Snow brush/broom--is this bad for my Vibe

[SpaceGal]

After reading some posts regarding brushes with plastic or metal bristles, I was wondering if this included snow brushes/brooms. My Vibe is barely a month old and of course I live in a really snowy region. I've been using a brush to take the snow off, I know I've probably caused some clear coat scratches with it, I have an Abyss so I feel like the scratches stick out like an eye sore. If these are bad for the paint, what should a person use? I haven't really seen any other alternative snow removal items. Not to mention with the amount of snow, I have yet to wash my car...don't worry though I haven't moved it much so hopefully there isn't a whole lot of salt on it...poor baby maybe this weekend it gets washes after it gets new snow tires.What do you use to take the snow off?

[ragingfish]

I use a brush, but if you're concerned, get a squeegee or something...they're harmless...

[Stang2Vibe]

The snow brushes will usually inevitably leave some fine scratches in the clearcoat. I usually brush off the windows and lights and that's it. The less that anything contacts the painted surfaces, the better. If the snow is really piled up, then I will brush off the hood a little bit, but I leave about an inch of snow on the car so the brush never actually contacts the surface of the car. I see no reason at all to have to brush off all the snow from the car. What is loose will blow off when you start driving. If you do notice some fine scratches from the snow brush, then in the spring when you do your spring clean up, use some polishing compound on the scratched areas then wax. That should take care of it.

[StampedeVibe]

The inch or two of snow that you leave on the car becomes a hazard to the cars behind you. I've driven behind idiots who don't brush off the snow, and it's like driving in a snowstorm, it can really limit your visibility. This is especially bad if there are a couple of idiots in front of you. The damage that the brush will do to your paint is relatively minor when you think about the damage that salt and gravel will do to your Vibe.

[ragingfish]

In NJ there is a law that you can be heavily fined and/or punished for not removing snow from your car. If it blows back and causes an accident, then you're in even deeper shiite.

[ArcsVibe]

In Quebec you can get fined 60-100$ for not removing the snow properly on your car!

[Charlievibe]

Wow, I have been gone from snow country for a while, I didn't realize that they now fine people. I think that is terrific. Now, I get the excitement of hoping it 'snows' (we actually only usually get ice) so everything closes and I get an extra vacation day from work.

[ragingfish]

I've found my paint to be more durable than expected...I side-swiped a tree a few weeks ago, heard it scrape down the side, amazingly, no damage! Not even a chip!Brush doesnt' seem to be leaving too many scratches...but I do see a lot of swirl marks...probably from when I waxed. I use a brush.

[dmitri]

maybe you hit the glass mike...

[Stang2Vibe]

90% of the snow that blows off of my car does so before I get to the end of my street. If it doesn't and is blinding the driver behind me, then they are following too close. Too bad for them, in snow situations, you should always leave even more extra room between yourself and the car in front of you anyway. That last inch of snow on the car usually becomes damp from the heat of the car and just slides off in sheets when I go around a bend later anyway. There's no way I'm scratching the whole upper surface of my car all up because some ahole behind me wants to follow me too closely. It takes a lot of careful effort and special pads to buff out a newer clearcoat paint and I'm not going through that every spring. And I'm definately not going to pay the $100+ to have a detailer do it just so Mr. Ahole can ride in my trunk in already slippery conditions. Fine me. I'll cost the court system more money in fighting them than what they make off of the fine. When the state offers to pay to return my car to it's proper condition for complying with a stupid law, then I'll gladly do it. Otherwise, they can take the rest of their stupid automotive restrictions and shove them too.When I had my Tracker, it was a convertible so if someone was following me too closely and I had snow on the roof, I used to smack the inside of the roof to purposely blow snow on their windshield. I've already tried it in my Vibe and it doesn't work .

[StampedeVibe]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think about the gravel and salt? Don't you think they cause more damage to your vehicle than a brush would?

[Stang2Vibe]

Yes and no. Salt can be washed away fairly easily and sealed out with waxing before and during winter. Gravel, well there's not much you can do about that. I get relatively few gravel chips/scratches (maybe 2-3 per year at most). Those are usually quite small and a little dab of touch-up paint takes care of that. Running the brush over 50% or more of your car every day that it snows causes more visible damage than either of the two that you mentioned if the car's exterior is maintainded properly. You might as well take fine-grit sandpaper and tape it to a 2 foot long stick and rub that all over the car, it's doing the same thing as the snow brush. The fine scratches over so much of the car (usually the upper body panels from brushing snow) are far more visible than a few touch-up spots from gravel (usually on the lower panels were you have to bend over to see them). Keep in mind, I am far more (removed) about caring for the exterior of my daily driver than probably 95% of the people out there. The smallest marks in the paint drive me nuts until I get them out. So it takes a lot less time, money, and effort to wash/wax the car and touch up chips than to have to buff out the clearcoat on about 50% of the car. For me, the washing, waxing, and touch-up are something that is going to be done regularly anyway, I want to avoid having go through the additional hassle of buffing the whole car out because of something that could have easily been avoided. Also, probably every new car's owner's manual gives the instructions to never use an automatic car wash with plastic bristled brushes, so why the heck would I use one on my car myself at home in the driveway?I spaz if I see someone touch my car, I go ballistic if someone leans on it or brushes against it. The fact is, the less that things touch the surface of the car, the longer it will stay in top condition.