Hi. Was wondering the seabreeze consensus on paint protection for a new vehicle. I declined the dealer rip off pack $2,700 reduced to $2,300 for nano paint protection, interior trim, and tint. The fine print reads you can't use auto car wash; have to use their detergent and have an annual inspection. The vehicle is garaged and used in a beachfront location and spends a fair amount of time around airports. Is it worth doing after market. Anyone in the detailing industry on seabreeze?

Do any car manufacturers paint cars needing additional protection done by someone in their backyard shed? If a particular manufacturer does perhaps one needs to look at another car.

Haven't you heard of the famous 'Ming Mole' when you buy a new car?

Google it I'm sure it will make sense then!

If you only buy white vehicles the problem is fairly much eliminated.

A local panel and paint guy here makes about half his monthly income from buffing black cars.

There is a message there.

So why spend 10% of cost of new vehicle to protect new paint.
Short answer - NO.

I bought some of the nano stuff for $50 and did it myself to wife's new Honda and then to my 9 year old Suby Outback.

Suby came up a treat and washes easily.

It's a white vehicle. Made in germany; so their paintwork I believe is better because of the snow salt road factor. I've always only used new finish polish on other vehicles. It's good although I can be a bit sloppy around black trim. Been down the Maguires full on polish, wax buff etc and it's great but just too much work. What is the latest greatest or favourite polish. Preferably only once a year application.

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pearl said..
What is the latest greatest or favourite polish. Preferably only once a year application.

The latest and greatest, especially suited to German vehicles, is the "old faux patina". Don't know how they do it. Possibly a lot of work involved, maybe start by sand blasting and parking it at the end of a pier for 6 months.

^^ I don't think they got it

Maguires carnauba wax. Microfibre polishing cloth, great results and not too much elbow grease required.

I just run my car through a touch free car wash machine every month or so, or after a trip away when the car is filthy. The $13 full wash puts all sorts of polishes and protectants on the car. My last car was 12 years old and still looked brand new.

Waste of money, anything these days that uses words such as 'nano' is jumping on the hype train, I used to sell the stuff.

Buy a can of scotch guard, clay bar and decent polish/wax kit and get to work,

NuFinish, DIY.

Does a great job , just need to reapply every couple of months if you are near the beach.

Why would you wash your car? The thick coat of mud, salt and dirt comes of by simply driving down a narrow, well vegetated track...and best of all - you get free (nature's own) pinstripes in the deal.

Just been through this with my eldest, buying a car.

The way I see it is the car should be fit for purpose, made for the environment it is being sold in.
Its a rip off.

They they want to sell you an extended warranty but you have to have the car serviced by them (or so they say)

I think they make more on these'extras' than the car!!!

Maguiar's wet look crystal, it is a one step silicone polish and is really good stuff.
No waxing, it's too hard.

I can't see that any "paint protection" they sell could be better than a premium polish from Maguiars, Mother's or that other one I can't recall right now.
Just that many people don;t know how to wash and polish a car, and/or don't want to spend half a day on it every 6mths

Jeff2 +1

2 years ago I polished a 34ft boat hull with nufinish no oxidation or major preparation required .

Just did it again now good for 2 more years.

Instructions recommend 2 coats I did 3 and still shiny after 2 years on a swing mooring

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pearl said...
It's a white vehicle. Made in germany; so their paintwork I believe is better because of the snow salt road factor. I've always only used new finish polish on other vehicles. It's good although I can be a bit sloppy around black trim. Been down the Maguires full on polish, wax buff etc and it's great but just too much work. What is the latest greatest or favourite polish. Preferably only once a year application.

At least with white cars you have a chance, the Australian sun just eats the clear coat on metalic paint. The best thing anyone can do for their paint is to keep the car under cover and particularly out of the sun.

^^ doesn't help that the paint manufacturers fail us with their enviro friendly experiments. They tried the water based 2 pack polyurethanes in the late 1990's - look at any Mitsubishi, Hyundai and some others (can't recall) from then and all their paint is farked and falling off.

All my cars have had quality polish and well looked after and all lasted well, but the 1998 Mitsi Challenger has a buggered roof and bonnet. That is annoying in the extreme as we don't know till it happens and then it is out of warranty and they don't care. Then you hear 'oh yeah they all did that no matter how good you look after them..." grrrr

Cars are de-investments When it looses its turn key reliability get rid of it and get another. Nano paint would look great While the motor and rest of the car falls to pieces. I dunno if you could drive a car everyday and not get wear and tear on it. Impossiable.

Well end of my story is they 'gave' me a bag of cleaning and detailing products. Dash stuff. Leather stuff. Polish, wax. Wash wheel brush. Etc Now if only I could read German to know what they are. If they are as impressive as the bag they came in, I'll be happy. I had a commodore ute that I had 3 claims under warranty for rust. It had zero factory paint under the windshield rubbers in the channel. convinced me to not buy one ever again. Maybe I just got a dud. Thanks for all the suggestions

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Mark _australia said..
^^ doesn't help that the paint manufacturers fail us with their enviro friendly experiments. They tried the water based 2 pack polyurethanes in the late 1990's - look at any Mitsubishi, Hyundai and some others (can't recall) from then and all their paint is farked and falling off.

