I haven't washed my car in almost 2 years - the Buick dealer washed it both times I was in this past week. The top surfaces have really dulled and appear as if the car'* been sitting under a tree for those 2 years - washing didn't put a dent in it.

I dug out a can of rubbing compound I bought about 7 years ago and never opened. I worked a 10"x10" square on the back edge of the roof by hand, then hit it with some Meguiars spray wax which brought it back to a nice, clean shine.

This was just a test to see how bad the crud was, Now that I know the finish hasn't been destroyed, I'll tackle the rest of the roof as well as the hood and deck lid later.

That'* cool!

My 1997 is due for a repaint. It has spent a lot of time in a lot of harsh (for paint) areas.

The only things that could really use new paint on mine are the body side moldings on the doors. I think a previous owner may have had them painted over because there have been large sections of paint flaking off. To be honest, I don't know if their OEM finish was paint or colored molding. The two moldings that were falling off a couple years ago - I cleaned them and their door'* surfaces, then reattached them using Gorilla Tape (like clear Alien Tape) and they haven't budged since. The other two moldings have since fallen off, awaiting cleaning and reattachment.

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread. . . After the moldings were off, instead of using an expensive drill/grinder/buffer kit to remove adhesive, I found the adhesive would come off fairly easily using the end of a wooden popsicle stick to push the residue off. It'* more labor intensive for sure, but it only takes about 30-40 minutes per door. Trick is, I have to wait until the outside air temps reach into the low 90'* making the adhesive pliable like rubber cement.

That'* cool. My line of work has had me needing to remove large and complicated decals from more cars than I care to count, and depending on the manufacturer and materials, it can be a new adventure every time!

Are you talking about those wraps that cover the whole vehicle? I was checking those out about 6 years ago - mainly those which were advertisements. The main difficulty I saw with getting my car wrapped with one was having to leave the vehicle parked in specific locations at specific times of day for long periods as a billboard. Very inconvenient. It would have been a cool way to make extra money each month. The monthly income depended on vehicle type, ad subject and public exposure. Some were enough to cover a new vehicle payment - not bad if it qualified. I would have to give up use of my car for most of each weekday, so I decided to forget that idea. I also decided against a plain wrap to protect my car'* finish because who knows what it'll look like after being removed in several years.

From what I have seen of it the wraps come off pretty cleanly. The stuff I've dealt with was more like large shapes and lettering.

Like commercial lettering for names and businesses kind of stuff, I'm thinking. The stuff that you can still read on the vehicle after it'* been removed.

Yeah, like that.

Folks are wrapping all kinds of expensive cars all the time these days, so wraps must come off safely or we'd hear about problems all the time. Cheap cars too for that matter.