Hockey

Hey all,

I live down in San Diego, and we have had terrible fires (still burning) for the last couple of days.
My question is....will the ash fallout that collects on the car hurt the finish? I'm not talking about scratching it if it gets wiped off. More like, will it eat the paint just sitting?

I intend to rinse the car well before any cleaning begins, but I can't really do that until the damn ash stops falling from the sky.

I will rinse the car everyday if I have to, but I don't wanna look like a freak washing my car in an ash shower.

Any help is appreciated.
Hockey

koala

It wont hurt your paint. I'd be worried about the convertible top more than anything else. Be careful with cleaning it once the fires are over... you'll definitely not want to "force" the ash into the top... probably use a low pressure garden hose to rinse it.. then use the 303 cleaner and protector.

For the paint just wash your car like normal and it'll be fine!

wanabe

but its not good if the ashes are on your car and become damp...
it is possible then to get etching (more likely with acid rain- which is the opposite of ash rain) or slight scratches (similar to swirls).
you would be able to see any bad results- if you see any small scratches or "craters", i would wash the car and use a swirl remover. and then rezaino or rewax.
as long as you dont see anything on your finish, you are probably o.k.- and it is a good idea to rinse off anything that doesnt get blown off when you drive. if you rinse, you really should also wash with a good quality car shampoo.
sounds to me like you need to keep your car covered!

koala

Well if there is a good amount of Zaino on there the ash will be fine on there for a few days.

We had some huge fires here this summer and all the ash falling down never hurt my finish. The worst part was the convertible top itsself.

Hockey

Yeah I do, but the fires suprised me. When I awoke saturday morning there was an orange sky and ash everywhere!!!

After that, I figured it was already covered with ash and I wasn't about to put the cover on it then.

-plus that cover is gonna wreak from smoke if I use it. If the ash won't hurt the paint, I'd rather not sacrifice the cover.


...........just an update, weather pattern has changed and we now have fog and an on-shore flow.
Maybe we will get a break today. Some fires are not predicted for containment by 11/05. Yup, next week. This could throw ash for days.

Poor car. At least that's all I have to deal with. Hundreds have lost there homes. I can't worry too much about a finish on my car.

Good luck to us all.

Nin009

Ash is highly acidic. I would wash it off at least daily.

Hockey

Finally the news mentioned ash and car finishes. Seems like opinion varies, but more seem to say it is bad (acidic) and will scratch the finish if rubbed. I have been rinsing off the S alot, but am waiting til this weekend to do a serious detail.

The sun came out on wed, and heated up the inside of the car. The WREAKAGE from the ash multiplied exponentially!! To fight the smell, I decided to leave the windows down and air it out. MISTAKE!! Instead of blowing the ash out of the car and getting some fresh air, the darn interior is now COATED with ash - everywhere.

If this doesn't come clean, I'm thinking of putting in a claim. New carpet kit, roof, and what about that finish (just thinking out loud).

This is gonna take days.

Hope everyone protected their ride. Wish I could have, but being a daily driver makes it impossible.