I think Ford tried the water based paint as well, and I would almost guarantee it on my AU falcon. The paint seems to be porous! I think they were looking at it when the government were going to introduce legislation against the use of solvent based paints, and then backed out of the idea.

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pearl said..

Well end of my story is they 'gave' me a bag of cleaning and detailing products. Dash stuff. Leather stuff. Polish, wax. Wash wheel brush. Etc Now if only I could read German to know what they are. If they are as impressive as the bag they came in, I'll be happy. I had a commodore ute that I had 3 claims under warranty for rust. It had zero factory paint under the windshield rubbers in the channel. convinced me to not buy one ever again. Maybe I just got a dud. Thanks for all the suggestions

Just so you know in future, the normal way sales people approach this is that they come to an agreement on the price of a car, and then after that is agreed, wheel out a woman to try and sell you on paint/fabric protection. After all, you just committed to buying a new car, 'why wouldn't you want to protect it'. Of course, I got taken by this scam and paid a lot more than the same treatment would have cost aftermarket.

When you read the fine print on the warranty, it has so many terms and conditions I would be surprised if they ever get a claim. Original owner, always washed by some special process or location or company, or the damaged area has to be a minimum size to be significant.

The only good thing I got out of it was the waxguard car wash product that they used. Its good stuff.

My granddad bought a Toyota Corona in the late 70's and lived 100m from the beach in Mandurah.
All he ever did was wash it weekly with warm water with a capful of kerosene in it. The paint was still good as new 20yrs later. Certainly as good as a modern car with paint protection 20yrs later.

Interesting. Quality paint, some sort of protective coating, washing the salt off. That was plenty.

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pearl said..
It's a white vehicle. Made in germany; so their paintwork I believe is better because of the snow salt road factor. I've always only used new finish polish on other vehicles. It's good although I can be a bit sloppy around black trim. Been down the Maguires full on polish, wax buff etc and it's great but just too much work. What is the latest greatest or favourite polish. Preferably only once a year application.

Try Amway Silicon Glaze. It has been working a treat for me for the last 25 years. Easy to apply and easy to buff all by hand.

If you have a problem with it being an Amway product, get over it and yourself. You do not have to be a distributor to buy and use it. Amway products are top quality and value.

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Mark _australia said..
My granddad bought a Toyota Corona in the late 70's and lived 100m from the beach in Mandurah.
All he ever did was wash it weekly with warm water with a capful of kerosene in it. The paint was still good as new 20yrs later. Certainly as good as a modern car with paint protection 20yrs later.

Interesting. Quality paint, some sort of protective coating, washing the salt off. That was plenty.

My regular panel beat spray paint guy tells me that the problem with newer cars is that the paint is single pack and the clear coat is two pack. They do not bond properly.

Older cars were fully immersed in paint and then baked. Even if a panel shop has invested a million dollars in a baking booth it will never be as good as original.

Short memories. The main purpose of paint is to stop the steel below from rusting. I remember how quickly those old cars rusted. Modern paint is way better,

^^ Yep I bought a Nissan, hardly a top quality vehicle. I live 75 m from the ocean, drive on the beach, park in garage. 8 years old, have washed it about 8 times total, never waxed. No signs of rust yet. Worth about 8k now. Why worry. By the time it starts rusting it'll be worth about 3k, SFA

It's a rip-off, I mean "value-add" for the dealer.

I bought my last car by email (as I did with the one before that because I can't be arsed with dealers/car salespeeps.

They had the after-sales lady ring me and ask if I wanted all of this extra **** like paint protection, it was like $5K more, and it was very easy to say NO, FO! She commented that when you buy the way I did, you don't get into the "buying mode"... That confirmed to me they know exactly when to upsell/offer fries with that to extract as much cash out of you as possible.

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sotired said...
Of course, I got taken by this scam and paid a lot more than the same treatment would have cost aftermarket

I wouldn't feel too bad, millions of other men have been "scammed" by flirty, good looking women showing a bit of skin

When i bought my ute the ming mole offered me rust protection and her reaction to me telling her i didn't want to car if it was going to rust was priceless but i guess it's their job to sell so you can't blame them.

Put something on the paint but don't pay the dealer. When they leave the factory there is nothing on the paint to protect it so bird poo and the like will destroy it easily.I like the meguiars carnauba wax, it also make the car easier to clean and keep clean. If you not keen on doing it yourself take it to a professional detailer it should only set you back a fraction of what a dealer charges.

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Pugwash said..
It's a rip-off, I mean "value-add" for the dealer.

I bought my last car by email (as I did with the one before that because I can't be arsed with dealers/car salespeeps.

They had the after-sales lady ring me and ask if I wanted all of this extra **** like paint protection, it was like $5K more, and it was very easy to say NO, FO! She commented that when you buy the way I did, you don't get into the "buying mode"... That confirmed to me they know exactly when to upsell/offer fries with that to extract as much cash out of you as possible.

^ exactly!

Btw, if you are interested in learning more about 'the psychology of value', check out a book called "Priceless", by William Poundstone, it has some interesting studies on how the human mind works and how sales/marketing try to exploit the various traits...