Coatings and Snow Removal

[Desertnate]

Yesterday as I removed the snow from my car for the third time, I began to contemplate the value of using a coating in this climate, and would like to hear people's thoughts.

When removing snow, any tool used (snow brum, brush, credit card, small furry house pet, etc) gets rubbed across the surface of the car. Depending on timing, the car could be pretty grimy already, but moving that tool across the paint will cause some marring. It's simply a way of life living in this climate, no matter how gentle and careful one may be.

With my dark colored cars, I can't go more than a year without some minor correction being needed to spruce things up. With that in mind, are the more expensive, long life coatings like OC or Cquartz even worth it? Due to environmental conditions, I'd have to polish them off long before I could fully enjoy the longevity of the protection they offer.

I'm I off base? At this point, I'm thinking a less expensive coating like DP or Blackfire may be way to go since they will easily give me what I'm looking for (if I can get the application process right) and I won't cringe as I polish away an expensive product each Spring.

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

I'm usually just super careful when I'm brushing off my car. I leave some snow on the paint so I never actually touch the paint with whatever I'm using to remove the snow. I also have a white car :-p

[Desertnate]

I'm usually just super careful when I'm brushing off my car. I leave some snow on the paint so I never actually touch the paint with whatever I'm using to remove the snow. I also have a white car :-p

White does help. My daughter's grey car with heavy metal flake when nearly five years without needing more than a light, "cleaning" polish.

[parshooter]

Danm, I've been using a snow brum all this time and I have 4 cats I could have been using.
Wouldn't the coatings protect the paint from the tool you are removing the snow with (a soft tool, not the credit card or kitchen knife) ?
I use the brum, but don't go all the way to the body.

[Cabrio]

Yesterday as I removed the snow from my car for the third time, I began to contemplate the value of using a coating in this climate, and would like to hear people's thoughts.

When removing snow, any tool used (snow brum, brush, credit card, small furry house pet, etc) gets rubbed across the surface of the car. Depending on timing, the car could be pretty grimy already, but moving that tool across the paint will cause some marring. It's simply a way of life living in this climate, no matter how gentle and careful one may be.

With my dark colored cars, I can't go more than a year without some minor correction being needed to spruce things up. With that in mind, are the more expensive, long life coatings like OC or Cquartz even worth it? Due to environmental conditions, I'd have to polish them off long before I could fully enjoy the longevity of the protection they offer.

I'm I off base? At this point, I'm thinking a less expensive coating like DP or Blackfire may be way to go since they will easily give me what I'm looking for (if I can get the application process right) and I won't cringe as I polish away an expensive product each Spring.

Always wanted but never have applied a coating to my cars. It would be great to hear from those out there that have experience with Cquartz or OC. From my understanding, these coatings definitely help protect the paint, resist swirls/scratches and give off a shine like no other...however, they are not kevlar and if you run a tool across your car to remove the snow, maybe less likely if you have the coating, but nonetheless you could still scratch the car.

[Heisenberg]

I'm in the same area - I wrap my brush or whatever I'm using in microfiber and I've only seen marring when I know I'm being too aggressive. I usually also only clear away the very top layer and the bottom is frozen. It doesn't blow off so I don't think it's disturbing other drivers. The car still looks great when its washed.

I've had CQUK on it for a while now and I plan on "healing" it with some Essence and recoating in the Spring but I absolutely see where you're coming from.

[RFrommann]

start car
turn heat on high
let run for 20 minutes
brush off door frame with hand
move car back and forth stepping on brakes hard
snow is now gone


this past snow storm i had parked in the street, and was plowed in up to my roof. i climed in passenger door, let car warm up while i dug out the front. and i dindt have to take a single anything to my car to remove the snow.

[zmcgovern45]

Don't touch your paint with any tool... leave a 1/2" buffer or so between your snow removal tool of choice and the paint.

With that being said, even if you didn't have to remove snow during the year and you simply washed your car weekly, you would still probably notice light marring over the course of a year. There is no way to keep a car perfectly swirl free... all you can do is minimize damage over time by using proper techniques and products. If the small imperfections do bother you that much, then you will likely continue doing a light polish on an annual basis... I still find plenty of value in coatings even if you don't intend to let them go longer than a year.

[RaskyR1]

Don't touch your paint with any tool... leave a 1/2" buffer or so between your snow removal tool of choice and the paint.

With that being said, even if you didn't have to remove snow during the year and you simply washed your car weekly, you would still probably notice light marring over the course of a year. There is no way to keep a car perfectly swirl free... all you can do is minimize damage over time by using proper techniques and products. If the small imperfections do bother you that much, then you will likely continue doing a light polish on an annual basis... I still find plenty of value in coatings even if you don't intend to let them go longer than a year.

This^^^^

My truck is coated and sits outside 24/7. In the winter I use the snow broom to remove "most" of the snow, but try to never actually touch the paint. I stayed marr free all winter long and even well after the one year mark it still looked great. As long as you're being careful you should be fine and a coating definitely won't hurt.

I have 5 different coatings on the roof and I'll have to inspect them closely come spring time.

[Desertnate]

Thanks for the inputs, everyone.

I don't try to go after the bottom crust of ice/snow on the surface, but times like yesterday I had at least two occasions to remove about 1" of sugary snow. My Snow Brum-like tool makes contact even with the lightest pressure.

Based on what I'm hearing, it's still worth it. The protection and hydrophobic properties will at least make it far easier to keep clean.