Keep an eye on the outside too

We all do our best to look after our car by bringing it in for a regular service, but how much care do we take over its exterior?

Keeping your car looking good on the outside isn’t just about looking good! It will save you money on repairs if you take regular care and also help with the re-sale price when the time comes to say goodbye.

First let’s look at the paint. There are basically two primary types of car paint – water-based and solvent-based paints. Both use a liquid that holds the pigment in suspension so it can be sprayed, and once dry the two types of paints compare favourably. But whichever paint your car has, you’ll need to make some effort to look after it.

Even if you keep your car inside a garage overnight, it’s still out there in the elements most days.  The sun’s UV rays will have some effect on paint, and worse still can also affect the inside of your car by fading upholstery and the dashboard.  We recommend putting a reflective screen inside your windscreen. But added to that the gravel and stones that flick up off the road, sap from trees that you might park under and at the very worst bird droppings, will all leave marks on the paint if not cleaned away.

The birds took a liking to this Mini Cooper!

Some people like to wash their car every Sunday. Others say that a once a month hose down with some car shampoo is ideal and others swear by a wash and wax every 6 months.  Whichever your choice may be will probably depend on how dirty your car gets, but we’d recommend that you pay it some attention and make sure that dirt and debris don’t stay on its surface too long.

Waxing the paintwork after a wash will help you protect the car for longer, and the nicer your car looks the more likely you are to look after it.  An extra coat of wax on the bonnet to cope with the added heat there is recommended.

It’s also a good idea to touch up paintwork as soon as you see any nicks in it, so that the rust doesn’t set in. Or if it’s a larger dent have it seen to sooner rather than later.

This dent should have been attended to a long time ago. Look at the rust!

So love your car. If you leave us to look after the mechanical parts and you look its exterior you’ll be rewarded with a vehicle that’s a pleasure to drive and you won’t mind being seen in!

What colour is it?

You may laugh when a friend’s first question about your new car is “What colour is it?’,  but colour selection can affect your vehicle and safety in ways that aren’t obvious at first. It isn’t all about how nice the car will look in front of the house!

What colour would you choose?

PPG industries (the world’s leading manufacturer of car paints) regularly updates its automotive colour trend data, which consistently shows the most popular global car colour to be white. In 2013 white ranked first with 25 per cent of the market share, followed by silver and black with 18 per cent each and then by grey, red, natural hues, blue and green. While manufacturers each try and create their own distinct variations of each colour to match brands and car types, the fact is that the plainer the colour the better!

Firstly the colour you choose for your car may impact the car’s value, should you choose to sell it down the track. In general the inoffensive and always popular colours of white, black, grey and silver will hold their value the most over time. If you’ve gone for a pastel or bright shade that might have been the ‘in thing’ at the time, then the vehicle will be harder to pass on to the next owner.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is the safety of your car on the road.  A study undertaken by the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) investigating the relationship between vehicle colour and crash risk found that black, blue, grey, green, red and sliver vehicles had a higher crash risk compared with white vehicles. 

The MUARC study showed that black, grey, sliver, red and blue fail to stand out against the background of the road, scenery and other traffic. The study also found, after allowing for the fact that risk-takers may be more drawn to some colours than others, found black cars to be the most accident prone.

During daylight hours they were up to 12 per cent more likely to be in crashes than white vehicles, while at dawn and dusk, the figure rose to 47 per cent. Grey and silver cars were the next most risky, followed by red and blue, the study says.

The research also suggests that crash severity is related to vehicle colour, with low visibility colours having higher risks of more severe crashes.

Colours that are higher on the visibility index, such as white, are recommended to reduce crash risk.

The safest colour on the road.

Solutions such as using headlights in daylight hours, painted bumper bars and high visibility strips on cars have been suggested to address the visibility problem but no change in legislation is on the horizon.

While driving a darker car can increase your crash risk, it’s also worth remembering that it’s not the only influence on road safety. There are road rules to be adhered to and the safe running of the vehicle, such as good brakes, good tyres and correct steering that also need to be looked after.

So don’t forget, you can have a pre-purchase inspection done at your local Cooper Automotive service centre.

And next time you’re buying a new vehicle, think twice about the colour. It’s worth it.