External Care

Vehicle Cleaning

Frequent cleaning and waxing can effectively protect the vehicle against harmful environmental impacts. Some covered areas, for example, doorsill footstep, sealed parts, cover plate, etc. should be cleaned periodically. The time interval of vehicle cleaning depends on many factors. For example:

• Operating frequency;
• Places for vehicle parking and storage, etc.;
• Seasons;
• Climatic conditions;
• Environmental impacts. The longer adhesion of insect infectants, bird droppings, resin, road dust and industrial dust, asphalt, soot particles, snow melting salt and other erosive sediments to the automotive paint, the greater their adverse effects are. Too high temperature, such as intensive solar radiation, will also intensify the erosion. Therefore, please clean your vehicle according to the actual situation. After the end of the salt spreading period in winter, be sure to thoroughly clean the bottom of the vehicle once.

Automatic wash equipment The automotive paint has certain abrasion resistance, so you can clean the vehicle with automatic cleaning equipment in general. In fact, the structure of the cleaning equipment, the filtration of water, and the types of cleaning and curing agents have a certain impact on car paint. Please choose cleaning equipment that is suitable for your car. Before cleaning, please be sure to lock the doors, close the windows and sunroof*, ask the cleaning equipment operator whether the roof antenna is to be removed; if your vehicle is provided with spoiler, roof rack, radio antenna and other installed parts, you must inform the cleaning equipment operator. Manual cleaning When manually cleaning your vehicle, please carefully choose cleaning agents according to actual needs and rinse the vehicle with clean water after using the cleaning agents.

• When cleaning the vehicle in winter avoid spraying water directly onto door locks, panel gaps and sunroof seams due to risk of icing.
• Do not use rough sponges or cloth to clean the car, this will damage the paintwork finish.
• When cleaning the lamps do not use a dry cloth or sponge, use a soft microfibre cloth with a small amount of room temperature water/soapy water to clean the lamps. Cleaning with high pressure cleaner Before cleaning: Please be aware of the operating instructions and precautions for the high-pressure washer. Check and ensure that the front and rear doors, hood and tailgate, the charging port door (if any), the refueling door (if any), and the concealed door handles (if any) are closed. When cleaning: It is essential to regulate the jet pressure and maintain a proper distance between the jet nozzle and the cleaning zone, particularly for soft materials such as rubber hoses and soundproofing materials; avoid continuous rinsing in the same area for an extended period. After cleaning: it is necessary to gently apply the brakes a few times to remove moisture from the brake discs to prevent impairment of the braking performance and to avoid rust on the brake discs. Any remaining residues on the windows, rearview mirrors, etc., should be thoroughly cleaned to ensure an unobstructed view.

• High-pressure rinsing may cause damage or peeling off of the stickers on the paint surface.
• DO NOT spray the nozzle of the high-pressure cleaner directly into the door cracks, windows, sunroof, bonnet and tailgate, etc.
• DO NOT attempt to flush any open front and rear doors, bonnet and tailgate, small doors, etc.
• DO NOT spray or clean a window glass that is frozen or has been covered with snow.
• DO NOT spray directly onto connectors, seals, tyres, rubber hoses, heat insulation materials or other sensitive vehicle parts (such as small doors, small door locks, door locks, sensors, radars, cameras, etc.), and DO NOT hold a high pressure water jet in one position for a long time.
• DO NOT use a circle beam nozzle or rotary nozzle, especially for the tyres, this may cause damage. Waxing A high quality wax layer can effectively protect the automotive paint against harmful environmental impacts and even provide protection against minor hard scratches. If you find that water drops can no longer smoothly roll down on clean paint, you should recoat the vehicle with a high quality hard wax curing agent. You should apply hard wax at least twice a year to protect the automotive paint even in regular use of wax curing agent for cleaning the vehicle with the automatic cleaning equipment. Polishing the paintwork Polishing is required only when the automotive paint has tarnished and can not be recovered even by waxing. If the applied polishing agent does not contain a waxy composition, you must wax the paint after polishing; occasionally treat the paint surface with an approved polish containing the following properties:
• Very mild abrasives to remove surface contamination without removing or damaging the paint.
• Filling materials to cover the scratches.
• Wax to provide a protective coating on the paint surface.

