Care of matte "finishes"...

I hope this hasn't been posted before:

The hood and front bumper of my car are badly banged up. Car is driveable, it just looks like crap...like I'm THE worse "drive by feel" driver. Anyway, a guy near me is advertising he will paint cars matte white, black, or silver/grey, for $200. Luckily, my car is silver. I am trying to find a silver hood and bumper for my car, but if I can't and/or get it painted by this guy...how do you care for matte paint finishes?

Also, saw some wheels that I really like for my truck. They are matte black, though a nearly identical wheel is available that is "polished" black. How to you care for matte finished wheels?

i read an article in Mo-DUH-fied GASP where they bought the flat black project Imprezza from Sport Compact Car (R.I.P). They decided to wrap it in vinyl to cover the matte paint - the reason being that you cant really care for flat paint. The Acid in bird poo eats the finish, and changes the "flatness". Any oily or greasy materials that come in contact with the paint like from the road or from your hands will change the appearance as well. You cant really just wash the stuff off and be back to normal - the finish is just ...changed. You can respray and hope to match the res of the car, but since you cant clear over matte paint, it begins to fade right away from uv damage. You can always use matte clear coat over regular paint. This will help with being able to "re-matte" the car when you get grease or bird crap on your ride, but its more expensive - so not really a help in your situation.

The best care is to not care lol - matte paint is pretty high maintenance stuff.

Let it get scuzzy, like the guys from Two Lane Blacktop.

Tractor paint. You can get it in flat tones, and it holds up better than a matte job.

Looks better than most as well:

^^^ That

Satin finish is the one you want. Most matte finish wheels are like a satin finish, not flat. Just clean them like you would any other normal wheel.

I painted a set of steel wheels black with some cheap rustoleum satin paint. Years later had some new tires mounted, popping the wheel weights off chipped the paint, and revealed where I had painted the old weight. a few minutes again with a rattle can, and the wheels looked great again. The paint matched the old coat just fine.

wow.. the matte black scooby from SCC.. I had forgotten about that stupid car. That honestly was one of the worst things they could have done to a perfectly good car and it started a trend that is only now starting to die

We did this one in epoxy primer, and it yielded a matte finish: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1992-honda-civic-si/

For care, I'd wash it every now and then. It is true that oil (even finger oil) left a smudge, but it seemed to fade over time. Scratches and other blems also seemed to fade with time.

I forgot about the grease stains. AND, I must confess, I don't care all that well for my car's current paint job, which must have been right before I bought it as it has handled the lack of care well.

I'm torn between "dumping" this car off at a P&P when it gets too expensive to keep running, so a cheap "makeover" seems reasonable...right now. Like everyone here, I think matte is old.