Donn

My coupe will arrive in a coupe weeks and my S.F. bay area dealer is suggestiing that I get the paintguard and leatherguard sealant protection by Perma-Plate. The cost, I believe is $998.00. Has anyone tried Perma-Plate? Is it worth the price? I did a forum search on Perma-Plate with no hits...perhaps its just a local bay area firm. They also advertise a fiberguard cloth protection product.
I confess...this is a repeat of a post I made in the Detailing & Auto Care thread. I got one reply from AlBoston, (thanks AlBoston!) commenting that it's a waste of money. I'm hoping others, here, might comment as well.

sdcaclint

paint and fabric sealants along with undercoating are huge, huge, huge profits for dealers. if you really want that stuff done, shop it and find a company that offers the services. my bet is that you will save at least half.
clint

Lynn

I agree with AlBoston. It is a dealer profit increasing gimmick. Purchase the car care products you prefer, and use them regularly. One more tip, insist that the dealer NOT wax the car before delivery. They usually use a power buffer and the car will have swirl marks.

eason

I wash my car every week, even I know it's going to rain the day after. I love how the car shine under the sun, it's like the car is smiling at you, and it gets other people's attention. I am very happy with Meguiar's product because they can make my car shine for a long time.

revstriker

I agree with AlBoston. I don't know "Perma-Plate" off hand, but typically, this aftermarket stuff is all just profit for the dealer.

spindrome

Donn:

Permaplate is a huge dealer markup and not worth it. It is no better than any of the stuff previously mentioned in this thread.

Just to clarify any concerns about Zaino, it does take a little longer, but it's no longer than a conventional wax job. The time is spent waiting for the polish to bond to the paint (and subsequent applications). The manual labor involved is in fact easier to apply and remove than with waxing. There is absolutely no buffing necessary! The stuff comes right off with no pressure.

In defense of those that "baby" their benzes more frequently than others, it's probably due to the following:

1) It's a benz. I find it disappointing when I see a new benz that's not looking it's finest.

2) Black car. Hardest to maintain. If I had brilliant silver, I would reduce my washes to once a month.

3) Call me wierd, but I find washing cars theraputic. Sort of like pulling weeds.

revstriker

Couldn't agree with you more! Actually, I spent yesterday afternoon/evening washing my black car, and I am planning on spending this evening pulling weeds! Just think of the money that I'm saving by not going to a therapist!!

BlackC230Coupe

whats a clay bar i wash my car alot and only use the best stuff to clean it and i never once heard of a clay bar can someone please explain to me what it is?


thanks

DrMike

Glad not everybody finds car washing to be sufficient therapy. People PAYING for therapy is what bought my Benz.

greg230

i too have a black car, and find washing it every week, and using spot detailer and a cali car duster works well between washes.

i dont want to knock zaino, results are great, but in no way is zainoing your car as easy as using many other brands of wax.

Donn

Five no votes, at the last count, and the big goose egg on the yes side. I will take your advice and save my money.

Thanks everyone!

DtS

I second that question!

NANA

Thanks for the responses.

Any comments on those touchless (high pressure) car wash available at gas stations? According to my experience, they su$#.

DtS

I agree. They do su$#. Actuall never had my MB washed in an auto wash. Don't trust them... Brushes may leave you with a fairly clean (but scratched) car, and those touchless crap don't clean effectively. So I guess my experiences are quite similar to yours

greg230

a clay bar is a finishing product used to remove swirl marks, and heavy contaminents from a coat of paint. Its used most often when the car is still kinda wet, or pretreated with a clay bar prep spray. i always thought it also strips a good bit of the wax, so waxing right after was a good idea, and that clay barring was something to do once or twice a year. apparently it can be done more frequently if one is in an environment with a lot of paint pollutants floating around. once clayed and then waxed you will notice a pretty big difference in paint smoothness, especially if your car is like 1-2 years old, and you have never clayed it before.

its a lotta work though, since you have to do a small area at a time, and it requires you to wax right afterwords, or you let contaminents get right to your newly cleaned surface that is pretty unprotected.

revstriker

Just to add: I don't think that using a clay bar is that much work actually. The clay bar that I use is a little bit smaller than a bar of soap. You wet an area, and rub the bar on it. You can actually feel the area become smooth. After I finish the entire car, I continue with with polish/was etc.

I've tried many different products over the years (disclaimer: I'm not a detailing expert by any measure). I'm not sure how you mean that zaino is not as easy as many other brands? Do you mean by physical labor, the time that it takes, or steps involved? I have found zaino to be one of the most user friendly products that I have tried. Very little elbow grease needed compared to other products. However, to really get a "great" shine, you need multiple coats of the polish, and you have to wait something like 12 hours in-between each coat, so it becomes a multiple day project.

greg230

ok i think you just answered your own question!

i for one dont have the time to schedual 2 hours every day for 3 straight days to zaino my car to perfection, needless to say, they need to be slightly overcast, low humidity days, with a moderate temperature. and it cant rain in between. Zaino would be a great product if my car just sits in a showroom, but in reality, its a lotta work. i am not the only one that has ever said this about zaino. ask about it around benzsport, they all say the same thing: great results, lotta work.

zainos good, but its a lotta commitment on your part to really make it work. do it 3 times to get a great shine.... but if you can only do it once, it looks exactly the same as every other product