New XC60 Teflon coat or not?

[conp]

Hi to all!

I am new to the forum and in a couple of weeks I expect to receive my XC60 FWD D4 engine.


My question is whether or not I should teflon coat the car and its leather seats, and why? Bear in mind that I live in the Mediterranean, therefore the car will be under strong sun light most of the year.

Thanks!

[MikeIOW]

Short answer here is "I don't know", but the longer one is (assuming you mean "ceramic" coating, like CarPro or Williams F1?) that I am considering the same for our one when it arrives (June!).

Not sure whether being in the Med is more of a reason to have it done - the weather, bird poo, salted roads etc here are a good reason to protect them, I believe!

The dealer here offers Autoglym Lifeshine, but that strikes me of more of a DiamondBrite or Supagard system - nice, but not really worth lots of money.

Welcome other views - what have folk done here?

[conp]

Originally Posted by MikeIOW

Short answer here is "I don't know", but the longer one is (assuming you mean "ceramic" coating, like CarPro or Williams F1?) that I am considering the same for our one when it arrives (June!).

Not sure whether being in the Med is more of a reason to have it done - the weather, bird poo, salted roads etc here are a good reason to protect them, I believe!

The dealer here offers Autoglym Lifeshine, but that strikes me of more of a DiamondBrite or Supagard system - nice, but not really worth lots of money.

Welcome other views - what have folk done here?

Thanks for the response.

The local dealer does not provide such a service for sure. However, once the car is delivered, I will ask them whether it is recommended or not.

Let's wait for further input and decide.

[wimorrison]

I had G3 Glasscoat applied by the dealer, actually it was thrown in for free as part of the deal - and I have to say that it works well, the dirt doesn't stick as much and when it is cleaned is cleans very easily

I also notice that they really do restrict this to the trade, all eBay sales are taken down very quickly, and always before they are meant complete, clearly they are protecting their product heavily. I have yet to find anywhere that you can buy it, other than as an installed product either by dealer or car valeting company.

might not be snake oil after all

[watchboy]

Originally Posted by wimorrison

I had G3 Glasscoat applied by the dealer, actually it was thrown in for free as part of the deal - and I have to say that it works well, the dirt doesn't stick as much and when it is cleaned is cleans very easily

I also notice that they really do restrict this to the trade, all eBay sales are taken down very quickly, and always before they are meant complete, clearly they are protecting their product heavily. I have yet to find anywhere that you can buy it, other than as an installed product either by dealer or car valeting company.

might not be snake oil after all

In a former life, many years ago, I worked for Brown Brothers Dana Ltd (Automotive refinishing suppliers and distributors) one of our suppliers of hand creams, soaps & barrier cream was also the sole importer of a well known paint protection sealent.

We got chatting about it and he ran me through the pre-application process, application and maintenance. None of it was rocket science albeit you did need to follow the process to the letter otherwise it would affect longevity etc.

Like anything, I believe that the risk, from a distributor perspective is that if they make the product available to anyone and everyone they potentially leave themselves open to a deluge of complaints because the product hasn't worked as expected by 'Joe Bloggs'.

By restricting supply to professionals who understand the requirements and processes involved to ensure longevity and the best possible finish they significantly reduce their liability or exposure to complaints or misuse.

Lets not forget though, if applied properly the approved supplier will spend several hours in prep removing swirls and small defects before they even get to the application stage!

In essence, we are paying for the valeters / detailers time + the cost of the product + manufacturers guarantee / warranty. The manufacturer will stand by their guarantee (in most instances) so long as the product is applied correctly.

The cost of product is relatively small, its everything else that jacks the price up.

Whilst I don't agree with the above approach I do understand the whys and wherefores of it. I can just imagine some of the compensation claims if these products were available through Halfords or similar outlets.....

'Did sir remove all contaminants, residues, paint swirls and defects before applying the product?'

"what the hell you on about?"

'Surely you read the instructions sir?'

" It's just fancy car polish isn't it?"

'Not quite sir, you have applied a ceramic coating to your car, let rain water and dust settle on it during in the curing period and unfortunately this means that sir has 'locked' said contaminants in to the ceramic finish'

"i'll just power wash it off then..."

'I'm afraid sir, it isn't quite that simple a process, the product is designed to withstand all the best that the British weather systems can throw at it plus, road salt, grime, sand, minor swirls and pretty much any undesired materials that may damage the paint...... sir will have to employ the services of a professional detailer to completely remove the product!'

There are probably keen hobbyist detailers that could apply ceramic coatings without too much bother but beyond that I don't believe it is a straight forward product to use.

Anyway, enough of my blitherings ;-)

Paul

[MikeIOW]

Originally Posted by wimorrison

I had G3 Glasscoat applied by the dealer, actually it was thrown in for free as part of the deal - and I have to say that it works well, the dirt doesn't stick as much and when it is cleaned is cleans very easily


might not be snake oil after all

I'm reasonably convinced the ceramic coatings are a genuine option......you must have a very generous dealer, they must take a good few hours to properly apply!
Was it to the bodywork only, or do the wheels and interior get any treatment?

Cheers

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by MikeIOW

I'm reasonably convinced the ceramic coatings are a genuine option......you must have a very generous dealer, they must take a good few hours to properly apply!
Was it to the bodywork only, or do the wheels and interior get any treatment?

Cheers

It was the entire car, wheels, paintwork, carpets & leather. I think they normally charge around £500 therefore it wasn't really too much of a give away and I think that the detailer they use to apply this has a regular booking from the dealer and it may well be that the actual cost to them when you remove margin is considerably less

I washed the car yesterday with the Karcher - stupid I know, guaranteed weather change now - and the dirt just flowed of and the car was sparking with only 20 mins of 'work'.