Car Paint Protection -have you had it applied

[Cyclewalkbob]

Hi,


There are a number of paint protection finishes out ther - Autoglym, Ceramic, Graphine etc.

The dealer wants £395 to put the the Autoglym Lifetime coating on and Ceramic starts at £500+ but still need careful washing to maintain the finish.

I am thinking of not taking up the dealers offer nor Ceramic but perhaps buy the Autoglym kit and put it on myself or even just wax the car then top up with “Bobby Dazzler”  ( a synthetic coating that you spray on after washing. This allows rain beading and run off) between waxwings.

I have used this on my Motorhome and CV-R for the last 10 years and get a good finish for a lot less money.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Bob

[culzean]

Hi,


There are a number of paint protection finishes out ther - Autoglym, Ceramic, Graphine etc.

The dealer wants £395 to put the the Autoglym Lifetime coating on and Ceramic starts at £500+ but still need careful washing to maintain the finish.

I am thinking of not taking up the dealers offer nor Ceramic but perhaps buy the Autoglym kit and put it on myself or even just wax the car then top up with “Bobby Dazzler”  ( a synthetic coating that you spray on after washing. This allows rain beading and run off) between waxwings.

I have used this on my Motorhome and CV-R for the last 10 years and get a good finish for a lot less money.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Bob

We had the diamond shine applied by dealers on both our Jazz and Civic,  I must admit ( I am allergic to cleaning cars ) that many years later our cars still look good after natures carwash ( rain ) and get cleaned by me only every second blue moon.

[peteo48]

I'm no expert but I have watched a lot of YouTube videos on detailing (very sad). The consensus seems to be that they are over priced at the dealer and, on top of that, it is suspected that the preparation of the paintwork to remove all contaminants (even on new cars) is skipped and the products just slapped on. The products themselves are not necessarily bad products but you might be better getting a specialist detailer to apply them properly.

That said, I have got Gardx on my new car. The dealer wanted £399 but I refused. They then offered it me for £150 so I decided to take it more out of curiosity than anything. That the price can be miraculously more than halved I think tells you all you need to know about how these products are priced. You can get the kits on Ebay for around £30!

[sportse]

I had the Autoglym lifeshine on my Jazz.

Unfortunately I had to take it back twice as they hadn’t cleaned runoff from the application.

On my previous cars I haven’t had it and they still looked good at 10 years old with just a wash/wax applied (Autoglym wash.)

You could pay a professional a few hundred to have a ceramic coating applied properly- I’d probably recommend that if you wanted a coating.

Even with the lifeshine I had a few bad stone chips on the bonnet.

[Hicardo]

Dont waste your money mate.  Buy a good quality treatment aftermarket and apply it yourself.  Me, I just put it through a car wash with wax applied occasionally.  As I change cars every 3 years or so, I don't worry about what happens 10 years down the line. if youre planning on keeping a long time, I can see how you would perhaps give this more thought.   

[guest9814]

I use  Turtle Wax ICE SEAL N SHINE HYBRID SEALANT SPRAY WAX

Cheap but not lifetime protection- only up to 6 months , application easy and no need to apply to much of the sealant.
Started use only after 7 months from car purchase - seen that factory coating not repelling  water anymore, had to polish car gently then applied turtle wax sealant.

[Kremmen]

Another vote for 'they are a waste of money'

Dealers often misrepresent 'paint protection'. The only slight protection they might help with is bird droppings.

[Jayt43]

I use  Turtle Wax ICE SEAL N SHINE HYBRID SEALANT SPRAY WAX

Cheap but not lifetime protection- only up to 6 months , application easy and no need to apply to much of the sealant.
Started use only after 7 months from car purchase - seen that factory coating not repelling  water anymore, had to polish car gently then applied turtle wax sealant.

Yeah, Turtle Wax is often seen as being a "once good" brand which is easily outperformed. IMHO, Auto-Glym falls into that same bracket these days (although perceived as high-end). However, as you say, they have this line of Wax hybrid products which are really ace - both in terms of longevity and price. Very good indeed.

[Kremmen]

Car wax of old was that horrible stuff that dried to a haze then when polished off pushed visible white residue into all the cracks. Also if you got any on black rubber or plastic it was a nightmare to get off.

These days I use the spray waxes, mostly the washless type that can be sprayed almost anywhere and polish up nicely.

[guest10167]

I've used Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic wax (spray) and the result is quite pleasing. The paint is super shiny and soft/smooth to the touch. And after several weeks the water still beads off nicely. Bird droppings also wash off easily.
Disadvantage of a greasy spray like this is that it easily gets onto rubber seals, plastics and windows, so you have to spend some extra time cleaning those (at least I do 'cause I'm a bit of a maniac ).

[Kremmen]

I've still got a few bottles of Mantis waterless wash in stock.

That can be sprayed everywhere (except windscreen of course) and it polishes off nicely as it contains caranuba wax.

When done, drop cloth on bonnet, if it slides off, proper job.

[Jayt43]

So you have to spend some extra time cleaning those (at least I do 'cause I'm a bit of a maniac ).

My next door neighbour thinks I'm an absolute nutjob, as I'm always making sure our family vehicles are pristine (even in winter).

In truth, it's because I had two herniated discs this year and bending / stretching is bloody good exercise for my back! That also helps me explain to my wife why I just spent another 40 quid on cleaning products...

"It's not just any wax my dear, it's ceramic so it lasts longer!

[Kremmen]

When I worked I used to like to get the worst off each weekend.

In winter I could often be seen with a bucket of bubbles and a car brush, in the rain, waterproof yellow jacket and trousers.

As I washed, the fain rinsed.

Now if you want funny looks that works a treat.

[JimSh]

Car wax of old was that horrible stuff that dried to a haze then when polished off pushed visible white residue into all the cracks. Also if you got any on black rubber or plastic it was a nightmare to get off.

That's my mistake.
I'm still trying to use up that stuff.
Well, maybe once or twice a year. 

[Lord Voltermore]

I've had my 14 year old Yaris from new. Always outside .  I treated it myself with Turtle wax gloss guard ,top coat sealer when it was new and maybe once or twice more in its early years. Very rarely waxed.  The paint is still  as good as new. 

But its not predominantly  somewhere that gets excessive droppings from birds or insects, or sap and the like  from foliage , where more frequent care  is probably a good idea.

Another benefit of applying your own treatments is you are more likely to spot problems such as stone chips.