s4affectionado

This sucks! Sorry. Glad to hear you and your wife are ok...as much as we all obsess about these cars, people are far more important (and much less easily replaced .

As a fellow low mileage Estoril Blue owner (with the black optic package to boot), it's eerie see a car that looks just like mine banged up like that. Best of luck w/the insurance claim.

sjuhawks19

How is your paint holding up? Any issues?

s4affectionado

So I just hit 600 miles yesterday, so I may not be a good data point yet. I think I'm also less particular about paint than many might be here (I don't, for instance, exclusively hand wash my car), though I understand that others are understandably interested in avoiding any kind of swirling or minor clearcoat imperfections. I'm lucky if I can keep my wheels clean, honestly.

Sojournin

Whoa. It's painful to see the car like that! Especially when we're worried about minor scratches and swirls. I have a '13 Estoril blue. Love the color. It looks black at dusk and night, but in the bright light it's awesome. Not many people with that color, so it stands out. BUT I usually hand wash it myself once/week and I wax it every other month. It is a hard color to keep clean, so whenever it rains, it spots (and same goes for the brake dust on the rims too). I am usually a more practical guy: gray or white colored cars don't look so dirty so quickly, but that color on this car just doesn't do it for me....it's the price to pay for beauty - much high maintenance, so you gotta really love the color first.

Ycore

Stay the hell away from Estoril Blue-- never did I think a color choice could have so much impact on car care. I've owned many a black car and they don't even come *close* to the hassle that Estoril Blue is. It's not just that it shows even the slightest dust, I could live with that, but more so the fact that it picks up and shows clear coat scratches like there is no tomorrow, and these minor (yet easily visible) swirl/scratches aren't removable by a simple hand wax, but require professional detailing to remove. I have had my Estoril Blue S4 for only FOUR months, yet I have had to have it professionally detailed twice by a pro with an orbital polisher, and this is despite only me hand washing it with the finest micro-fibers. After this last detail, I decided to get the hood, bumper, and fenders covered in Ventureshield PPF. As soon as I can confirm that that holds up well, I plan on filming the rest of the car as well. This is my last hope in dealing with this issue, and if it doesn't work I will be seriously looking to trade it in for another color within a year. I like my car clean and shiny, and though I can deal with frequent cleaning, I can't deal with constant scratch repair.

JBDinTX

Get you guys a Cyclo dual head polisher and use GLOSS-it products. It's about the easiest thing I have done. I am really picky about swirl marks and was really afraid of using a power polisher. I did some testing on my old jeep and some friends car. But it is really easy and you get great results. YouTube gloss it and you can watch how easy it is. I am in no way a paid and don't get anything out of it. I just wanted to pass in some great news. Cost of a set up is around $400. If you don't order anything order the tire shine. Best I have used. No sling what so ever

SPEEED

While on the topic of paint maintennace... questio to those who live in the northern regions (particularly where it freezes, snows, and there's salt on the road): how do you maintain/wash your car in these cold temps? - obviously taking the car to a carwash place is out of the question (scratches, swirls, etc.)....

GRMick

Heated garage with floor drains that has hot and cold water piped to the hose faucet inside the garage. I do a quick hose down with warm water after driving in the bad stuff, and then wash them by hand every week or so.

From past experience with dark/black cars, I buy white/light colored cars now. Swirl marks drive me nuts.

JBDinTX

Wait till a ok day then freeze you butt off. I have always maintained my cars to perfection in the winter. I wash outside and then pull it into my heated garage. And wipe down and shine everything. If the car is sandy or muddy. I take it to the carwash first and spray it off as much as I can then come home and hand wash it. Had the soap freeze many times. Lol. I am in Texas now. But I also own a home in Colorado. I promise it is a lot harder to keep one clean in Texas than Colorado. I live in town in Colorado and in Texas I am at the ranch. It is on a paved road thank God. I can't do dirt roads. But just bundle up and leave the car running with the heat on high so it will be warm when you get it. Here is a pick of my SQ5 that I just washed on Monday. It was 40 degrees with the wind blowing about 20 mph

SPEEED

OK, I stopped reading there.... that's science fiction to me!!! /ENVY!!!!