Why do only new cars look new?

[Cheetah]

I`ve been wondering about this lately. 99% of the time my car is the nicest one in any parking lot. It`s as clean as can be, virtually no swirls, smooth clayed paint, glaze, upp, nb doing their thing, AW finishing it off, wheels, trim and windows waxed. prime stuff. And occasionally I see other cars that are benefiting from similar attention. However, I can always tell when someone has a new car, say less than 6 months old. It has a `new car` look. Personally I like the look of autopian like cars better but still a new car has a certain look.

So what is it? Is it the untouched, thicker clear coat combined with the lack of muting waxes on the paint? Even a 2 year old garage queen that was personally taken care of by Paul Dalton once a week and hardly driven will still look different than a new car. I`m talking about the paint mainly here. Can someone enlighten me?

[Setec Astronomy]

Is it the stone chips, door dings, and such? I don`t really agree, I think you can keep a car new-looking for a long time.

[xinkid]

I think I notice this, too. New cars just seem to look like new cars somehow. I think maybe the autopian detail gives a car "over detailed" look. It`s too shiney or the trims too black to look naturally new.. It`s more show than new. Maybe you need to step down the show-ness to give it more natural kind of new-ness.

[I.A.S.]

i know what you mean, new cars seem to have a crispness about em, but i think it is more mental than anyhting IMO......cuz my truck is in much better condition than any new truck out there.....and the paint looks a ton better

[Cheetah]

No, I`m fine with the look of my car the way it is. It gets compliments all the time as I sure all of you get too. I was just wondering why only new cars look new. If you looked at a new car and the same model that was a year older but impeccably kept I would bet you could still tell which one was new. I`m not saying I like the `new look` any better or worse just making an observation.

[Cheetah]

I was just trying to see if someone knew the exact technical reason as to why this so.



Another observation, Mustang`s have really reflective paint. A well taken care of mustang looks great.

[xinkid]

I know why my car doesn`t look new.. it has ss paint and pop-up headlights. :lol

[imported_Neothin]

i dont know dude... before i got all the rock chips and such in the tC`s paintjob, i kept it in a like-new condition. granted lately i have slacked off a bit, but it still looks better than 95% of the cars out there. I feel with work, the inside and outside of a car can be kept looking almost brand new.



the only part of the car that i have issues with keeping "factory fresh" is the engine bay. regardless of the cleaners and dressings i use, i cant seem to make the engine bay look brand new.

[Cheetah]

Engine bay,.... yea. I gotta get around to doing that one of these days.

[sneek]

I think I got the engine, and I have natural looking trim and tires. :( my car has hundreds of rock chips and some door dings.



:( Also the fact that Honda made the 06+ rear lights look different. I think my gen7 is getting old.

[Mark77]

I have noticed this too. I have always thought it`s just in my head but obviously I`m not the only one who has noticed this.

[kthrace]

Yeah how come?!? It`s good to know I`m not the only one that thinks new cars have this certain "crispiness" to them that cannot be copied. Even if you put a brand new dirty car next to a super detailed older model, I can immediately tell the difference. What is it? I can`t figure it out and can never duplicate it.... stuff that makes you go :hm

[kastanaras]

Guessing it`s just that everything has new look to it from paint, black plastics, and wheels.



Also I have noticed this with the paint, I guess even if you can maintain it well can`t seem to get that perfect clean look new car paint has.



But every car starts out like this so it doesn`t bug me cos after few years you notice which car has kept that look and which have been neglected.

[velobard]

IMHO a lot of it is that it`s a new design more than it is the condition of the car vs Autopian standards. Most any car has something or another updated about the appearance every year.

[audicoupej]

IMHO a lot of it is that it`s a new design more than it is the condition of the car vs Autopian standards. Most any car has something or another updated about the appearance every year.



So true. You get used to seeing certain cars and pick up on certain aspects of the cars. Tail lights for instance might retain the shape but they change the colors of the plastics or the location of the turn signals, running lights, brake lights, etc. You know the car is new because it is different then what you are used to seeing. All these little changes end up making a big difference in the overall appearance of a car.



Think about just adding some simple mods to a car. Perhaps you get wheels, tinted windows, and some clear markers to replace the amber ones. Suddenly your car stands out, it looks different then all the others. It should, hopefully, look better than before. All these subtle changes can really make a big difference in the overall appearance.



Now if your just taking two identical cars bought at the same time and one is stored for 2 years and the other driven for 2 years then the difference is all the road debris blasting away at the front end. It destroys the front end of cars and really ages them, like wrinkles on a supermodel. :wall



Don`t forget paint color changes as well. New models tend to have different available paint colors which can make a car seem newer because your not used to the color.