I generally just don't drive it when it's raining, or has just rained/snowed, and the roads are nasty if I have recently washed it (which is pretty much always :P) I hate getting the car all nasty if I just washed it, but I wash it so much it probably doesn't matter. Thankfully I don't have to baby my VW, which is more of my DD, like I do the Boxster. The previous owner seemed to have taken pretty good care of the car- the only real imperfections on the paint are some chips on the hood and front bumper, as well as miscellaneous scratches throughout the car, only about 2 are somewhat noticeable unless you are thoroughly inspecting the paint (unfortunately, he must have tried to fix them with touch up paint, and didn't do the greatest of jobs).