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Dealfable Journal

Five Coastal Car Care Myths We Hear Every Week

Straight talk from the bay. This is the kind of thing we say to customers over the counter at Palm Cove, written down so you can come back to it later without ringing us again. No filler, no sales pitch, just what actually works on a Queensland car.

Written by the Dealfable crew Practical, no jargon Short read
Living on the coast changes everything about how you should look after your car. Salt in the air, salt on the road, salt in the sea breeze that settles on your paint overnight. And yet most of the advice people pick up from forums and Facebook groups is aimed at someone in a dry inland city, not at someone parked two streets back from the beach in Palm Cove. Myth one is that a weekly wash with dish soap keeps the paint safe. Dish soap strips the protective layer off your clear coat and leaves it completely bare to everything the sea air throws at it. You end up with a car that feels squeaky and looks fine for a week, then goes chalky and dull a whole lot faster than it should. Proper car shampoo costs about twenty dollars and does the opposite. Myth two is that wax alone is enough. Wax is a nice top layer for a garage car, but in coastal conditions it burns off in weeks. A ceramic coating is what actually holds up. Myth three is that you should park under a tree for shade. In Queensland that tree is dropping sap, leaves and bird mess onto your roof, and the shade only helps until the sun moves anyway. A cheap car cover or a proper shaded carport is the better call. Myth four is that washing once a month is plenty. If you are driving through salt spray regularly, a fortnightly rinse of the panels, wheel arches and underbody takes ten minutes and stops the salt from sitting there eating through things quietly. Myth five, and honestly the most expensive one, is that a paint protection film or coating is a set and forget purchase. Even the seven-year coatings Dealfable applies need an annual inspection and a proper maintenance wash to keep performing. Skip that and the coating slowly stops beading, dirt starts bonding to the surface and by year three the car looks like it never had a coating put on at all. If you want the coastal version of a car care routine that actually works, ring us and we will talk you through it rather than sell you something you do not need.
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