Thanks for the condolences TSM. It wasn’t as bad as the car I spent a year completing (smoothed frame rails and firewall you could comb your hair in the reflection) that was wrecked within the first mile by hitting a deer. That was a gut punch. I vowed never to make another piece of rolling jewelry after that…
I certainly did not mean to discount your reasoning, just provide some perspective on my experience for consideration. Thinking about this some more I wonder if it isn’t the following scenario;
there are some cars that have good prep, good materials and afterward, it doesn’t matter at all how they’re treated, the paint continues to perform well.
The other end of the spectrum is a faulty process or material and it doesn’t matter how well you care for it, it is going to fail.
In the middle are situations where the process or materials have some issues but with extra care, it doesn’t fail. If you don’t provide a protective coating, it will fail prematurely.
Naturally, the fail safe position (assuming failed paint is a big deal for the owner) is to provide good care for the paint because you do not know which situation you are in until after the fact!
For me, I chose to stop caring about my daily drivers because; lack of time, no big financial issue if I need to repaint and my history was good even with neglect. YMMV
The reality is that taking care of the finish is purely vanity. There are fields full of bpdies and plenty of rat rods to prove conclusively that bodies will stand up to pretty much anything for decades. The failing is usually rotting that begins in crevaces that no wax job can ever prevent. Fortunately, manufacturers have become really good at designing out those problems.
Me, I’m vain and without any meaningful life to speak of. I have the time, and I like the shine, so I wax. The car would last the rest of my life even if I never washed or waxed it again. It’d look terrible, but it would last just as long.
We're just sitting around chatting amongst ourselves.
This happens all the time.
Well, since we’re just chatting amongst ourselves…
Does anyone have ideas on why this happens all the time? Seems strange that someone would go to the effort to post a question because they need help with a car problem, and then seem to disappear. Do you suppose they’re just lurking…reading the replies without responding? Or have they dropped the whole thing and not come back to read the responses? I guess that’s their right, but it seems senseless if they really needed car advice.
@TSM: I’ve noticed that, to your credit, you make a point of thanking posters who report back when the matter has been settled. Good on you.
My supposition is that they get the answer(s) they need and are too busy fixing their car up to come back and listen to us gab. Sometimes we seem to go on forever.
Yeah maybe but I think they maybe do a lot of surfing while having the one issue and either don’t remember where they were or can’t remember how to get back in again to answer or read the response. Because of all the passwords and so on to get in, it can be a little challenging. Plus, if you’ve ever been traveling and trying to find the site without a bookmark, it can be a fair task. You can Google but it brings you to the main page, then you have to try and figure out how to get to the forum site. Its kind of hidden and there is no forum link like other sites. Is it under our show, car info, blogs, community? I don’t know myself. Its just not very clean for a “help forum”.
Trying to cut down on fat.