How Calgary Weather Affects Car Paint and What You Can Do to Protect It
I’ve been living in Calgary for about six years now, and honestly the weather here feels brutal on my car’s paint. Winter grime, road salt, chinooks messing with temps, then summer sun that feels way stronger than back home. I wash my car regularly, but I’m still seeing tiny scratches and dull spots, especially after winter. I’m curious how much of this is just unavoidable here and what people actually do to keep their paint looking decent long-term without going overboard.
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Yeah, Calgary is rough on cars, no way around that. I’ve noticed the biggest damage comes from winter buildup more than anything else. Salt mixed with sand basically turns into sandpaper if you’re not careful how you wash it off. I used to hit automatic washes all winter because it was fast, but after a couple of seasons my hood and doors were full of swirl marks. That’s when I learned it wasn’t just dirt, but how it’s removed.
What helped me was switching to gentler exterior care and being more selective about washes. Even simple things like avoiding washing when it’s super cold (ice crystals = scratches) and using some form of protection before winter makes a difference. I don’t detail my car obsessively, but I did start reading up on proper exterior care and mobile hand washing options. This page explains it pretty clearly without the hype: https://detaily.ca/services/exterior-detailing
The main takeaway for me was that Calgary weather isn’t the problem alone — it’s reacting to it the wrong way that slowly kills the paint.