Midwest Winter Paint Protection

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Northwoods

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I live in the upper Midwest where we can have 7 months of hard winter. What is the best option for protecting the paint and finish on my daily drivers assuming that I can wash the vehicle during the winter months but I will not be able to apply any product? I frequently wash during the winter months so would like the paint protection layer to be able to handle that as well.

Would a wax work or do they just not last long enough? How about a paint sealant? Or a dedicated paint coating?

Or should I lay down a layer of sealant and then wax over the top of that? Are dedicated paint coatings for more advanced detailing folks? I usually only polish daily drivers once a year, would that work with a paint coating?

Looking for the most simple option that saves on time and $$$ but still offers good protection...?

Thanks!
 
Probably the best, least expensive option would be Collinite #476 Super Doublecoat Paste Wax.

They say this is actually a hybrid product, combining both natural waxes and poly sealants combined. I've used it for many years on various vehicles, very good.

For Plastic Trim, I'd like to recommend Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant (WETS)

Others might suggest Sonax Polymer Net Sealant, (PNS) another good one that has exceptional durability short of a Ceramic Coating. Either paint products I mention should do the trick.
 
Northwoods said:
assuming that I can wash the
vehicle during the winter months

but I will not be able to apply any product?
Click to expand...
To me:
Assuming that you can wash the vehicle
during the Winter months, means to also
assume that the ambient temperature, in
the area where the vehicle is being washed,
is well above the freeze-point of the car wash-
ing (and rinsing) solutions.

If this is the case, my question is:
‘Then why would you not be able to apply
a product to the freshly cleaned vehicle?’

Northwoods said:
Looking for the most simple option that saves
on time and $$$ but still offers good protection...
Click to expand...
IMO:
Optimum Car Wax:
A great “Hybrid” Sealant!


Bob
 
Ceramic Coatings would be the most durable followed by Paint Sealants and Waxes. You could also use a product like Blackfire HydroSeal or Wolfgang Uber SiO2 Coating Wash while doing your maintenance washes during the winter months for added protection.

Any of these products would be a great choice for winter protection -

Blackfire, Pinnacle Black Label, Wolfgang, Optimum, McKee'37, Gyeon, CarPro, GTechniq, P&S - Ceramic Coatings
Gyeon CanCoat
Sonax Polymer Net Shield
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant
Blackfire Paint Sealant
Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Sealant
RejeX Paint Sealant
McKee's 37 High-Def Paint Sealant
Finish Kare Ultra Polymer Paint Sealant
Jescar Power Lock +
Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze
Finish Kare 1000P Hi-Temp Paste Wax
Collinite Super DoubleCoat Auto Wax #476
Collinite Insulator Wax #845
 
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and lived there into my mid to late twenties. I feel sorry for all you "car guys and girls" that still live in similar environments. During that time I worked in the autobody/painting industry and from my experience you folks are fighting a losing battle. Waxing or other topical coatings on the paint do very little to protect your car from winter conditions in the overall scheme of things.

What I learned back then is that there is really only one way to protect your car during the winter months. And although this isn't going to be the answer you're looking for, it is the only effective answer in my opinion. Park your nice car during the months of salt and/or other chemicals on the road and drive a beater until springtime.
 
I’m a northeast guy and when I keep my cars protected, I’ve never had issues with permanent marks or rust. This includes living in Syracuse using Turtle Wax for years when I was young. Clean the underbody every month or two during the winter and make sure protection is always present and there shouldn’t be issues (based on my experiences).
 
2black1s said:
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and lived there into my mid to late twenties. I feel sorry for all you "car guys and girls" that still live in similar environments. During that time I worked in the autobody/painting industry and from my experience you folks are fighting a losing battle. Waxing or other topical coatings on the paint do very little to protect your car from winter conditions in the overall scheme of things.

What I learned back then is that there is really only one way to protect your car during the winter months. And although this isn't going to be the answer you're looking for, it is the only effective answer in my opinion. Park your nice car during the months of salt and/or other chemicals on the road and drive a beater until springtime.
Click to expand...

I put 10k hard, NE Ohio Winter miles on my coated car, comes out fine each Spring after a chemical decon. Run it through a touchless soap/rinse only car wash once or twice a month in the bad times, no worries. Ran w/ Collinite 915 one winter, did OK but was pretty much done by Spring. Freeway miles in winter are LSP-killers around here but a quality coating will get ya thru.
 
May necessary to use a spray wax or reapply LSP on lower panels if not going the coating route. I spray with something after every winter RW to ensure my protection doesn’t get too low.
 
acuRAS82 said:
I’m a northeast guy and when I keep my cars protected, I’ve never had issues with permanent marks or rust. This includes living in Syracuse using Turtle Wax for years when I was young. Clean the underbody every month or two during the winter and make sure protection is always present and there shouldn’t be issues (based on my experiences).
Click to expand...

