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The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections?

AmerikanMatt

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get the truck coated, wether it’s one of the new dangled ceramic ones or just a good old fashioned sealant.

Makes it super easy to wash.
Would you mind elaborating on this a bit? I've never had a vehicle coated, but with this purchase, I'm strongly considering protecting my investment.

Being a PPF/Ceramics/Sealants-options newbie, I thought I read that coating your vehicle makes it possibly problematic to run through car washes.... is there any truth to that?

I am one of those guys who washes his truck like 3-4 times/week (I always have the unlimited washes program at my local car wash) and am worried about the right combo between protective coatings and weekly maintenance. I DO NOT want a truck I have to hand-wash. I've been known to run it through the wash twice in one day.........

Can anyone here shed some light on options, pros/cons, and definitely lessons-learned/dos-don'ts with regard to coatings..... specifically in how it relates to weekly maintenance and/or long-term maintenance?

I know it's a super-broad question, but I don't know what I don't know and don't want to make a big mistake.... (picking my truck up tomorrow, so prolly need to figure it out soon.......:cool: )

Thanks!
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crashmtb

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Would you mind elaborating on this a bit? I've never had a vehicle coated, but with this purchase, I'm strongly considering protecting my investment.

Being a PPF/Ceramics/Sealants-options newbie, I thought I read that coating your vehicle makes it possibly problematic to run through car washes.... is there any truth to that?

I am one of those guys who washes his truck like 3-4 times/week (I always have the unlimited washes program at my local car wash) and am worried about the right combo between protective coatings and weekly maintenance. I DO NOT want a truck I have to hand-wash. I've been known to run it through the wash twice in one day.........

Can anyone here shed some light on options, pros/cons, and definitely lessons-learned/dos-don'ts with regard to coatings..... specifically in how it relates to weekly maintenance and/or long-term maintenance?

I know it's a super-broad question, but I don't know what I don't know and don't want to make a big mistake.... (picking my truck up tomorrow, so prolly need to figure it out soon.......:cool: )

Thanks!
you wash your car too much.
Automatic car washes generally will strip any wax/coating off. I’ve used klasse, which is quite old fashioned now. And I’ve had some other “lasts a year!” Sealant applied by a Body Shop I know that is very good at detailing.

i don’t go through automatic car washes since they tend to beat up paint and miss lots. Except in winter to take advantage of undercarriage rinsing. But you don’t have that problem.

with a good coating/sealant/wax, all you really need is a low pressure wash/rinse at a coin op wash. The one I go to when in Arizona, for example even has a drive through blow dryer thingy like at the end of an automatic wash.
 

DailyVacuum

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Would you mind elaborating on this a bit? I've never had a vehicle coated, but with this purchase, I'm strongly considering protecting my investment.

Being a PPF/Ceramics/Sealants-options newbie, I thought I read that coating your vehicle makes it possibly problematic to run through car washes.... is there any truth to that?

I am one of those guys who washes his truck like 3-4 times/week (I always have the unlimited washes program at my local car wash) and am worried about the right combo between protective coatings and weekly maintenance. I DO NOT want a truck I have to hand-wash. I've been known to run it through the wash twice in one day.........

Can anyone here shed some light on options, pros/cons, and definitely lessons-learned/dos-don'ts with regard to coatings..... specifically in how it relates to weekly maintenance and/or long-term maintenance?

I know it's a super-broad question, but I don't know what I don't know and don't want to make a big mistake.... (picking my truck up tomorrow, so prolly need to figure it out soon.......:cool: )

Thanks!
A sealant is a synthetic wax that is extremely easy to apply and usually sprayed on your vehicle and can last anywhere from 3-6 months

A Ceramic Coating is a more permanent and stronger version of a sealant, its more difficult to apply and takes a lot more prep work but can last anywhere from a 1-3 years.

Both of these options protect your vehicle's paint from the sun and makes it hydrophobic. See picture below. This hydrophobic property makes it so that dirt doesn't stick to it as much and makes washing the car really easy. If your car has a good sealant/ceramic coating on it you should be able to wash and dry the vehicle really easily since most of the water beads right off.

Both of these are thing chemical layers that you put over your paint. They won't protect it from scratches.
Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? 1664333917703


PPF (paint protection film) is actually a physical film that goes over your vehicle. This provides a physical layer of protection to protect against scratches and rock chips.


With all that being said, if you care at all about your vehicle's paint and want it to stay looking shiny then please please do not run it through those automatic washes. Every time you are run it through, you are causing large amounts of scratches. They may not be visible right away but it is guaranteed they are happening.

I don't want to preach too much about automatic car washes and the damage it can cause. But if you really cared about your paint, look into hand washing it yourself with proper techniques (lots of info on YouTube). If you're too lazy for that, look into finding an auto detailer who will wash it the proper way.

If you are going to run it through the automatic car wash all the time, there's really no point in getting PPF or a Ceramic Coating as it will just be ruined. Just stick with a sealant/wax.
 

