Hello,

I am getting following for my brand new G35. (I got the description from their web site) It was additions from the dealer. Both have warranty for 5 years.

The actual place providing this service call "Century Finishing Touch".
I guess they contract with the dealer.


PAINT PROTECTION

* Effectively seals your paint, eliminating the need of waxing.
* Protects against the sun’s harmful rays.
* Protects against unsightly oxidation and fading.

VINYL / LEATHER PROTECTION

* Helps keep that quality look by protecting against permanent staining, from most food and drinks.
* Helps to keep your vehicles resale value at top dollar.


I saw one car just finish the "Pain protection" in the dealer. That car's paint looks pretty good. But I have no idea how good will be.

Anyone has experience with these? (Or at least similar?)

Thanks.

 

I purchased it once years ago. read the fine print. You still may be responsible for having to do touch-up applications once or twice a year to keep the protection in force. I know mine wasn't worth it since it never kept the shine or beading as long as promised. I just now keep a supply of the new quick and easy touch up polishes and use them as often as I feel like it and my car stays looking good and the water just runs right off.

 

My protection pckg. got paid off as I ended up getting a scratch on my leather seat in my G. Since these types of packages warrant such disasters, they're planning on replacing my seat at the end of March. I think my ext/int. pckg. in total was >$400 from what I remember.

 

It's just dealer fluff to pad their profit. I had it on my IS300, not worth it.

 

My dealer had $297 for paint protection "hard-coded" into the purchase order. I said B.S. - I don't pay for those add-ons. So they took it off and didn't charge me for it. It's margin padding and you can get them to remove the charge.

 

But when I saw the car just finish the "Paint protection" job, the car surface look really nice. I can see the surface has coated.

By the way, I paid $500 for outside(Paint protection) and inside(leather protection).

I wonder if you can explain little bit detail why it was not worth it. The coating didn't last long? I am so curious.

Thanks.

 

The coating is is a synthetic sealant. if you hit a site like autogeeks.com which is a car detailing forum (all makes/models) you can find out more about sealants as opposed to waxes... but in basic terms, synthetic sealants last 6mo. they give a wetter look. the car will definitely look nicer, but it wears in 6-12 months, nothing lasts longer then this.

Basically you are getting a detailing job which is probably worth $150-200. and then you are paying for warranty of the paint & interior. IMO the interior is really the only place that you have risk and potential to see a return.

Dealers will charge $250 for this interior/exterior protection, any more is just added profit to them (sorry for the bad news skfnxh) If they sell the package for $250, the salesman makes $50. if they sell it for $400 the sales man makes $125... that's why they start at $500 at most places and drop down to $250ish. if they sell below (which they can) they get nothing.

A new car does need this detailing because the paint/clear coat is raw. you can opt for the detailing, or you can do it yourself, which I HIGHLY recommend. the sealant coast less then $20 and it's enough to do the car 4+ times. While you are doing the sealant you are forced to look over the car with great detail and it's good to see any issues, imperfections now in case they need to be fixed.

Acid rain, discoloration is BS, it doesn't happen any more unless you have an American car. and the one thing that the G is seriously afflicted with is the chips on the front because it's soft paint... but to my knowledge, this is considered wear-n-tear and is not covered by the warranty.
(i'm assuming it's ok to reference another forum that has a different purpose)

so it's up to you to weight the cost/benefit to yourself on an extended warranty.. it's the same debate as to getting the $49 warranty at Best Buy for your $99 DVD player.... some people get them and use them, some people get them and don't use them, some people don't get it and regret it, some people get it and regret it.... it's the insurance business... AKA gambling. in the big picture, the consumer pool ALWAYS looses, but there are success stories scattered about.

 

These types of things remind me of something I thought was kind of funny I heard years ago regarding rust protection, it went something like this:
A guy asks the saleman "whats the difference between your regular, premium and ultra-premium undercoating"? to which the over honest salesman (oxymoron) replied...
"Regular - a technician sprays rust protection to the underside of your vehicle...
Premium - a technician sprays rust protection to the underside of your vehicle while he's hopping on one leg...
Ultra-Premium - a technician sprays rust protection to the underside of your vehicle while he's hopping on one leg and whistling dixie."

I think I will pass!

 

Thanks for reply.

Well, as you told, the NORMAL detail job may cost $150~$200.

If you check southern california thread, there is guy doing amazing detail job. He charges 350 for full detail. You can see picture. His detail job is really great. I don't know if he include this "Coating" which I am getting.

It looks dealer will apply coat not only outside paint but also inside leather. I guess this coating protects the car pretty well. If only if this is the case, I don't think $500 is way over price. (Especially including 5 year warranty). IMO the price is in range between little bit high and reasonable. Again, only if the coating can protect paint and leather well.

Well, I didn't get this coat yet. Dealer will schedule the time with me sometime hopefully within this week.

I will post some inside/outside before and after picture and let you guys know if it is worth or just profit to sales people.