mmichel

What's worse for a cars paint... parking under the shade of a tree and having sap droplets get all over the paint (maple & oak trees), or parking in the direct sun all day? I garage my car at night, but at work I tend to park away from other cars in the parking lot. But I also tend to park where there is no shade at all. I could park under some trees, but I hate those little sap droplets. I'm located in northern MA, so we don't get the kind of direct sun you guys from the south get. Just curious to hear you opinions.

Red-CL

Both.

Shawn S

Good question, but I don’t know the true answer, only my opinion.

I would pick FULL SUN over trees & tree sap every day.
Mainly because birds tend to hang out in trees.
And we all know that nice clean cars induce birds to SHIT all over our cars.
And there’s not much worse then bird-shit on paint.

Keep a good coat of polish with UV blockers on the car and get a sun visor and/or tinted windows.

sidemarker

you know whats the worse

getting your car egged and not cleaning it off immediately! the paint will get fucked up!

regardless, if you plan on parking the car in anything harmful like under the tree or sun just make sure you wax and wash your car often. That would be the best bet!

sidemarker

123456SPEED

I pick shade everytime. we had a cold front this week and the temps dropped to the lower 90s, but last week we were at 98. That's too hot to leave a car out in. Plus the treeshaded area at work is parallel parking so I don't get door dings. I keep good wax on it and clean off any bird droppings.

I also have one of those super duper folding panel sunshields that actually do reduce the heat compared to the cheaper roll up kind I had before.

CLpower

I'm w/ Shawn, i'd take the sun anyday over under a tree.

LiQiCE

Definitely direct sunlight.

I parked my car under a tree at my new job recently (old job had a parking garage ... damn I miss that). It was cloudy when I parked the car and I guess it rained when I was at work, so all of these berries dropped on the car. Well afterwards, it got sunny out and the birds came out and must have eaten the berries off my car and then pooped them back out cuz my car, which was perfectly shiny in the morning looked like someone had literally trashed the car when I came out after work. The sun had baked the bird crap and berries onto the car. I washed the car that afternoon and got the bird crap off without any problems, but the berries which had melted to the car left these nasty stains on the paint finish. I tried using everything to get it off ... Carwash didn't do it, Z5 didn't do it, Zaino Claybar didn't do it, Turtlewax Bug and Tar didn't do it... Finally I had to use rubbing alcohol and a shop towel to get some of it off, but it left nasty swirl marks all over the car!!! Meguir's Scratch X removed some of them, but not all... *and* I still have some marks from those berries left on the paint and I don't know if I'll ever get them back off... All in one day.

So now I park in the direct sunlight.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

X10

Take it from me. In the hot FL sun my car sits all day. Not just this car, my Explorer, & my previous cars. All had no problems with paint.

18anatak

even here in hot ass FL, i ll pick the sun over trees any day of the week.

sixgearcl

again...

Stting in a hot car isnt as bad as cleaning hot bird shit and hot tree sap in hot weather... the ac will kick in fairly quickly...

Sunlight doesnt really fuck up the paint in one sitting... bird shit and tree sap on the other hand, can... even if you wipe it off quickly, the adverse affects such as scratching with a hard towel or swirl marks from dirt particles can fuck up the paint

mantis23

haha! good question. I'm in the same dilemma as you.

I generally park in direct sunlight, except for when its 50 bajillion degrees outside.

Removing the sap from the ride sucks ass.

I wish we had covered parking.

mantis23

Its easier for northern folks to pick direct sunlight than those of us in the south.

sixgearcl

i bet the sun kicks your ass down there

fender4

Bird Sh!~t has burned a hole right thru the paint (ie left a mark) soooo I say birds are harder than sun or sap.

mmichel

Thanks for all the opinions. Sounds like I'm picking the best of two evils by parking in the sun. I do wash the car weekly, and I also keep up with waxing.

Thanks again!

dfreder371

I test paint for a living, from industrial to automotive. Stick with the sun. Todays' paints are extremely UV-A (340 nanometer wavelength, that's very close to sunlight) stable. Even the reds today which even ten years ago tended to fade and chalk are pretty good.

What you are really asking is this: "What is worse? UV radiation from the sun, or chemical attack?" I do chemical attack test also, in fact, I am doing one now related to powder coated bathroom cubicle hardware for China. So, the chemicals we test against are things like ammonia, bleach, toilet bowl cleaner drain cleaner, tri sodium phosphate...things you would use to clean a bathroom.

Using the same logic for cars, I would do the same. Although tree sap is fairly benign because it is a resin, it can be a bitch to dissolve with water, depending on the chemical makeup. Pine tree sap is very different from say, oak. Pine resin is very non soluable in water. Shawn mentioned bird shit. Get that stuff off first chance you get. Gasoline? Hell, about once a year I wash my car in gasoline to get all of the tar off. Gas is no problem. But be really careful with any antifreeze, either the orange or the green stuff. And worse than that, brake fluid is usually instant death to paint if left on for over a minute.

Keep in mind, that the color coat is designed to do one thing: look pretty. All of the UV protection and mechanical damage resistance properties are built into the clear top coat.

EricL

AND

DON'T polish the clear coat too much or let some moron remove a ton of it to make it oh-so-smooth at the expense of sufficient depth. If you do, you will destroy the paint since it IS the UV protection. Once too much of it is removed, it will NOT protect the color coat and the paint will simply go away. A good detailer will leave a few blems in the clearcoat if it will keep them from removing too much material.

Sap, bird crap, and water can be brutal and eat through stuff in very little time. Zaino included.

dfreder371

Amen, Eric. Water is called the "universal solvent", because over time, it will ruin anything. Water is very unique. It is the highest BTU absorbing natural compound found on the face of the earth. That, along with it's usually plentiful availability is why it is used to fight fires, to lower the kindeling temperature. Water can split boulders when it freezes. Water acts as a "lens" when on paint when the sun shines, and who hasn't had a water spotted car? Water is the only liquid that you can fill above the top of a glass, due to it's unique surface tension properties. All others will spill over immediately.

And correct again Eric. Do NOT try to polish your car down to mirror smooth. "orange peel" is a natural by product of the paint process. The paint engineers minimize this very sucessfully. If you do get your car mirror smooth, you have succeeded in minimizing your protective clear coat to the absolute minimum.

Trust me guys, I have 15 years in testing paint. Add all the wax you want. In fact, with most waxes, you are "evening out" the orange peel. Remove paint or clear coat: NEVER, or only when absolutely necessary!

flint

iTrader: (2)

don't forget zaino has UV blockers in it. The full sun all day has to be rough on the interior too, but i would still pick that over tree sap....

darrinb

i'll let my Z protect me

CBR1100XX

When I traded in my 02 RSX S, the dealer thought the rear of my car had been repainted. The sap from the trees in my apartment complex had destroyed the rear of the car. In some places it had etched deep into the paint resulting in 3 D pits that you could feel with you finger. I was very unhappy watching my car be destroyed. This was an apartment with assigned parking and the bastards would not change my spot. When I moved out with I made sure to tell them to eat a shit sandwich.