What is the best way to provide UV protection for a new Prius that sits out all day in the Indiana sun while the driver is at work short of covering it? Does waxing the paint do anything to protect from uv damage? What about the black rubber trim? And finally is there any UV protectant to use on the poly headlights and tail lights?
What about the dash and the seats, is there a good window tint?
Thanks!
Rick
Window shade, wax the paint, is all I’d do.
I would put one of those accordion cardboard covers over the front window inside the car. That will protect the dash padding from outgassing too fast and early cracking.
Regular wash and wax/don’t park where you get tree sap or bird poop if possible. For the outside plastic trim, they sell protective coatings in Walmart and car parts stores.
Tint your windows if legal/to the legal limit. Windshield shade as mentioned above, make sure you get the right size, so it fits right behind the glass rather than sitting on the dash.
Well I read on other forums that some waxes contain UV protection, others don’t. Then I read that All the wax does is protect the UV inhibitors in the paint.
Im confused, I am looking for additional UV protection beyond what the paint has in it. So does wax help? Im going to wax it anyway, however I am trying to find the best wax.
I don’t know where you’ll get any objective info on UV protection from specific waxes. I doubt any differences are significant. Modern finishes last pretty well, much better than a few years ago, right after the switch to low-emissions paints (low VOCs).
Meguiar’s NXT TechWax 2.0 is a very good polish for the paint, and the mfr claims superior UV protection.
I can’t vouch for the UV part, as my car is garaged most of the time, but I do find this product to provide a nice gloss, and it is very durable and very easy to work with.
However, you should not use it (or any other product designed for paint) on black plastic/rubber trim, as you will wind up with unsightly white residue that will be nearly impossible to remove. Instead, I strongly recommend 303 Aerospace Protectant, which gives your black trim a really dark look without the excessively greasy look & feel of inferior products like ArmorAll.
Most auto supply stores, such as Pep Boys & Autozone, carry the Meguiar’s product, but you may have to go to a marine supply store in order to find the 303 product for sale in a retail setting. However, you can order 303 directly from the mfr, online.
I found 303 at our local Napa store.
Put a blanket over the top of the back seat.
What color is the car? A red or black car will need to be waxed more often than a white or silver/grey car.
The best thing you can do is use a sun shade, wash and wax the car once a month, and use an Armor All-like product on the plastic and rubber parts once a month. If your car is white or silver, you might be able to go longer than a month between waxing, but keep a close eye on it so you can see when water stops beading. As long as you always wax it before the water stops beading, you are doing all you can to take care of the paint.
…and don’t go crazy buying the most expensive wax out there. Cheap Turtle Wax seems to work just as well as any other wax.
I recommend against tinting your windows. It’s likely your windows already have a UV coating, and I like to be able to see around me at night.
About all you can do is use a good quality wax like Meguires or Mothers twice a year at least and use the windshield shield.
Wax and finding that shade spot.
The hybrid system will be far out of warranty and may lead to the early death of your vehicle due to excessive repair costs. The finish even left in the sun may still be great at that point of its life.
The Prius is one of the most reliable cars available.
The hybrid system will be far out of warranty and may lead to the early death of your vehicle due to excessive repair costs.
What excessive repair costs?? Please explain??
Here’s someone that claims he measured wax layer thickness. At about 22 nanometers, the wax thickness is about the same as one wavelength of short UV light. It will absorb a little UV light, as any polymer will but it is too thin to be effective. Your clear coat will do a lot more to absorb UV light.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=130901&highlight=element+system
The hybrid system will be far out of warranty and may lead to the early death of your vehicle due to excessive repair costs. The finish even left in the sun may still be great at that point of its life.
You were right, Last night on her way to work the Prius battery overheated and burs ted into flames. It only had 4k miles on it. Off to the junkyard it goes.
FWIW, They hybrid system has a 8 year 100k mile warranty. We figured out with some help of the kind folks here, even if it needs a battery at 100k miles it is still cheaper than a equivalent non hybrid 4 banger.
@WheresRick;
Am I reading this correctly? A Prius battery overheated and burst in flames aonly at 4K miles and they totaled the car?
Is the warranty covering you or the insurance? This to me is odd; we are in the process of educating ourselves on hybrids esp since my wife does mostly local stop and go driving with our soon to be replaced minivan and the Prius has been the best replacement $$ wise for gas mileage (from 16 MPG to 50 MPG).
We figured out with some help of the kind folks here, even if it needs a battery at 100k miles
it is still cheaper than a equivalent non hybrid 4 banger.
I know this has been discussed times before, but that’s far from a foregone conclusion.