Paint damage A small area of paint damage, such as scratches or damages after being struck by stones, should be immediately coated with paint to avoid rusting. If rusting has appeared, you must remove it thoroughly, then apply anti-corrosive primer to this portion, and finally apply finish. Matte paint Matte paint is a special type of coating that requires special care in car washing and car care. It is recommended to wash the car manually and do not use rough sponges or cloth. Do not use excessive force when cleaning and wiping. Avoid washing the car in direct sunlight.

• Do not use high pressure water jet or steam to clean the vehicle. If the vehicle is quite dirty, a pre-cleaning is required before washing. Clean the body dust and other particles that may damage the paint surface first.
• Spray the vehicle body with a large amount of water, and use a soft sponge and neutral wax-free car wash solution to clean the vehicle from the roof downwards and then dry the vehicle body. During the daily care of your car, attention should also be paid to:
• If the paint film comes into contact with resin or grease, as well as insect residue or bird excrement, please remove it immediately to avoid irreversible damage to the matte paint surface.
• If there are oil stains or fingerprints on the matte paint surface, immediately remove them with a clean cloth and do not use excessive force to avoid irreversible damage to the matte paint surface.
• To maintain the matte effect of the paint surface, abrasives, polishes, and waxes cannot be used, and the vehicle body cannot be polished.
• Do not use any stickers, pasters, magnets, or similar materials to prevent damage to the paint surface.
• Ensure that any repairs to the matte paint film are carried out in a qualified professional repair workshop. Wiper blades Wash in warm soapy water. DO NOT use spirit or petrol based cleaners. Windows and mirrors Regularly clean all windows, inside and out, using an approved glass cleaner. Windscreen: Clean the outside of the windscreen with glass cleaner before fitting new wiper blades. Rear window: Clean the inside with a soft cloth, using a side to side motion to avoid damaging the heating elements. DO NOT scrape the glass or use abrasive cleaning compositions – this will damage the heating elements. Rearview mirrors: wash with soapy water. DO NOT use abrasive cleaning compositions or a metal scraper. Sunroof (where fitted): Regularly clean the tracks on both sides of the sunroof and the front drainage channel. For panoramic sunroofs, the front end of the rear glass (after the front glass is fully opened) should also be cleaned regularly to prevent the accumulation of dust, sand, leaves, and other debris, which may clog the drainage holes and lead to poor sunroof drainage. Plastic parts Plastic parts can be cleaned using the conventional method of cleaning. When the stain is not easy to remove, you can use a special curing agent for treatment, note, a paint curing agent is not preferable for treatment of plastic parts. Weather strips Rubber weather strips of doors, front and rear cover lids, sunroof and windows should be irregularly coated with rubber curing agent (such as silica gel spray) to keep their flexibility and extend the service life. Exterior Lamps It is recommended to use mild neutral detergent to clean the surface of the lamp. Avoid using organic solvent cleaners containing alcohols, polyhydroxy alcohols and strong polarity (such as foam cleaner, glass cleaner, thinner, deicer, paint treatment agent, etc.), otherwise the surface of the lamp may crack and the lamp may become damaged. During vehicle cleaning or polishing operations, the headlights should be protected. Wheels

You can prevent braking abrasive dust dirt and snow melting salt from attaching to the wheels by cleaning the wheels. Braking abrasive dust that is not easy to remove may be cleared with non-acid rim cleaner. Light alloy wheels In order to maintain a good appearance of the light alloy wheels, regular care is required, if snow melting salt and braking abrasive dust are not washed off regularly, the light alloy wheels will erode. Always use non-acid special cleaner for cleaning. Do not use paint polishing agent or other products containing abrasives for wheel care, if the protective cover of paint has been damaged (such as damage after being stuck by stones), you must immediately repair the damaged part. Protective bottom layer The bottom of the vehicle is coated with a special durable protective material for protection against the effects of chemical and mechanical factors. But we recommend you to inspect the bottom of the vehicle and the protective layer of the chassis on a regular basis since the protective layer can not be protected against damages when the vehicle is in service, and it is preferable to inspect once before the cold season starts and once after it comes to an end.