Paint Protection
Discussion
I've just come across a company called Diamond Brite, they sell a paint protector. Basically its two layers of stuff that they apply to your paintwork. The first layer fills in all the minute gaps between the pain and then the second layer bonds to this and produces a ploished finish. They give a six year guarantee and say you never need to polish the car again (which is nice). Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing? It costs (a mate reckons) between £100 and £200.
Personally I wouldn't waste my money.
When I got my Discovery 18 months ago, I managed to persuade the dealer to have the car treated free of charge.
Whilst I can't deny that the car was extremely shiny when I collected it, and the surface was very smooth to the touch, it doesn't seem to have offered much protection to the bodywork over the past 18 months.
If you look more closely at the conditions of the guarantee, you'll see that you have to regularly wash the car with their shampoo and then you are supposed to have the paintwork inspected annually to keep your warranty in force.
It seemed to me that the whole system was just a way of making people buy their over priced car shampoo for six years!
As soon as I get time, I'm going to Zymol the Discovery, (I've already put two coats on the Tamora and it comes up a treat!).
When I got my Discovery 18 months ago, I managed to persuade the dealer to have the car treated free of charge.
Whilst I can't deny that the car was extremely shiny when I collected it, and the surface was very smooth to the touch, it doesn't seem to have offered much protection to the bodywork over the past 18 months.
If you look more closely at the conditions of the guarantee, you'll see that you have to regularly wash the car with their shampoo and then you are supposed to have the paintwork inspected annually to keep your warranty in force.
It seemed to me that the whole system was just a way of making people buy their over priced car shampoo for six years!
As soon as I get time, I'm going to Zymol the Discovery, (I've already put two coats on the Tamora and it comes up a treat!).
Yes. I have it. It helps protect the paint from the the elements, bird crap, bug blood, etc (not stone chips though).
It cost me £80 for the dealership to apply the initial 2 stages (new car).
After that, once a month (after washing it) you add this stuff called 'conserver' to a fresh bucket of water and 'wash it' again, chamois off and that's it - so the company claim, I find giving it a good buff (oo-err mrs, etc.) with a soft cotton cloth works wonders.
Just wash, chamois off (and buff) as normal between these monthly washes (if you feel the need).
It does work - I have a showroom shiny car again after washing - well, until the next time I drive it.
Cheers.
It cost me £80 for the dealership to apply the initial 2 stages (new car).
After that, once a month (after washing it) you add this stuff called 'conserver' to a fresh bucket of water and 'wash it' again, chamois off and that's it - so the company claim, I find giving it a good buff (oo-err mrs, etc.) with a soft cotton cloth works wonders.
Just wash, chamois off (and buff) as normal between these monthly washes (if you feel the need).
It does work - I have a showroom shiny car again after washing - well, until the next time I drive it.
Cheers.
quote:
does it get rid of those horrible swirls in the lacquer though?
I Zymolled my mum's Yaris, (don't laugh!), at the weekend, and it removed all the swirl marks that had been on there from new.
If you're in the Staines area at any stage, and you want to try some on one panel to see what difference it makes, let me know.
quote:
Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing? It costs (a mate reckons) between £100 and £200.
Yes, I had it on the daily driver that I just sold, and I would recommend it. Initially I thought it was a scam, but I got the £99 cost thrown in by the dealer when I bought the car so I wasn't too bothered. However, it is superb. The paint finish is like glass. I had the car a year and didn't need to polish it at all. It stayed clean for much longer too.
These "treatments" are just polymer sealants. You can get them and apply yourself. It's just another polish/wax variation, but is usually a multi-stage process and a little less straight-forward to apply than your Autoglym/Zymol etc (although having said that - Autoglym Extra-Gloss Protection is a type of Polymer Sealant).
The main advantage is that it usually lasts a lot longer than a normal wax (at least 4-6 months for a daily driver as opposed to 4-6 weeks for a carnauba wax) before it starts to degrade. The downside is that they usually require a completely clean surface to apply to and bond (so any old wax or polish needs to be stripped off first).
I use Zaino or Klasse AIO (bought over the web from the US). Both Polymer Sealants and very good.
I do think 6 years is pushing it a bit for the expected life of their protection though...
-andy-
The main advantage is that it usually lasts a lot longer than a normal wax (at least 4-6 months for a daily driver as opposed to 4-6 weeks for a carnauba wax) before it starts to degrade. The downside is that they usually require a completely clean surface to apply to and bond (so any old wax or polish needs to be stripped off first).
I use Zaino or Klasse AIO (bought over the web from the US). Both Polymer Sealants and very good.
I do think 6 years is pushing it a bit for the expected life of their protection though...
-andy-
Stick loads of polish on it and keep away from the rear end of someone else.
Armourfend does the best job but looks terrible on some colours. Check first. Also some TVR's look better than others depending upon where the plastic edges finish.
If money is no object then the very best way to treat it is touch it up until it gets bad enough to notice at two yards then get it professionally resprayed on the front together with the wing mirrors while its being done.
Usually about every 30,000 miles or four years on average in my experience
Armourfend does the best job but looks terrible on some colours. Check first. Also some TVR's look better than others depending upon where the plastic edges finish.
If money is no object then the very best way to treat it is touch it up until it gets bad enough to notice at two yards then get it professionally resprayed on the front together with the wing mirrors while its being done.
Usually about every 30,000 miles or four years on average in my experience
Gassing Station | Tamora, T350 & Sagaris | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff