Virtually all modern vehicle manufacturers use a layer of clear coat paint to seal and protect the base layer of paint on each new model. In the minds of some vehicle owners, the presence of this transparent coating eliminates the need for regular vehicle waxing. However, even in the age of factory-applied protective layers, you still have plenty of reasons to make waxing part of your vehicle maintenance routine.

keeping your vehicle clean, serviced, and maintained is the best way to extend its lifespan. While most car, truck, and SUV owners focus on engine, transmission, and suspension maintenance, your vehicle’s exterior protection is also important. To accomplish this, washing and waxing the car’s exterior is a smart idea. Beyond keeping your vehicle looking shiny and clean, there are other reasons why taking time to wax or detail the car’s paint is beneficial to car owners. Let’s look at the top six benefits of the process:

1)  Adding an Extra Layer of Protection:

Even if you have a new car with a clear coat paint job, exposure to the elements can gradually break down that protective layer and leave the surface of your vehicle subject to eventual damage from UV radiation, insects, road debris, road salt and other sources. When you wax your car regularly, you’re essentially adding another layer of protection to the expensive factory clear coating. Rather than impacting this transparent paint, various sources of potential damage will impact the wax, instead. Since you can easily restore the wax layer as needed, your car’s clearcoat paint remains intact for as long as possible.

2) Making Your Car Easier to Wash:

Regular waxing also makes your car much easier to wash. That’s true because, instead of sticking to your vehicle’s paint job, tree sap, insect parts, bird feces and other substances stick to the applied wax. The next time you go to the car wash, you can quickly get rid of any stuck-on materials. You can also get rid of them the next time you go through your waxing routine. On the other hand, if you don’t protect your car with a proper waxing, you may have to pay for a full detailing job in order to restore its surface to good condition.

3) Giving Your Vehicle a New-Car Shine:

Not all cars are protected with a factory-applied clearcoat layer. If your vehicle lacks this coating, you may find it difficult to achieve or maintain a shiny exterior surface over time. However, when you wax regularly, you’ll have no problem keeping your car looking like new. In fact, the desire to achieve this new-car shine was a primary motive for routine waxing long before the automotive industry adopted clear coating as the norm in vehicle production.

4) Keeping Your Paint Chip-Free:

While travelling down the road, the average car is frequently exposed to small impacts from tiny pebbles and other forms of flying debris. Over time, these impacts can lead to a significantly chipped paint job. Routine waxing will not provide ironclad protection from the potential for paint chipping. However, when you keep your vehicle waxed, you reduce the chances that contact with road debris will have a direct, lasting effect on your vehicle’s appearance. Without this extra protection, you may need to put up with the presence of unsightly chip marks or even put aside the money required for a partial paint job.

5) Diminishing the Appearance of Paint Scratches:

Most car owners dread the idea of scratches in their vehicle’s paint job. Unfortunately, such scratches rank high among the most common paint defects. Routine waxing will not make scratches in your car’s paint disappear. However, an application of wax can make shallow scratches much less obvious to the naked eye. Unless heavy scratching is present, you may even prefer waxing over any other potential remedy. That’s because it allows you to avoid removing and replacing sections of your vehicle’s clear coat layer of paint.

6) Saves You Money:

It can cost a lot of money to have a paint job done on your car. This is why most automotive manufacturers recommend having your car waxed on a regular basis and typically include waxing in their regularly scheduled maintenance. When you take time to have the car waxed, it can extend the paint’s lifespan significantly — reducing the need to have the vehicle repainted to avoid rust damage.

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