At what point would a car benefit from being buffed and polished?

First, any car that is painted red should be polished and waxed at least every 6 months. its called oxidation.

Most more expensive cars come with a clearcoat finish on it, from the factory. these vehicles do not require shining until they reach at least 10 years old. this is, of course, with routine car washes.

Since your vehicle is already there, why not have it buffed and polished? if you plan on keeping your vehicle, it needs a cleaning just like humans. i have always said, “that if a person takes care of their car, their car will take care of them”.

My Toyota Solara has 260,000 miles on it and gets a car wash and wax at least every two weeks.

I say go for it.

Just keep in mind that the main point of buffing and waxing (other than oxidation) is that it makes you feel better about your car. I read on Cracked.com (a great funny website that probably exaggerates research a little bit sometimes) that when you get your car cleaned you perceive it to run better.

Keeping it buffed to a high shine actually does help reduce aerodynamic drag and thus improve MPG and performance slightly… but only slightly. Generally, it’s only worthwhile for performance reasons if you are a professional racer who is so uptight about performance that you urinate before driving to reduce vehicle weight by a few extra ounces.

As for preservation, even my ‘85 Corolla still has the clearcoat on it and no rust, though even a 2009 would be starting to rust in NH where they use road salt. So that part of it really depends on where you live.

Given that Mr Pennington lives where it doesn’t snow, I would say that he does it mostly out of a desire to look good. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but he doesn’t need to wash and wax as often as he does to keep his car from rusting… though if he lived in NH he would need to do so about weekly during the winter time.

Probably the greatest benefit of washing your own car is that it is a meditation of sorts.

It’s a chance to go over your car with your fingers and eyes.

It’s a great way to calmly determine it’s condition. See things you would have overlooked otherwise.

@MeinTeil : Like I said in the question, my car will be in the body shop for dent repair, so I was asking if the body shop people should do it while it’s in there. I live in NY so it’s a little chilly now to wash and wax car myself, plus my free time is rare.

@MeinTeil It’s a bit like mechanical gardening; in a sense. Think about it!