Gardx - latest opinions

[cjboddy]

Hi,

Looking at order a new XC60 from my local dealer. My current v70 had the supaguard treatment when I bought it new. I asked what the dealer offered this time and he mentioned Gardx. He said the products totalled about £100 and it took a day for a couple of guys to do it and the vehicle was put in an oven or something to seal the treatment?! Cost is approx £400.

I've not come across any recent reviews of the treatments but historical one's people were suggesting a good local valeter / detailed could prob do better, use better products and be cheaper.

I have contacted a local detailing guy and he didn't rate the Gardx products. He said he uses gyeon and gtechnic products. He said to fully treat the car in / out would be £250.

Anyone have any experience / thoughts?

Cheers
Craig

[Ninja59]

Get the detailer to do it. The product is just okay but poor prep undermines it even more.

[christheancient]

I had it done to a brand new car (not a Volvo!) a while back.

I was unimpressed! The bodywork still needed a proper polish once in a while as the paint felt 'rough' after a while (just like a properly polished car does) and the black plastic trim still had a tendency to go grey and need some treatment on a regular basis.

However, I was lucky. (?) The dealer threw in the job as part of the deal, free of charge, when I bought the car obviously thinking it would clinch the sale (I was going to buy the car as a company car anyway!). Personally, I would never bother with it again.

[Harvey1512]

I would follow the advice of a detailer above your dealer. These guys are specialists at what they do and know far more than the dealer will, not a criticism of the dealer but it is reality. If you speak to a detailer about what they do they are incredibly nerdy and go to the nth degree.

[NigelDay]

Agree with the above. Preparation of the bodywork BEFORE applying any treatment is essential. Detailers know better than dealers how to do this.

[wimorrison]

Many dealers use valetting and detailing firms on contract to do this for you - I know mine does and my car is still silky smooth and rainwater still beads after 3 1/2 years.

[ITSv40]

I do not have any experience of paint treatments, but have used numerous Gtechniq products and they are first class. If the detailer is recommending them, I would not hesitate.

[DSK]

These treatments are gimmicks by dealers.

There are better products and more options on treating your paint to suit your needs and budget. Whilst dealers may outsource this to a local detailing/valeting firm, the job is usually poor.

A recommended detailer is the way to go when it comes to paint protection.

[KerPLoD]

I've applied supagard before when I used to work for Ford. It's simple and cheap if you know where to look. Assuming it's the paint sealant you're most interested in, it's rather straight-forward. The full £300+ shebang isn't worth it, at all, no matter what sealant is used.

Normally you can find a supagard paint sealant kit on ebay for about £10 (I've tried it, same stuff I used at Ford).

Beyond that it's a case of cleaning the exterior thoroughly to remove any grit, tar and dead insects that are on the paint. Either use tar/glue remover or if it's worse clay bar detailing is recommended. If the car is new, the dealer will have already cleaned and polished the car, so my recommendation would be to give the car a good wash (with two buckets and a microfibre wash-mitten) to remove and polish that might keep the supagard from sealing.

Once the car is clean it's simply a case of applying the supagard like a polish. It's normally left for at least an hour to harden before being buffed off with a CLEAN microfibre. I'd recommend buying a new microfibre specifically for this.

For the sake of about £20 and a few hours of your time, only then does supagard make a case for itself. As a self-employed detailer I have cleaned cars which had been supagarded from new back in 2013. After 4 years the shine isn't quite the same but they are much easier to clean that non-supagarded equivalents and they still look slightly better after being cleaned.

Just don't let those cheap-hand-car-wash imbeciles get their idiotic hands on your car after it's been supagarded.

[cjboddy]

Thanks for all the advice chaps. Going to use my local detailer and his product choices!

Cheers
Craig