8 Damage Hot Spots to Avoid in Your New Car
A new car is your pride and joy and it should be: you’ve paid hard earned cash for it and might have to keep paying for some time to come.
The state of the roads in the UK means that taking extra care of your new investment should be paramount. Being aware of areas where damage occurs commonly on new cars, will limit the chance of tarnishing your new car.
We’ve pulled together this list of 8 damage hot spots to help you know what and where to avoid in your new car – to help you to keep it looking better for longer.
1. Curbs
One of the simplest ways to damage your new car, yet the most common, is to nick or scuff your new, shiny alloys off the edge of a curb. We all try to park as near to the curb as possible to avoid your car sticking out and getting in the way, but it’s important to watch those wheels.
Damaged alloys take the sheen off a new car. To protect them when parking, we suggest making the most of your wing mirrors. If they are electric, they can easily be moved to help you judge the distance between your wheels and the curb.
2. Trolleys
How often do you see somebody trying to force a large object through a small gap? If you spend any time in a supermarket car park, you’ll see this phenomenon in action. People love pushing their shopping trolleys between cars, often banging car doors along the way. To prevent such a problem, we recommend parking well away from trolley bays and in the centre of the space, as far away as you can from busy areas packed with cars. You’re far less likely to come out of the shop to a scraped car if there are acres of room around your pride and joy.
3. School Run
Children on the school run and in the school car park tend to mill by in large groups and can seem spatially unaware of the countless bags they’re carrying. Be cautious of backpacks rubbing or scraping against your car. In an ideal scenario we’d advise parking well away from the bustling hoards as they leave the gates in order to keep your car’s paintwork unscathed!
4. Trees
If you can ever help it, don’t park your car under trees, especially for long periods of time. Between falling greenery, dripping sap and bird mess, trees can cause serious problems with car paintwork, oxidising the metallic shine.
5. Resurfacing
We know you can’t always choose where you drive, however, if your usual road is being resurfaced, it’s often a lot better to try and take an alternative route that’s not covered in loose gravel and grit that will cause chips and dents to your paintwork.
6. Kid’s Sports
One of the top ‘wear and tear’ spots to all cars is the door sills. Be mindful to try not to drag your feet when getting in to or out of the vehicle to minimise scuffing. This is particularly the case if you’re picking up the children from football, rugby or hockey practice. Ensure they have a spare pair of clean footwear so their studded boots can’t damage the sills on when entering or exiting the car.
7. Building and Construction areas
We’d recommend to never park your new car beneath or near to scaffolding, loose roofing or anywhere that a potential item could fall and damage it. You’d be surprised at the number of cars that are damaged by falling tins of paint causing dents and paint stains all over the vehicle.
8. Be Easy on the Engine
New cars need some time to get into the swing of things. New engines tend to need to have run a few thousand miles before they open up fully, so pushing them beforehand can cause problems. Be kind to your car in the first few months and don’t push it too much or you may create a long term issue.
We hope you find these 8 top tips useful when looking to get the most out of your new car. Following these will give you the best chance of avoiding problems with your new vehicle and allow enjoy it to its fullest for a long time yet.
Cormac Reynolds is a professional auto writer for http://www.cpacarparts.co.uk – Providers of car parts, tools and accessories to the auto industry. He loves keeping up with the latest car news and technology.