BudgetPlan1 said:
I put 10k hard, NE Ohio Winter miles on my coated car, comes out fine each Spring after a chemical decon. Run it through a touchless soap/rinse only car wash once or twice a month in the bad times, no worries. Ran w/ Collinite 915 one winter, did OK but was pretty much done by Spring. Freeway miles in winter are LSP-killers around here but a quality coating will get ya thru.
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I agree with you guys to a point. When I lived back there I'd do the same kind of things... I had a garage at my parents house where I could pull my car in and hose it off, including the undercarriage, daily if I wanted to. And while that may have done some good and made me feel better at the time, in the overall scheme of things it did very little.

Fast forward to today. I've lived in Southern California since 1980. There is absolutely no comparison to a 'say' 5 or 10 year old car that is driven through Midwest winters, regardless of the amount of care, and the same California car. That is where my "park it" philosophy comes from.

I never knew that when I lived in the Midwest. I thought I was taking care of my car the best I could and I didn't know of anything different. But seeing some older California cars certainly enlightened me and indicated to me how frugal my attempts at maintaining a car through Midwest winters really were.
 
2black1s said:
I agree with you guys to a point. When I lived back there I'd do the same kind of things... I had a garage at my parents house where I could pull my car in and hose it off, including the undercarriage, daily if I wanted to. And while that may have done some good and made me feel better at the time, in the overall scheme of things it did very little.

Fast forward to today. I've lived in Southern California since 1980. There is absolutely no comparison to a 'say' 5 or 10 year old car that is driven through Midwest winters, regardless of the amount of care, and the same California car. That is where my "park it" philosophy comes from.

I never knew that when I lived in the Midwest. I thought I was taking care of my car the best I could and I didn't know of anything different. But seeing some older California cars certainly enlightened me and indicated to me how frugal my attempts at maintaining a car through Midwest winters really were.
Click to expand...

Of course, agree with you 100% Same with the dry southwest, like when I lived in New Mexico. Although drier and lower humidity, the sun and blowing dusts were killers. 3-4 year old vehicles with horrendous clear coat failures already, yellowed and hazed out headlights too.

Before vehicle bodies were galvanized dipped, it was really bad with the salts. Moth eaten wheel wells, doors, rocker panels in no time. And rust proofing and undercoating was virtually a waste of good money. Especially the way people like Ziebart used to drill a hole, and squirt in a few ounces inside a panel, nothing there.

Would've been better off buying a 12 pack case of rubberized undercoating spray cans, popping panels, and doing it myself.
 
Many people have chimed in with great advice but whatever you use to protect your car, whenever possible, keeping your car clean during the winter is VERY important! Here's where a quality waterless or rinseless wash comes into play so you can wash your ride in your garage. If its too cold in there maybe a small propane heater is a good idea to take the chill out of the air, most of your WW/RW will work in temps around 40 degrees without too much of a problem. Also, something like a Worx Hydroshot is good for cleaning the tires/wheel/wells as well as under your car, yeah you have the issue of water on your floor but you could squeege it out. We have underground parking at our apartment and its great as it stays warm enough down there to wash my car anyway I want to, unless its really cold outside, like 25 or less, then I have to wait it out until it warms up a bit outside.

Good luck to you, winter sucks, we all hate it here!
 
2black1s said:
What I learned back then is that there is really only one way to protect your car during the winter months. And although this isn't going to be the answer you're looking for, it is the only effective answer in my opinion. Park your nice car during the months of salt and/or other chemicals on the road and drive a beater until springtime.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I tell my customers who think my detail work will prevent their vehicle from rusting and falling apart.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Pick a nice day in October or November, and apply your favorite sealant to your car. Then ... do nothing. Don't wash the car until approximately March. Seriously, this is what I do. Washing the car is indeed a losing battle. Take it to a car wash, it's dirty by the time you get home. Winter = cold = slow chemical reactions. Use this to your advantage and leave things alone. My car is 14 years old in Wisconsin and has no rust. It is garage kept, but driven 52 weeks/yr. I usually wash it in the spring, the first stretch of nice weather, usually March or April, and the car beads water.
 
chet31 said:
Pick a nice day in October or November, and apply your favorite sealant to your car. Then ... do nothing. Don't wash the car until approximately March. Seriously, this is what I do. Washing the car is indeed a losing battle. Take it to a car wash, it's dirty by the time you get home. Winter = cold = slow chemical reactions. Use this to your advantage and leave things alone. My car is 14 years old in Wisconsin and has no rust. It is garage kept, but driven 52 weeks/yr. I usually wash it in the spring, the first stretch of nice weather, usually March or April, and the car beads water.
Click to expand...

