Short-term vs. long-term condition

A car comes out of the wash, the paint shines and it looks finished. Whether it still looks like that in two or five years, you will tell from something else – from the faint rings left behind by droplets that dried on the bonnet.

When the car comes out of the wash and looks finished

A clean car you see straight away. You wash it, you dry it, the paint shines and it feels done.

What happens to the paint after that you do not see straight away. It shows up later – in how the car ages, how it takes the next wash, and how long it keeps the depth it had at the start.

The droplets you did not wipe off in time

Hard water, that is water with a higher mineral content, leaves faint rings on the paint once it evaporates – they appear when droplets stay on the surface longer than it takes to wipe them off.

Right after the wash the car still looks clean. You will see the rings later, in the sun and from the side – not in the car park outside the wash.

When the next wash calls for something stronger

After one quick wash there is usually a second and a third. Each time you reach for something a little stronger so the car looks as good as last time – the paint takes less after the previous treatments, and fine scratches and dull patches build up on it faster.

Over time that does your car no favours: for a few days you only cover up what has stayed in the paint. It is hard to notice, because after every wash the car looks good again for a while.

How your paint ages is your decision – how often you let something work on it, how hard, and when you leave it alone. A car like that we first look over under the lamp and then tell you what the paint can still take. Sometimes we will advise you to do nothing.

What we see on cars that come to us for years

Cars that someone has looked after with thought we recognise quickly. The paint on them ages evenly, does not need sharper chemistry every time, and behaves predictably during a wash.

We will not get your car into that state in a single visit. First we wash the paint and remove the deposits, level out what can be levelled, then choose suitable protection and go on handling the car gently.

At SEVEN Works in Ústí nad Labem we therefore apply ceramic coating to paint prepared like that – washed, free of deposits and levelled – which reduces the strain of everyday driving, and then we wash the car with a maintenance wash for a protected car so that you keep it in that condition.

What makes sense in your case we will say once we have seen your car – where it is parked, how many kilometres you do, and what condition it arrives in.

When you ask how the car will look in five years

How the car looks today you can see for yourself after every wash. The harder part is telling how it will look in a year, in two, in five – and that is what you ask us most often.

We will answer once we have seen the car. From how the paint behaves during a wash and where everyday driving shows on it most, we can tell you fairly reliably what your car will take and what it will not.

When you do not know where to start

Plenty of people come to us wanting to "protect the car somehow" and do not know where to begin. If that sounds like you, read Not sure where to start?.

Or just write to us about how you use the car and where it is parked. We will take a look at it and suggest a combination of preparation, protection and maintenance that makes sense for your car.

Suggest a long-term solution