Ask the Mechanic

Clean car, longer life: The case for regular washing

By Dave and Katie Neer, with Nikki Burkhamer, Staff Writer

When Dave and Katie Neer, our Chronicle vehicle experts, suggest that washing your car is important, it is something to consider.

There are a bevy of reasons to keep your car clean inside and out. Check out their suggestions when it comes to keeping your car clean and tidy.

Here are a few reasons it is worth washing your car:

Protects the paint. Dirt, road salt, bird droppings, tree sap, and bug residue can damage the finish if they sit for too long. Believe us when we say, we've learned this the hard way.

We also learned over the past couple of years from local experts at LeVan's Body Shop and Steve Austin’s Body Shop that the newer the paint is on your car (like if you just had the hood repainted after hitting a deer) your paint is even more susceptible to etching/staining.

The local body shops have also urged us to visit touchless car washes to preserve the paint on our vehicles. They warned that brushes can damage the paint.

Improves visibility and safety. Clean windows, effective windshield wipers, and rear wipers, mirrors, headlights and taillights help you see and be seen.

If you notice you have a bulb out or you accidentally break your side mirror against your mailbox, please spend the money needed ASAP to rectify these issues. We have heard from local lawyers horror stories about accidents that could have been avoided with simple vehicle maintenance.

Helps maintain value. Regular cleaning, especially in winter or after driving on salted roads, can reduce corrosion and keep the car looking better over time.

In the mechanical repair side of automotives, this is the one we see more often than not. Most vehicles these days are manufactured with materials that will last 10-15 years regardless of mileage. However, even on the newer vehicles, believe it or not, when inspecting a used vehicle for one of our customers, it is very easy to see if the previous owner performed regular car washes.

Vehicles that were rarely washed will typically have extensive rust issues on brakes, suspension components and subframes. Were our customers to purchase these cars, each and every underbody repair on the car would end up costing more in labor and parts to complete.

On the other hand, you can probably wait if:

• It's only lightly dusty.

• Rain is expected very soon, and you don't mind waiting.

• The car has been parked and hasn't picked up anything harmful like salt, mud or bird droppings.

A good rule of thumb:

• Every 2–4 weeks is reasonable for most cars.

• Wash sooner if you've driven on salted roads, through mud, or have bird droppings, tree sap, or bug splatter on the paint.

• We have gotten in the habit of washing each of our family cars at a touch-free facility that uses soft water (to avoid water spots) and has an undercarriage wash option, after every major snowstorm in order to get as much of the road salt off our vehicles as possible. This has added years of life to them. We consider this maintenance just as important as changing fluids, tires, and brakes!

In addition to washing your vehicle regularly, we have found keeping it tidy as well, has several benefits.

Cleaning out trash, especially food and drinks, is a great way to ward off bugs and rodents.

Rodents are already highly attracted to the insulation on your vehicle's wiring which is often made of soybean products. Having a piece of a hamburger sitting in the console or a syrupy coffee is only going to make that more attractive to them.

Once rodents get in, they can do all kinds of damage, from chewing very expensive wiring harnesses causing electrical issues galore, to even chewing thru seatbelts!

None of those repairs are cheap.

We have also found that when you don't regularly vacuum out crumbs and debris from your vehicle's upholstery, these crumbs embed themselves in the carpeting and seat fibers, acting like sandpaper, and literally wearing out the materials prematurely.

So, do your future self a favor, and roll up your sleeves and clean out your car. It will last longer, and the next time you are unexpectedly giving someone a ride or dropping your car off for a repair, you won't have to apologize for the mess!

Solomon's Garage is located at 122 S. Detroit St., West Liberty. Call (937) 887-0029 or visit solomonsgarage.com for more information.

To submit your own “Ask the Mechanic” question, e-mail [email protected]. ■