I know this makes logical sense. But know too how awful a vehicle looks in very short time. Snow and rain is nothing but water. It's the wicked salts. In two week's time a black car is totally white.

The very best protection IMO will be a durable ceramic coating both on the vehicle and wheels in and out.
There's not much though a person can do with the underside except spray washes and even still.

Even after one winter, a ceramic coating will be pretty much essentially beat to death come spring. That is if you wish to keep it clean with periodic washes.

In one winter back in Wisconsin, I seen more rust accumilate on my '97 SUV's Chassis than in 14 years in New Mexico.
 
From my experience with winter weather environment in Sweden. Is the undercarriage and the wheel wells that takes the most beating from road salt and grime from what it desolves. If you want to have a great rust protection then the rubberized undercarriage coatings is what to use in the longrun. Every spring get your vehical up on something where you can clean it thoroughly. Then when you have done the big coating on it. You maintain it every spring with adding more with a spray can or a paintble one. There is also a thing that's not so good when you use this and that's where you need to be doing some investigation on how your vehical are build. It's the rain drainage and the drainage from the inside of the car that the moist and water can get out. It's very easy to seal these in and that's where you gets the disasters from it starts to rust from the inside. We use Tectyl but it's has been a name of protecting the undercarriage rather than the brand. 3M and Würth has this kind of rubberized/asphalt undercarriage/body paint/coatings and I'm sure you have US brands that have these kind of products too. Then you use different kind of these Tectyl products as I call them. The ones on the undercarriage is very thick. The ones on the wheel wells is thinner but still build up a good thickness. Then you have the ones that is thinner that you spray inside of the closed places on a vehical. Like beams and the inside of the rocker panels and on the other side of the wheel wells. You reach these from the drainage of them and many times as in the doors you have a plastic/rubber seal you take off and put in a tube and then apply it inside there that way. It's a messy work to be doing but well worth it if you plan on keeping the vehical for a long time. Many even takes it to proffessionals when they buy a new vehical and put some extra of this on the undercarriage and wheel wells and such. Most vehicals sold here have this already done. But some are better than others to do it thoroughly. These last many years so that's why you only need to be maintain it by washing and let it dry thoroughly and peel off any loose flakes of this and spray on new of it. So this is what I try to get holding up as long as possible and ad new when necessary.

Ooh then it's the paint LOL. A great ceramic coating or coating lite range of products is the way to go for longest and most thorough protection. There is a few sealants that reach these longevity range as 7 months you seems to be needing. Some of them have been mentioned as Jescar Powerlock and Collinite 476s is a couple of them that I know is used here in Sweden. But I would go with a ceramic coating to be certain of the longevity from it. Some can reach 2 years even in harsher winter environment. This is if you are not able to be topping or reapply which I useally does.

/ Tony
 
In NE PA our IS350 gets ceramic coated just before winter and the F150 gets a mix of Collinite. Both vehicles do get toppers throughout the winter as weather allows. Typically I can hose them down once a month with a battery operated pressure washer from Worx or SunJoe, followed by rinseless or full wash. Using this process the coatings mentioned make it through the winter. My 2 garage queens don’t venture out too much except when the roads are clear
 
I do just like everyone else here. Started off using Klasse SG, upgraded to Collinite 845, and then moved on to coatings and never looked back. When the winter months do set in, I'll run the cars through a touchless wash when the weather permits and make sure to go through one with an underbody spray. The process isn't perfect, but it has served me well for a long time in keeping my cars in the best shape possible.
 
MarkD51 said:
I know this makes logical sense. But know too how awful a vehicle looks in very short time. Snow and rain is nothing but water. It's the wicked salts. In two week's time a black car is totally white.

The very best protection IMO will be a durable ceramic coating both on the vehicle and wheels in and out.
There's not much though a person can do with the underside except spray washes and even still.

Even after one winter, a ceramic coating will be pretty much essentially beat to death come spring. That is if you wish to keep it clean with periodic washes.

In one winter back in Wisconsin, I seen more rust accumilate on my '97 SUV's Chassis than in 14 years in New Mexico.
Click to expand...

I hear you. I was mainly talking about the painted surfaces of the car, where keeping the clear coat nice through the winter is more of an issue than rust. The under surfaces of the car, well, we're just sort of screwed. I get why people want to wash their cars in winter. My wife does because she hates when salt rubs off on her clothing. I was just presenting an alternate approach (which obviously my wife ignores).
 
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