Special coating for new car

[Space cat]

I need a bit of help here. Very soon - probably tomorrow - we might be buying a new QashQai. Now the choice of car is more or less settled but I know that the salesman is going to try and get an extra £300 out of us for some kind of special coating that prolongs the life of the paintwork and, included in that £300, is something he called a 'care kit'.

Now as far as I'm concerned, the care kit is a pile of unnecessary junk that he can stick in the appropriate orifice but the coating might be worth having. We got it thrown in for free with our last car (Renault Scenic) and I think it was called glasscote but I'm not really sure. And so I have three questions:

1) What is it?

2) Is it worth having?

3) Can I DIY it or, failing that, can I get it done for less than £300?

All answers gratefully received.

 

[Belle427]

1.Crap
2.No
3.Use a high quality wax twice a year

 

[Avocet]

There are a variety of coatings (usually using "nanotechnology" - so they must be good!) available. Some really need to be buffed-on - quite hard. They make it harder for muck and bugs to stick on your car. We sell a lot of "Supagard" on new taxis (and taxi driver's aren't an easy bunch to please)! It does seem to work quite well, but will wear off eventually - depending on how aggressively the car is routinely washed.

 

[millerman]

I used to apply Supagard to new BMW's a few years back, they charged the punter £300 then!! The after pack the punter gets is so he can repeat the treatment a year or so down the line, i know they say its guarenteed for 3yrs but, you must keep the car clean and re-apply the product at the specified time. To my mind it does the job for a period of time, but, at the end of the day, a good coat of wax 3/4 times a year can bring similar results.

 

[PGMonkey]

There's something called ONR which is highly regarded by detailers.

Instead of £300 going into the dealer's pockets I'd recommend a protection detail with a recommended detailer. Especially with winter coming, it's best to have some sort of protection on the paintwork and wheel arches, etc. against corrosive road salts.

There's a site called detailing world which has some good tips, I give the car a wax every 2-3 months if I can, you can see the rainwater beading off which means the paintwork is protected.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'd be more concerned about the £450 odd a month it will be depreciating!

 

[Space cat]

The car has been bought and guess what, the salesman tried to sneak the Supagard and its associated 'care kit' into the deal - and if I'd been a little less vigilant he would have got away with it too!

But he didn't get away with it. I told him in no uncertain terms that we hadn't asked for it and didn't want it, at which point he must have felt obliged to admit that he'd sneaked something else in as well: some kind of new-for-old 'top-up' insurance, also for £300. You couldn't make it up if you tried.

Obviously I told him that we didn't want that either but he wasn't giving up so easily. He called across to a mate about a discount for taking both. Well I had to ask how big the discount was. The answer, if I remember rightly, was that we could have both for £500. Talk about being desperate! Anyway, the point was that they could hardly have looked more despondent if they'd won the lottery but lost their ticket. It just goes to prove the old saying: The value of the product is inversely proportional to the zeal of the salesman.

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I'm going to wax it.

PS: I nearly forgot; you couldn't make this one up either. We didn't even come away with the car we'd gone in for. The one we thought we were getting was a very low milage ex-demo model at £4000 off the list price. Not a bad deal we thought. And so we went to the showroom at the appointed time but it wasn't there. "No problem," somebody told us. "***** is just bringing it from Sunderland. He should be here any time now." So we waited - and waited - and about half an hour later, a somewhat despondent salesman arrived with some bad news. "You're not going to believe this, but you know that car ***** was bringing from Sunderland? He's crashed it!"

Beat that if you can.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Maybe they sold the car to a different buyer paying more money, it does happen.

Andy

 

[dhutch]

...they could hardly have looked more despondent if they'd won the lottery but lost their ticket...

Nice

 

[PGMonkey]

Bet they sold the car to someone else as Andy says above.

That or they don't want to sell it to you because they know other sheeple will come in and sign on the dotted line without being as alert and analytical as you were.

 

[HERTS P&D]

They also say that they have just put it through the 'workshop' or MOT and found a major problem with the car and are not allowed to sell it.

What they mean is that they have found a higher price paying customer.

They are worst than estate agents..............................well nearly!

Andy

 

[gregers]

nah dont worry about covering it with anything,just let the birds crap on it,job done.

or get the car wrapped,then after the desired time when you come to sell it just peel it off,bobs your aunty brand new car.

 

[PGMonkey]

I was just wondering if they could be held liable for breach of contract... agreed to supply a specified car at a specific price but have failed to do so...

 

[K12345]

I agree to use high-ed paint sealant products, it works pretty well. There are many good brands to choose (like mezerna power protect ultra, nano composite crystal, blackfire wet diamond and others). Check the opinions and see.

 

[dhutch]

Bet they sold the car to someone else as Andy says above.

Messy business!

What car did you end up with in the end? A new one and £4k lighter off, bastards.


Daniel