Preparation of paint surface for winter

Hi,

Great question. There are many many products out there and not many are better than others. The key thing is to know what you are using and when to use it.

Since your vehicle is new, you do not need to worry about doing anything special to protect the paint other than the basics at this point.

First, wash the vehicle regularly. The worst thing for a vehicle is to leave it dirty. This will slowly eat at the clear coat due to the minerals and chemicals in the road treatment for ice and snow. The next best thing is to park it out of the elements. If you can have it covered by a garage or at least a car port that is best. If you wash the vehicle weekly then once per month spray it and wipe it down with a spray wax and microfiber cloth. Any brand is fine. Use a different one when you run out and then find out which you like best.

When you wash it, always use a soft wash mitt. When removing snow, use something softer than a push broom. They make foam snow brushes just for cars. That is obviously the best.

Then at the end of winter, give the vehicle a thorough cleaning including the under carriage.

If you do this then you will not need to perform detailed wax and buff jobs except for once every few years or so. Then you can remove scratches when you have them with this video.

https://youtu.be/bIKc574zCYw

When you do wax the vehicle and buff it, just make sure you go from compounds, to waxes, to a finish wax. If you don't go through the full progression then you will most likely leave swirl marks.

Let me know if you have questions. Thanks