Luxury Car Care
Seven habits that keep a luxury car looking new
We see the same cars year after year. The ones that still look new are not the ones that get detailed most often — they are the ones whose owners avoid a short list of damaging habits.
21 June 2026 · 5 min read
1. Never use an automatic brush wash
One pass through a brush tunnel can install more swirl marks than a year of careful hand washing. Touchless is acceptable in a hurry; brushes are not.
2. Remove contaminants immediately
Bird droppings, tree sap, fuel spills and brake dust etch clear coat quickly in heat. Keep a pH-neutral quick detailer and a plush microfibre in the boot and deal with them the same day.
3. Wash with technique, not force
- Pre-rinse and snow foam before anything touches the paint
- Two buckets, grit guards, clean mitts
- Wheels and arches on separate tools
- Dry with a blower or plush towel, never a chamois dragged across dry paint
4. Park with intent
Shade over sun, end bays over centre bays, and never under trees that drop sap. Sun bakes contaminants into the clear coat and fades interior trim faster than anything else in this climate.
5. Protect the interior before it wears
Leather coatings and fabric protection are far cheaper than re-trimming. Bolsters, steering wheels and door cards wear from body oils and denim dye — protection applied while they are still new keeps them that way.
6. Decontaminate twice a year
Iron fallout and embedded industrial fallout make paint feel rough and dull the finish. A chemical decon and light mechanical decon twice a year keeps the surface clean enough for protection to bond properly.
7. Correct once, protect properly, then maintain
Repeated cheap polishing thins the clear coat. Far better to correct the paint once to a high standard, lock it in with film and a coating, and then maintain it with a proper wash routine.