My Current Versus New Car

My name is Jason Colley. I live in Broomfield, Colorado.

In this blog, I would like to talk about the methods of washing, waxing, engine steam cleaning, and buffing I use for my car, in order to keep it looking nearly as good (or better) than it did when I drove it off of the show room floor in June 1st, 2013 (with 12 miles on it). I would also like to briefly show the modifications that I have made to improve its performance and appearance. In the next post, I will describe details of the car washes that I get and pricing. Since I’ve been consistently cleaning my car since day one, it isn’t too hard or time-consuming to maintain its cleanliness.

The ethically/socially responsible message that I would like to discuss is that the maintenance, care, and modifications of your vehicle don’t necessarily have to cost a fortune and it is possible to have a nice car/truck/SUV without spending large sums of money. Modifications, if desired, can be done incrementally over a period of time, allowing a person to save up money and make spending goals.

The intent of my blog ties into my own personal digital identity by allowing me to be my own unique person; driving a car that is my distinctive creation allows me to express my creativity and display it publicly for others to see. When I see cars driving down the road, many of them look the same to me and they become boring. Even an exciting car can become bland when too many of them are being driven and nearly everyone owns one. It’s like listening to a great song on a radio station over and over again–eventually it becomes irritating to hear it when it is played too often. A few modifications to a car’s design, on the other hand, make it stand out from the crowd and it becomes exciting again. It’s like remixing an overplayed song, it becomes fresh and interesting again; with enough remixes, the song never gets boring.

I would like to compare my car now to what it looked like when it was brand new by showing side-by-side pictures of a new 2013 Honda Civic Si versus pictures of my nearly sixteen month-old car with 18,000 miles. I found a variety of photographs taken of 2013 Honda Civic Si’s when they were brand new at Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Auto Evolution. I took pictures of my car last week in the mall parking lot, before having it detailed.

A couple days later, after having it it detailed at AeroSuds in Broomfield, CO, I took pictures of it in the AeroSuds facility. They performed an exterior detail for about $150, which included the following: a complete exterior wash, wax and buff, cleaning of the wheels and hubcaps, and steam-cleaning of the engine compartment. I get my car exterior detailed about every six months when swirls and small scratches start to develop in the paint. There are brush marks on the lower part of my car from the car wash brushes but they are barely noticeable in most lighting conditions. Since the interior of my car stays nearly spotless, I don’t ask AeroSuds to detail the interior.

After the detailing was complete, the paint was very smooth to the touch. On a cloudy day, it is even shinier than the pictures depict. By the way, my car has never been parked in a garage and it has always been parked outside–it is my daily driver. The paint is not perfect and there are rock chips in a few places, but they are hard to see from a distance unless you are looking for them. (Click on the thumbnails to expand the pictures or right-click on them and open in a new window or tab).