[Upmeister]

As many of you who do any mileage in your up! will have discovered, the rear gets incredibly dirty very quickly - more so than any other car I've owned (including estate cars). Driving in light rain or drizzle, the rear window needs more wiping than the front and I can't read the number plate after a couple of days driving!

I don't have rear mud flaps fitted - I don't like them as a rule - but if anyone has fitted some after experiencing driving without them, I would be interested to know whether they actually help, or if the accessory rear spoiler makes any difference either.

Thanks

 

[Rednaxela]

I don't have rear guards, but I did treat the back with rain-ex. That seems to help it self clean on rainy trips..

 

[luckyjimmy]

There is a little spoiler on my car but it makes no difference to how quickly the window gets dirty. I've been using RainX recently on the rear hatch but the visibility still goes to zero while travelling in heavy rain/heavy spray etc. I don't have rear mud flaps so can't comment on how effective they are.

 

[Collas]

I've got mud flaps fitted front and rear, and after cleaning the car for the first time in ages (September I think), I found that the car was coated along both sides and the rear valance with lots of tar spots. I used Autoglym to clean these off the passenger side, but I need to spend some more time on finishing off the rest of the body work.

As for the mud flaps - they'll have an effect, but I can't imagine it will be that much, particularly in a crop-growing rural area. I'm just on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens, so there is little livestock, but plenty of tractors.

It's more a case that the vortices generated by the almost vertical truncated back end of the car will cause the water and mud to swirl around and coat everything in filth. It was similar in the Fiat Cinquecento and Seicentos.

RainX sounds like a very good idea to me.

Now I'm off to get the driver's door and the headlight beams adjusted, and see if I can get a lower boot floor liner and some valve caps.

Nick

 

[Upmeister]

Hi Collas - yes mine's coated in tar spots too - even the rear window where it's not covered by the sweep of the wiper.

I applied Life Shine when the car was new - including the glass treatment. This is effective on the side glass - similar to Rain-X - but that seems to be well-gone on the rear window.

Even the back of the vans we use at work don't get half as dirty as quickly as the up!, so I suspect it more than just the basic shape. My daughter's Aygo never gets anywhere near as dirty either - although on the minus side it does leak like a sieve - a wide-spread problem with the little Toyota. Edited by: Upmeister

 

[streakypaws]

My Citigo gets really dirty at the back too even after driving a few miles after a car wash - my Aygo before didnt seem to get this dirty - still im not that bothered as it is 110% better than the Aygo anyway in my mind!!

 

[littleredcar]

i too got loads of tar spots recently ..? do you think all the salt on the roads is causing it ?? ..i also have big dirty seagulls pooing on my car at work EVERYDAY

Grrr anyone got a gun i can brorrowat least its keeping the car clean have to get the poop off every eve when i get home

 

[Rednaxela]

seagull poop is the worst kind!
Good job you get it off quickly, as it is very acidic. I don't know what they eat.

I keep a can of foam remover in my car that I spray on the poop as soon as I find any, and it gets to work on neutralising the acid and loosening the poop. (I park near the seaduring the week, so they are a pain)



I forget what the brand is, but let me know if you want me to look.

 

[Frankjetta]

It's a brand new car, aren't you washing it twice a week anyway!

 

[Derkie54]

i too got loads of tar spots recently ..? do you think all the salt on the roads is causing it ?? ..i also have big dirty seagulls pooing on my car at work EVERYDAY

Grrr anyone got a gun i can brorrowat least its keeping the car clean have to get the poop off every eve when i get home

I always get bird droppings off as soon as I can, it eats into the paintwork.
Had acar with bird droppings on the bonnet for a while and could not get the marks off, eventually had a respray.

 

[uphu]

As many of you who do any mileage in your up! will have discovered, the rear gets incredibly dirty very quickly - more so than any other car I've owned (including estate cars).

Think positive.

This is an extra feature. You get tinted rear windows free. You also get free flyeyes lamps at the back as a bonus.

 

[Barnacle Bob]

Why waste time washing a car (and twice per week?) when it doesn't need it? Modern paints are a lot more resilient. Waxing? Total waste of time and money! Come trade in time you certainly don't get any more for your car... When I was younger I used to really "care" for my cars but after 18 new cars over the years I learned my lesson a long time a go.

 

[Davec86]

I, for one, wash my car every week. I keep it waxed and polished. And I do care for it. For me, it's not only to keep the paint in good order, but it's also pride.
It cost a lot of money, I don't see why you wouldn't look after it and take pride in it if I'm honest.

 

[Truth-seeker]

Re tar spots.

I have these all over my 2 white cars...very annoying. What is causing them? I would expect to get them in very hot weather from melted tar, but these are pin head size tar spots...at least I think they are tar. I get them off with white spirit. An X-file case for Mulder & Scully I reckon.

PS: never had them before this winter neither.

 

[Collas]

Poor road surfacing. The road from Stamford to Peterborough that goes past Burghley House is absolutely shocking, and even after three or four months there is still a great deal of loose chippings. The surface has worn into bald patches very quickly and after such a short time. It's dreadful what councils think they can get away with these days. For cyclists and motorcyclists, the current craze to avoid using road rollers to bed the surface down and make it safe is incomprehensible. And the amount of damage that is done to vehicles by this "cost-saving" has to be picked up somewhere - the ever-increasing costs of insurance.

Nick

 

[jezyg]

Why waste time washing a car (and twice per week?) when it doesn't need it? Modern paints are a lot more resilient. Waxing? Total waste of time and money! Come trade in time you certainly don't get any more for your car... When I was younger I used to really "care" for my cars but after 18 new cars over the years I learned my lesson a long time a go.

Modern water based paints are so much softer and lessresilientthan good old toxic lead based ones. They seem to pick up stone chips much easier and look tattier quicker. I personally think they need all the help they can get - just take a little bit of effort and prefer not to be driving a shed lookalike

 

[Allybasher]

I just hate driving round in a dirty car and going back to the original post, the Up certainly gets dirty. I personally just wash it with turtle wax wash 'n' wax most weeks and polish it when the water stops running off.

I agree with jezyg that modern paint is much more eco-friendly but nothing like as tough. My year old Take Up has several stone chips on it's nose.

 

[gary02tdi]

seagull poop is the worst kind!
Good job you get it off quickly, as it is very acidic. I don't know what they eat.

I keep a can of foam remover in my car that I spray on the poop as soon as I find any, and it gets to work on n<SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-: EN-GB; mso-fareast-: EN-US; mso-bidi-: AR-SA">eutralising the acid and loosening the poop. (I park near the sea during the week, so they are a pain)</SPAN> 

 

I forget what the brand is, but let me know if you want me to look.

Birds cannot burp? Feed them bicarbonate of soda?