AmerikanMatt

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you wash your car too much.
Automatic car washes generally will strip any wax/coating off.

i don’t go through automatic car washes since they tend to beat up paint and miss lots.
if you care at all about your vehicle's paint and want it to stay looking shiny then please please do not run it through those automatic washes. Every time you are run it through, you are causing large amounts of scratches. They may not be visible right away but it is guaranteed they are happening.

I don't want to preach too much about automatic car washes and the damage it can cause. But if you really cared about your paint, look into hand washing it yourself with proper techniques (lots of info on YouTube). If you're too lazy for that, look into finding an auto detailer who will wash it the proper way.

If you are going to run it through the automatic car wash all the time, there's really no point in getting PPF or a Ceramic Coating as it will just be ruined. Just stick with a sealant/wax.
Okay! Thanks guys……. I had a sneaky suspicion I might hear that advice……

Definitely not a “lazy” thing…… more of a time-management thing. (Check the avatar….lol).

I will need to learn to enjoy hand-washing my new baby it sounds like.

(FWIW - my current car is Pearl white. If it’s getting scratched by the excessive washing, it’s not noticeable yet. I won’t take that risk with the Rivian now).

Thanks again!
 

AxelR

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I’d think the yellow would hide dirt really well. It’s a pretty muted yellow in real life and shouldn’t show much.
I had a bright yellow Rubicon and you couldn’t tell when it was dirty (unlike our blue Tesla).
 

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HJP1

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Generally lighter colors hide the dirt best, I have launch green and while I have not played in the mud yet it looks darn good between washes (I have only washed it twice in the 2 months I have owned it).
 

NY_Rob

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I went with Glacier White because it drives me nuts to see paint imperfections, which are inevitable. I don’t care how careful you are, you will get clear coat micro scratches, etc. I ended up getting PPF on the front end, but the GW does well to hide all of those scratches, imperfections, etc. The lack of metallic flake helps to hide imperfections as well. Long story short, I am very glad I went with GW.
One problem w/white is if you live or work near RR tracks you can get airborne rail dust clinging to the paint which rusts over time leaving permanent marks in the white paint. Ceramic coating should help mitigate the clinging, but it's just something to keep in mind.
I work about 2 blocks away from a commuter rail station. Back when I had a Pearl White Plug-in-Prius the rail dust was always causing rust spots on the paint and had to be removed constantly (cleaner wax). My next car (Chevy Volt) was dark metallic gray which ended the rail dust problem.
 

Mister Person

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I visited the Chicago service center earlier in the summer. El Cap and Rivian Blue showed a ton of water spots. Limestone and White did not. Here are 3 pics I took. Notice the water spots on the rear window between El Cap and Limestone are nearly the same, but the Limestone paint hid them really well. I currently have El Cap configured on my R1S, but I wonder if I won't switch to White or Limestone for this very reason. El Cap is beautiful though.

Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? 6BE8D6EA-A09C-4781-AA89-8EDEDF74A114


Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? DEF4FE65-C336-4887-B4BC-8993600D034A


Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? 985DB23C-6E0A-465F-AAC4-CD7474232017
 
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ohseedee

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I visited the Chicago service center earlier in the summer. El Cap and Rivian Blue showed a ton of water spots. Limestone and White did not. Here are 3 pics I took. Notice the water spots on the rear window between El Cap and Limestone are nearly the same, but the Limestone paint hid them really well. I currently have El Cap configured on my R1S, but I wonder if I won't switch to White or Limestone for this very reason. El Cap is beautiful though.

6BE8D6EA-A09C-4781-AA89-8EDEDF74A114.jpg


DEF4FE65-C336-4887-B4BC-8993600D034A.jpg


985DB23C-6E0A-465F-AAC4-CD7474232017.jpg
Thanks for the pictures. Very helpful. The El Cap and Blue look terrible. This is exactly how my cars would look and what I've been able to avoid with my white A4. I have a darker blue VW that looks pretty terrible most of the time. My hope was the lighter Rivian Blue would hide things better, but doesnt look like it from your picture.
 

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Mister Person

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@Mister Person do you recall what the Yellow next to the El Cap looked like? It's a bit far off in your picture but looks clean.
The flatter colors did a better job at hiding the dirt and spots. I wasn't looking closely at the yellow truck as I'm not too interested in it, and didn't get a closeup. here are 2 other pics I took:

Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? IMG_4504


Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? IMG_4505
 

dduffey

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My vote is LA silver. I have El Cap and it's the lighter colored dirt that shows most in it l. Have a few scratches due to offroading and they tend to show lighter as well.

Rivian R1T R1S The best color to hide dirt and paint imperfections? PXL_20220604_215421931.MP
 
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ohseedee

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The flatter colors did a better job at hiding the dirt and spots. I wasn't looking closely at the yellow truck as I'm not too interested in it, and didn't get a closeup. here are 2 other pics I took:

IMG_4504.jpeg


IMG_4505.jpeg
Thanks. You can clearly see water spots on the window of the limestone, but I cant detect any on the paint.
 

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the long way downunder

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Black.

Kidding.

Get a wrap. Use drive-thru touch-less. Fuggedaboudit. : )
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