I would also:

Cut off the metal tip on any hose used to wash the car. Replace

it with a plastic one available at the hardware store (or just

leave it cut off). No matter how careful you are you will eventually

rub the tip of the hose against the paint and it will scratch off

the paint.

Remove bird poop immediatly. It eats through the clear coat on these

cars. This is especially true if you store the car in the garage

under florecent lights since the florecent light makes the clear

coat stains really stand out (which is all you will see when you

walk by the car).

> The last benefit to all this is the respect your mechanics will give

> your car. It is simple human nature to respect/fear something that

> looks brand new or is obviously taken care of, as opposed to

> something that doesn’t appear to be all that much cared about.

Along the same line, I wash my car before any service. I have

had a job where I worked on cars and a nice clean car was much

nicer to work on (smelly interiors with the ash trays over-flowing

where the worse). I also ask that the dealer to not wash the car

since they run it through those wash machines which can leave

scratches in the clear coat (I let them know that a few fingerprints

won't bother me).