When you wash your car, do you wax it occasionally ? Modern paints aren't as durable as the paints from a number of years ago, so 'topping up' the wax isn't a bad idea.

Our cats also seem to love sitting on the bonnet of my car, but never seem to sit on my wife's car. No particular reason for it. However a decent wax coat does seem to reduce scratches.

I do Rob and am actually quite fastidious in terms of my car so it gets well looked after and I always use quality stuff to wash and wax it with. Generally I polish it with AutoGlym Super Resin polish with Extra Gloss Protection on top and it's recently had a coat of Armorall stuff as well.

I have actually just been out to it and today's mark is on the top of the rear bumper. That mark wasn't there yesterday as I cleaned it and I am beginning to think I have a ghost with a nail knocking about.

I'm not a cat psychologist but (i) cats like warm car bonnets and (ii) maybe a cat that is attracted by the heat jumps on there and then attacks its own reflection (reflections being much better on dark shiny cars?).

There are some peacocks in the next village. They are forever attacking their own reflections and damaging cars. I've seen a jackdaw do it too.

Cherchez le chat I would say.

A cat is actually the obvious candidate but I never see one on my car and a lot of the time my car is actually garaged.

I am absolutely baffled.

Having owned various cars over the recent years I have come to the conclusion that the current european manufactured paint finish is rubbish due to the Greeniots insistence on water based paint coating systems instead of the solvent based systems of yesteryear

European manufacturers do not make their own paints, they use systems provided by specialist companies many of which provide systems across the worlds car industries.

As for the current paints being rubbish I can honestly say they are way better than paints in the 60's, 70's and into the 80's. What paints were like before I have no experience. The first car I got with good paint was a 1986 Golf and since then I have never had an issue. I believe that VAG changed to waterbased paints in about 1991, had 2 before this and 3 since, all been exactly the same. My earlier cars which were made between 1964 and 1984 had terrible paint and rust issues.

If anyone wants their cars painting like they were years ago they are more than welcome to it. More than happy to live in the modern world myself.

Edited by Ben 10 on 23/07/2015 at 00:54