Does a ceramic coating make a car scratch-proof?
What a coating protects against, what it does not, and how to tell an honest coating quote from an oversold one.
Driving in Ahmedabad and what it does to your paint
Highway gravel, construction dust, hard water and summer sun: the local wear and tear our bays see every week.
Every city leaves its own marks on a car. After eight years of detailing in Ahmedabad, we can usually tell from the paint where a car spends its time. Here is what we see, and what helps.
On SG Highway and the ring road, the main enemy is grit. Trucks and construction sites throw up small stones and sand, which chip the front bumper and bonnet. If you drive these roads daily, a paint protection film on the front, or at least a coating, saves the paint. Leave a longer gap behind trucks; most chips happen in traffic. In the new areas around Bopal, Shela and Gota, construction dust is constant. Cement dust settles on the car and, with dew or a light shower, sets into hard spots. Wash it off with plenty of water rather than wiping it dry; dry wiping cement dust is the fastest way to swirl a car.
Ahmedabad’s water is hard in many areas. Washing a car with borewell water in the afternoon sun leaves white mineral spots that etch into the clearcoat. Wash early or late, in shade, and dry with a clean microfibre. If your society uses borewell water, a final rinse with a few litres of RO water helps.
And then there is the summer sun, with afternoons above 44°C in May. UV fades unprotected red and black paint, and dashboards crack. Park in shade, use a sunshade on the windscreen, and keep a coating, sealant or wax on the paint through the hot months.
