In 2005 I bought a used car, and the place did a complete wash/wax/vacuum. And after that, we never had to wash that car (a 2001 Kia Sportage). Nothing on it got dirty except the spare tire cover. Oh, it would get muddy, but not very, and then the mud would just disappear.
At first, water also beaded off the windshield, so we were thinking RainX, but it must have been something else because that wore off, after awhile, so we did have to wash the windows. But it never wore off the rest of the car.
I would really like to know what that was because now I have a white car. I have googled and can’t find anything, nor can I find any indication that RainX is used on anything but the glass.
I believe the vehicle just has a good clear coat on it. No wax or additive will last that long, not even the Aircraft Polish and waxes, although they last a very long time. Sometimes showrooms/old timers have said to use Pledge on it to make it shine, I think wax works better. I think either Plexiglass cleaner/anti-static stuff may have been used on the windows/glass, it works pretty well and lasts a while.
Are you saying that the car hasn’t gotten dirty in almost 12 years? I’d like to find that secret out myself.
Well, since I got the car used, I don’t know if it was always like that. That’s what I would like to find out, or one of the things.
When we sold it, we cleaned it up, and all we had to do was wash the windows inside and out, vacuum out the dog hair, and wipe off the spare cover. This was in 2016, so only 11 years.
The color may have helped; it was silver. We have a dark blue car and it needs washing a lot. Now we have a white car and it needs it after only a week (albeit a slushy week). The Kia never needed it. Too bad I only appreciate that in retrospect.
Maybe the bar you set for what defines “clean” is lower than other people’s? From your OP, and having owned cars that I meticulously cleaned and waxed repeatedly, I cannot think of a single thing that would repel dirt, bugs, tar, etc for anywhere near that long.
There used to be a product called DynaGlaze many years ago. It was a polymer wax that was nearly that good. Made the painted surface extremely slippery.
Some years back, I had some repairs done to a car at a body shop. After I got it back, the paint job looked really good, and it seemed to stay relatively clean for a good long while. I assumed that the body shop properly washed and waxed the car (something I really never bothered with).
There are still polymer based waxes and sealants that dealers, detailers, repair shops and home users still apply to vehicles, and it does last for awhile, but nowhere near 11-12 years of never washing, re-applying the product, etc.
And if you opt to have a dealer apply that when you purchase a car, it can cost anywhere from $400-1200. Where I used to work, we had a “protection plan” that included a full detail, application of a similar product on the outside of the car, and a 3M type fabric/leather protector on the inside of the car…and we charged $1100 for it. Our cost on that was probably about $100 when you factor in the labor for the detail guy that does it.
Based on your description I’d expect it was magic pixie dust.
Different colors show dirt more of less. With white, if you want it to look clean you have to wash it. Waxing it on occasion will keep it looking nice longer and makes housing it down more effective if you don’t want to spend as much time scrubbing.
I own multiple white vehicles. Washing them is a routine part of my business.
I don’t know what the surface is but there is a sculpture on McGill College St. in Montreal that just doesn’t hold dirt. It will get a little dusty in dry weather, but the first rain or even snow that comes along it is clean as new. It is a color I would describe as pale butter.
At least part of it may have been going from a silver car to a white car. White and black cars tend to look much dirtier than silver ones. White cars show off dirt and black ones look horrendous in winter when they’re salting the roads. I think that’s at least part of the reason why so many cars are silver now.
On top of that, as you suspected they very well could have used some kind of wax (or even RainX’d) the car. Since it’s used and if you got it from a used car place, instead of having to work from corporate guide telling them how to get cars ready to be resold, they may have had a particularly good detailer and/or their own concoction of topcoat.
Thinking on this, I’m now convinced that it was a non-nutritive car varnish; it’s semi-permeable, not osmotic. What it does is it coats and seals the car, prevents the dirt from sticking to it.
Sounds to me like they used a product called Liquid Glass. Not well thought of in detailing circles, but durable - in fact, I don’t think you can remove it once applied.
I always wondered if they actually made that for cereal. We have super computers that fit into our shirt pockets, yet still have soggy cornflakes.
OP
A clear coat as mentioned by Beckdawreck is a coating applied at the factory to a car to protect the paint. An extra layer of protection if you will. The color of your car may be what makes it look cleaner than others. I have never seen a car that could last that long and look good without washing. I have a Dark Blue car and I have used every single product out there, If I drive it for five minutes, there is dust on the roof and outside the wheel wells… In winter, it looks like someone sprinkled wet baby powder on it, unless I clean it off. You may just have a magical automobile.
It’s possible someone ceramic coated the car, and then there was significant build up of serious dirt over a very long time. A car wash with high pressure spray could probably get all the gunk off, leaving the ceramic coating free and clean to do it’s thing, which is shed dirt like crazy. Sure, it will eventually get dirty again… but much more slowly.
There is nothing the car wash can apply that can last more than a few days, but if the car was ceramic coated by previous owner, getting the coating mega clean would really allow it to do it’s thing.
I think it’s unlikely someone spent 75-150 bucks on ceramic coating products and then put in the elbow grease and effort on a Kia, but someone might’ve done it.
