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BODY AND INTERIOR
If you have ever shopped a used car lot, you know that dealers try to get their cars as clean and shiny and new looking as possible both inside and out. For any car with monetary value, they will shampoo the interior, give it a good vacuuming, and polish the chrome on the dashboard and on window and door handles. Outside, dealers will compound, polish, and wax, touch up paint nicks and scratches, and fill in dents. They will remove all the rust they can from the bumpers, and, in general, try to make the car look like new.
What does all this tell you? It says that a clean car brings more money in resale: But it also suggests that there is a practical limit to how much you should spend to renew and maintain a car. To the dealer, that limit depends on the particular model and on how much its value can be improved. If you are just sharpening up your car for the satisfaction that comes from keeping it looking new, you must decide how much time, money, and effort should go into it.
If you buy a new car, or a used one spruced up by the dealer, it is easier to start regular body and interior maintenance right away. The key is to make it a routine procedure and keep on top of it. That way, you will spend less time than the owner who lets it go for months, then tries to catch up in one fell swoop.
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