Every year, somewhere around late October, we start seeing the same thing come through the workshop door. A car that looked fine in the summer now has a little orange freckle on the bonnet. Then another on the leading edge of the roof. By February, those freckles have friends.
Winter is hard on paintwork. Not because of one big event, but because of lots of small ones stacking up: gritted roads, wet mornings, frozen windscreens and a lot less daylight to notice what's happening. Here's what actually goes on, and what's worth sorting before the weather really turns.
Why winter is worse for your paint
Your car's paint is a layered system. There's primer on the metal, colour on top of that, and a clear lacquer over the top doing most of the protecting. As long as those layers are intact, the metal underneath stays dry and happy.
The problem starts the moment something breaks through to the metal. In summer, a stone chip can sit there for months without doing much. In winter, it's sitting in a constant mix of water and road salt, and salt speeds up corrosion dramatically. A chip that you could have touched in for very little in October can be a bubbling patch of rust by spring.
Road salt and grit
Essex County Council grits the main routes around Chelmsford on cold nights, which is great for keeping the A12 and A130 moving, but the salty spray ends up all over your car. It gets into wheel arches, along sills, onto the lower edges of doors and right across the front bumper.
Salt on its own won't eat through healthy lacquer overnight. Where it does real damage is in chips, scratches and any area where the paint is already compromised. It also clings, so a car that only gets washed occasionally in winter spends weeks coated in the stuff.
What helps: rinse the car more often than you think you need to over winter, paying attention to the lower half and the arches. A quick hose-down after a run of gritted roads does more good than a full valet once a month.
Stone chips
Gritted roads mean more loose stones, and the bonnet, front bumper and the leading edge of the roof take the brunt. If you do a lot of dual carriageway miles, have a proper look at the front of your car in good light. You might be surprised at how many small chips are there.
Not every chip needs a bodyshop. Tiny surface chips that haven't gone through to bare metal can often be left or touched in carefully. The ones to worry about are the chips where you can see grey primer or silver metal at the bottom. Those are open doors for rust.
Frozen windscreens and the scraper habit
This one isn't strictly paint, but we see the knock-on effects. People in a hurry on a frosty morning end up scraping with whatever's to hand, and a hard plastic scraper dragged across the edge of a windscreen and onto the bodywork will scratch it. Bank cards, CD cases and, yes, the occasional kettle of hot water (please don't) all do their own kind of damage.
Use a proper scraper on the glass only, give the engine and heater a few minutes, and keep the scraping away from the paint around the screen edges.
Scuffs from dark evenings
When the clocks go back, a lot of people go from parking in daylight to parking in the dark, both at home and at work. Unsurprisingly, this is when bumper scuffs pick up. A low wall you'd see easily at 5pm in July is almost invisible at 5pm in November.
A scuffed bumper isn't just cosmetic either. If the scuff has gone through the paint on a plastic bumper, the same water-and-grit problem applies, and on painted plastic the damage tends to spread as the paint lifts around the edges.
What to check before winter properly sets in
Give your car a walk-round on a dry day and look for:
- Chips showing primer or bare metal, especially on the bonnet, front bumper and roof edge.
- Scratches that catch your fingernail. If your nail drops into it, it's gone through the lacquer.
- Bumper scuffs where the paint is cracked, flaking or lifting at the edges.
- Little rust spots around wheel arches, door bottoms and the boot lip.
- Damaged trim and seals that might let water sit against the paint.
If you find anything in the first four categories, it's worth getting it looked at sooner rather than later. Small repairs are quick and relatively cheap. Rust repairs are neither.
Is it worth doing repairs in winter?
Yes, and it's often the smartest time to do it. Modern paint repairs are carried out in a controlled environment, so the weather outside doesn't affect the finish. Most of the car paint repairs we do at our Chelmsford car body shop are finished in a single day, so you're not without your car for long.
Getting chips and scratches sealed up before the worst of the gritting season means the salt has nothing to get into. It's a bit like fixing a small leak in the roof before the storms rather than after.
Our simple winter routine
- Wash the car properly in autumn and give it a coat of wax or sealant. It adds a sacrificial layer between the lacquer and the salt.
- Rinse regularly through winter, particularly underneath and in the arches.
- Check the front end every few weeks for new chips.
- Get anything that's gone through to the metal repaired before it has time to spread.
- Do a proper wash in early spring to get rid of the last of the salt.
None of it is complicated. It's just about not letting small problems sit in salty water for four months.
If you've spotted chips, scratches or scuffs and want to know whether they need attention, send us a few photos through our free estimate form or give us a call on 01245 463 183. We'll tell you honestly whether it's worth repairing now or something you can leave.
