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How to Make an Old Car Look Shiny Again?

ByTsukasa Azuma-November 04, 2024

If you love your car, you make every possible effort to keep it looking like new. Professional cleaning and servicing, timely car parts inspections, etc., are only some of the things that you get done. But, did you know that there are some other very simple ways to make your old car shine like new? You can adopt these simple ways of cleaning your car at home that will make your car shine like it is new. And, that, without spending a fortune! All you need is a little time and a little more love for your car, and you’ll see that maintenance tips are a treasure. Let’s roll up our sleeves and learn how to make an old car look new right now!

How to Make an Old Car Look New by Simple Hacks at Home!

Washing your car is very easy if done in a systematic manner. All you need is a little patience, some water, a soft sponge, quality car soap, and microfiber fabric.

Pro Tip: Make sure that you rinse the car liberally before you have it soaped up. If not, the debris that is stuck to the body will leave marks when you rub soap on it. Also, keep two separate buckets for clean water and for soapy water. Ready to know how to make your car shine squeaky clean?

1. Making washing the body simple, yet effective

Immerse the sponge in soapy water and then start cleaning the car’s body. DO NOT use dish soap. Even sturdy car bodies like Toyota can lose their sheen with it. Now rinse the sponge in clean water and repeat the entire cleaning process until the entire body is covered. Now rinse with plain water.

Make sure you dry it completely with a microfiber cloth so that no spots are left.

A good wash ensures that your old car paint doesn’t get older with every wash. Did you know that car wash service could be destroying your car with the kind of treatments they use?

Cleaning the body of old car is the main way to make your car look new. (photo source: Shutterstock)

2. Don’t forget wheels and tires

Wheels and tires play an important role in terms of making your car look shiny. Thus, you should give them special attention. Buy a good brush for cleaning wheels and tires, along with a non-corrosive water-based cleaning spray. Simply spray on and brush on to take the dirt and debris out of the grooves and crevices of the wheels and tires. Rinse well.

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3. The glass needs special attention

Learning about how to make car shiny means you have to know the right way to clean its glass. As you have an old car, odds are that the glasses on your car will need more attention. Make sure that you clean the glass last because the other processes will make if dirty if you do it first.

Protecting the shine of an old car (photo source: Amazon)

Try to grab an ammonia-free glass cleaner, especially for the interiors. It will not only make your car shine like new but also protect its shine in the long term.

4. Compressed air can work wonders

Talking of mats, they are one important part of your car since they catch all the soil and dirt that enters your car. It is great that you can wash and rinse them, but did you know that compressed air words even better? Just use some compressed air and all will look like new in seconds.

5. Apply the sealant for your car

Last but not least in the process of “How to make an old car look new at home” is applying the sealant for your car. At this stage, your car’s paint must have been pretty good, but you need to make sure it’s durable. That is the job of paint sealants, easy to use and help protect the paint for months. A brand that can help protect car paint for up to a year is the Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze. Another popular alternative is Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealer 3.0.

Applying the sealant for your car is an effective way to make it more shiny. (photo source: Chemical Guys/Youtube)

6. Remove scratches

This method is only effective on surface scratches, which mainly consist of dirt. Because to fix deeper scratches, you will need to see a professional. To clean surface scratches, pour some acetone-free nail polish remover onto a microfiber cloth and rub the scratches away.

7. Clean headlight

After driving for a while, your headlights look a bit dirty. Luckily, headlights are easily cleaned with whitening toothpaste. You simply take a tube and place it over the headlight, completely covering the tube with toothpaste. You can just use your fingers to do this. Let it stay like that for about 15 minutes. Take an old toothbrush and start scrubbing your headlights. You will see that the toothpaste turns brown. After you’ve scrubbed your headlights, wipe off the toothpaste with a damp cloth. You will see that the headlights are brighter than ever.

Watch the video below to see how to make an old car look new at home in detail:

Hopefully, you will get to know how to make your car shine at home through our article. If you have any question related to this topic, feel free to leave us a comment in the box below. Don’t forget to follow us to update more daily articles to satisfy your demands.

Tsukasa Azuma is an awesome car blogger of Car From Japan. He owns a car repair shop at downtown Osaka, and he put all that experience to good use in his sharing posts. Tsukasa’s blog is one of the best resources for information about keeping your favorite imported car running smoothly. Moreover, because of being passionate to learn about the recent happenings in auto industry, he doesn’t only provide great car maintenance tips, he also always updates latest trends in among car brands and share them in his own interesting viewpoint.

Comments

salimu chansa05:50 August 10, 2017
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Very helpful article indeed. .you helped change my perception and saved up on unnecessary car wash bill,cheers.

Trang Tran02:34 September 13, 2017
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