If your biggest Halloween fear is waking up the next morning to discover that your car’s been egged into oblivion, our car-care cousins at Consumer Reports have a few ideas that may offer some protection. The most effective (and obvious): stash your car in the garage overnight if you can.

Auto-finish experts contacted by Consumer Reports said that most cars made in the past 10 years have protective coatings that resist the kind of acid damage that eggs, silly string and other fun Halloween treats can inflict on your car. But if you have an older car, or one that’s been repainted, you might not be so lucky. Some options:

• Your best defense is a protective coat of wax. The week before Halloween is a good time to apply it. Not only does it prepare your vehicle for the terrors of All Hallows Eve, but, if you live in a snowy area, wax can help protect the paint from the salt, sand, and road grime related to winter driving.
• If your car is hit on Halloween night, rinse off solid residue that can scratch the paint, such as eggshells, as soon as possible. Then give your vehicle a thorough washing to get rid of the other material.
• If a contaminant has had time to set in and cause paint damage, but hasn’t eaten completely through the clearcoat layer, wash it thoroughly and try using a cleaner wax. These are products formulated with some abrasives; they can remove a thin layer of paint to expose the undamaged paint beneath.

If the damage extends down to the paint, you may have no choice but to get the area repainted. A garage — or a car cover, which Consumer Reports also recommends — seems like it may be the least tricky option.

How to protect your car’s paint from Halloween “tricks” [Consumer Reports]

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