration and cleaning kit which has been proven effective in restoring previously cloudy lenses to new again at a fraction of the cost of replacement. Headlight restoration will greatly improve your night time driving safety and make your car look so much better.

There you have it, some great tips that will make your car look better, be worth more money and be a whole lot safer at the same time. Now, go give your car that new car shine.