The Concept of New Car Paint Protection

Having just spent a considerable sum of money on your new car, the first question frequently asked is ‘Why does my car need a Paint Protection treatment?’ It’s a very reasonable question.

The short answer is that our New Car Paint Protection treatments are designed to help protect your investment, perfect its appearance and make it very easy to care for. Whenever you use your car, it is being subjected to an attack from the environment and that changes – UV light, bugs, bird droppings, tree sap, pollution, brake dust, rain, dirt, salt in winter, and the list goes on.

The next question is usually related to what products the dealer has offered you. On the face of it, they offer a very convenient option where the car is treated prior to collection, but the reality is somewhat different and represents a false economy. The salesperson has most likely mentioned the same list of things attacking your car as we have, but that’s where the similarities end. It is what’s used and how that protection is achieved that makes Auto Curators stand out as the right choice.

 

The reality of Dealership Paint Protection

Paint Protection treatments from dealerships are poor value for money, and typically substandard quality. Allow us to explain why. There is a wide range of products offered by dealerships, common examples would be Supaguard and Autoglym Lifeshine. They make bold claims about the length of time their products will last for, as well as needing no further polishing or waxing, and resisting all sorts of environmental attacks. Prices at dealers vary wildly, despite it being fundamentally the same thing as one another, based on old polymer sealant technology, and will usually range from £350-£1000.

You may find it comforting to see that the dealership supplied product offers a guarantee, and place a lot of emphasis on the value this provides. But a guarantee against what exactly? Take Supaguard for example, which offers a 3 year guarantee. Quoting directly from their terms & conditions , they state;

“Paintwork – should either fading or a noticeable loss of the gloss finish occur, the affected panel(s) will be refinished and re-treated.”

But in their guarantee exclusions, they write;

“Paintwork damage caused by stone chips, bird lime, scuffs, scratches or industrial deposits such as railway brake dust.”

But surely those are exactly the things that are likely to cause your paint to lose its gloss? Therefore, the guarantee is pretty much worthless in a practical application. It also states that their products should be used for washing the car, cleaning the interior, etc, committing you to a system of products that offer poor value for money. Autoglym Lifeshine would appear to offer the same thing, although their T&C’s are not available online. It’s fair to say that no product can be expected to guard against stone chips or other physical impacts, other than paint protection film (PPF).

 

The Importance of Preparation

Products are only as good as the surface onto which they are applied. In most dealerships, their valeters are given minimal time to prepare a car other than a quick wash, often as little as 30 minutes to complete the whole task inside and out. That’s just not possible, even the best product would be immediately compromised at this point.

By choosing Auto Curators, you can feel safe in the knowledge that your vehicle will benefit from proper, meticulous preparation at every stage. We make sure the car is immaculately clean and free from contaminants. For example, we frequently see cars that have left dealerships, having been ‘treated’, yet have glue lines left around the edges of panels from the plastic coverings the car wears from factory to dealership. Dirt sticks to these and quickly looks very unsightly. It’s sloppy, and tells you it was a rushed job. Furthermore, rushed washing using poor technique and products can potentially inflict swirls and marring into the paint right from the start. Their valeters have neither the tools, time or skills to put this right, so your car is delivered with the defects present from day one.

Sometimes this means removing paint defects present from the point of leaving the factory (click here for an extreme example of this). This could take the form of light scratches, swirls, marring or holograms from poor polishing. Some of these defects can be quite severe and need a skilled hand to properly address them such as sanding marks.

Where possible, wheels are removed to be properly cleaned and sealed throughout (where conditions allow if operating our mobile service). If you’ve read this far, hopefully you’re starting to appreciate why this can be a day or more of work, not just 30 minutes that the dealership will allocate.

Even if the paint looks fairly defect free, as part of our regular New Car Paint Protection treatments, the paint will be expertly polished to burnish the finish and ensure the very best gloss is present before applying carefully selected products of the highest quality to seal in and protect that finish.

 

Just want it protected?

In 2016 we introduced our entry level ‘Lite’ New Car treatment, in response to feedback from our customers. Sometimes, you just want your new car to be well protected and easy to maintain, without being too worried about potential minor marks. Perhaps it’s the family car, your daily commuter, even a lease or company car that just needs to be kept presentable during your tenure. It is priced very competitively compared to what the dealership will be offering, on a like for like basis. The reality is that the same in depth level of care and expertise will be used to properly prepare your car for the application of the Auto Curators Signature Coating (single layer application), but without the machine polishing. At just £450.00 including VAT, you can enjoy all the benefits of that comes with professional application of the best products.

The choices of products for new car paint protection are Swissvax, Auto Curators Signature Coating or the Kamikaze Collection products – full details of these are available here.

 

Prices (all including VAT at current rate)

‘Lite’ New Car Detail with Ceramic Coat or Swissvax (<1 day) £450.00

New Car Detail with Auto Curators Signature Coating Single Layer application (1-1.5 days) £595.00, or Signature Coating Dual Layer application (2 days) £695.00

Please note the treatments described above are for brand new cars, with work carried out at our Studio, or nearby. Used cars can of course benefit from the same products, but would be subject to one of our more restorative services first.