Your car will look better longer if you follow these tips:

• If scratches irritate you, then avoid black and choose silver or another light metallic colour which to an extent mask scratches.
• If your budget permits, specify leather upholstery as fabrics tend to look shabby after a year or two of wear.
• Light grey and fawn carpets look great in the showroom but are totally impractical here in the very wet Lake District.
• If vehicle specific rubber mats and load bay liners are available then specify them, they will save a great deal of wear and tear on your carpets.
• Specify simple alloy wheels, complex multi-spoke wheels hold dirt more easily and we cannot clean the interiors due to lack of access (we can do a wheels-off clean but this is fairly expensive).
• Side steps; they do look cool but every single one of them looks shabby very quickly, alloys corrode, rubber and plastics fade, most get knocked and damaged, maybe best avoided.
• Do buy dog guards and load bay liners for your Pooch.
• Avoid over-priced dealer sealants.

But the very best tip of all, is to have your new car valeted regularly from new!