When you live in the Twin Cities, taking great care of your vehicle during winter can be challenging. Snow and ice accumulation, along with copious amounts of road salt, can encourage corrosion-related damage to any vehicle’s paint job over the long, snowy months. But if you’re willing to put in a little effort, there are several things you can do to protect your paint job from winter-related damage. Check out our tops tips below!

1. WASH YOUR RIDE REGULARLY


Regularly washing your car or truck is the best way to protect your ride from corrosion caused by road salt and moisture. Ideally, you should head to the car wash once a week (yes, even if the roads are super dirty) to clean grime off your vehicle. And even if you only have time to perform a quick rinse, the water will prevent salt and dirt from adhering to and deteriorating your paint.

2. APPLY WAX


Although warmer days are rare during a Twin Cities winter, when the forecast calls for sun, try to apply a coat of wax to the exterior of your vehicle. Wax isn’t just for aesthetics; it’s actually designed to create a protective barrier for your paint job, so ice, snow, road salt, and gravel can’t make direct contact with the finish.

3. TEND TO CAR TOUCHUP PAINT PROMPTLY


During winter, moisture and road salt can rapidly deteriorate unprotected metal. Chips or scratches in your paint job can leave the underlying metal exposed to the elements, which may encourage corrosion if you don’t tend to repairs promptly.

If your vehicle currently has any paint scratches, it’s in your best interest to head to an auto body repair shop for car touch-up paint as soon as you can. Avoid using DIY scratch repair kits as their color-matching ability is seriously lacking and they’ll ultimately leave you with noticeable paint repairs that will devalue your automobile.

4. USE THE RIGHT SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL TOOLS


If you ever find ice stuck to the body of your vehicle, avoid scraping it off. Even designated ice scraping tools can leave behind microabrasions, which will damage your vehicle’s paint job, so it’s in your best interest to let ice melt on its own. For snow removal, use a soft-bristled brush or a gentle, foam-headed broom to avoid scratching the paint.

LOOKING FOR CAR TOUCHUP PAINT EXPERTS IN THE TWIN CITIES?


Got a few paint scratches on your vehicle? Get in touch with our team at Minnetonka Collision, so we can restore your paint to like-new condition! We specialize in precision paint color matching and comprehensive auto body repairs, so no matter how large or small the damage is, we can fix it for you. We’ve proudly served vehicle owners throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro for more than 20 years, and we’d love to make you our next satisfied client!

To learn more about what we can do for your vehicle, feel free to give us a call today at 763-230-7805 or request a free estimate, and we’ll get in touch.