Protecting paintwork

[m19dut]

OK guys I need some help......

I am due to take delivery of my new Cooper next week and today I had a call from the garage. They are offering something which apparently Scotchgard's the paintwork and the interior - so protecting it. Can you give me your opinions on this... Is it worth it? They are asking another £300 for it. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have to let them know tomorrow!

Cheers.

[Ebrian_x2]

NO!!!!!....Dont get it. I hear its basically a glorified wax. Offered the same
thing to my brother when he bought his new car. Its a scam, just a good way
dealers can make more money.

I know there have been discussions on here about it before, perhaps someone
with more experience with the search function can grab you a link.

[dietcokeplease]

If you live in a flat or don't have access to somewhere to wash your car then possibly.

But if you wash and wax your car regularly then no. It's a huge con with a huge mark up. You can buy Diamondbrite/JewelUltra/Autoglym Lifeshine kits on eBay for around £30-40.

Two old M2ers who are car salesmen said that it's a rip off and that they hate selling the stuff.

[Neil the Hat]

The kits are indeed available for £20 plus, picked one up on here for £20 last week by Autoglym to do my new mini, though think the lady selling them has now sold them all - try ebay.

The main cost is the labour charge, discussed this with my dealer this week and he said it takes in the region of about four hours to do.

I believe it is fairly straight forward to do yourself - just time consuming.

[m19dut]

Thanks for that - I don't think I'll bother then!

[Steve Zuke]

Greetings,

I thought I would add my 2 cents worth as I decided to go with a similar paint protection on the exterior only.

In Canada, they call it 3M protection. Simply put, it's a clear film that is applied (like a stick-on) to the lower half of the hood. I was skeptical at first but WOW... it works fantastic on protecting the paint from rocks and flying debris.

I also have a body kit. For some reason, the dealer forgot to apply the 3M to this area. On my return trip home, I already noticed white rock chips in my new paint job! I returned my mini for "touch ups" and had them apply the 3M projection to the body kit. Since 8000 KM, the only chips are where the projection cannot reach (tight spaces).

Anyway, I can send some pictures of what the 3M looks like, although it's only noticeable closeup. The results are incredible. Believe me, I thought I was getting screwed for the "extra option", but it is definitely worth it.

Hope that helps!

Steve

[Nimiety]

Very interesting to hear this - I am also debating it, as I live in an Ottawa suburb and I would hate to ding the new car when I get it. Do you mind putting up a pic or two?

Thanks!
N...

[nike61]

Hi
I agree that the cost from the dealers is expensive, as I had the dealer put on Paint Proection, Window Tint and Fabric Protection. My reasons were several in which I ignored the cost. I further agree that you could go to places other than the dealer for reduced cost and same product, in fact one of our mini members use to work for a dealer and stated the same as others that ttheir cost was minimal.
However, the benefits are that all you have to do is wash the car with car shampoo, further, with the dealer packages in Aussie, each year they redetail and re-apply the paint protection at no cost, maybe due to fact that it costs so little, also further as they apply it, they warrant the paint work for lifetime when this paint protection applied, and further, its done at dealer during a service rather than having to take to the aftermarket supplier to have redone.
Thus I evaluated this additional cost and saw huge benefits in a one stop shop and service.
So far I have washed my car every 1-2weeks as winter here in Aussie since June 05, the water beads all the time and justs runs off, the washing is easier than my wife's Mazda which does not have it and further just chamois the car afterwards.
Anyway some food for thought, but so far so good.