Safegard Paint and Upholstery Protection

[h5djr]

I have a new A3 2.0TDI-170 SE DSG Sportback on order and my dealer has asked me if I would like the 'Safegard' paint and upholstery protection applying before I take delivery. They recommend it and say they treat all their own demonstrators and other vehicles. Has anyone any experience of this treatment

 

[Amchlolor]

We went for it on the wife's Peugeot 206.
IMO,the external treatment is a waste of time.
I saw nothing that made me think it's any better than regular washing/waxing with decent products.
The interior treatment is different though.
I thought it was brilliant,but we had a baby at the time.
Spillages just sat on top of the cloth,waiting to be mopped up etc.
If you're a careful owner though,I wouldn't bother with that either TBO.

Put it this way,we haven't bothered with it on any vehicles subsequent to the 206 and her cars always look mint when I sell them,in and out.

Just regular(ish) care with decent products.

 

[southpaw66]

Check out http://www.clean-image.co.uk/paintsealant/index.htm for info on paint protection and prices to compare to Audi's

 

[cliveywolves]

hi...

I went with the option on my new A3 , had the paintwork and the interior protected.... dealer charged me £199.00 for it...

Wasnt that bothered about the interior, but the paintwork protection seems ok, The car is Black so it is nightmare to keep clean (but i love the colour), I just powerwash the it off, shampoo it , then powerwash of again and it does come back like new everytime...

cheers
clive

 

[Amchlolor]

hi...

I went with the option on my new A3 , had the paintwork and the interior protected.... dealer charged me £199.00 for it...

Wasnt that bothered about the interior, but the paintwork protection seems ok, The car is Black so it is nightmare to keep clean (but i love the colour), I just powerwash the it off, shampoo it , then powerwash of again and it does come back like new everytime...

cheers
clive

As it would with any decent wax and shampoo,at a fraction of the cost.

 

[alanjonesbath]

As it would with any decent wax and shampoo,at a fraction of the cost.

Yup, I have to agree with bowfer on this one. Unless you really never want to go anywhere near your car with wax or polish, then its a waste of time. Even with these products, you'll be supplied with some 'top-up' products to keep the protection you get. Think about that, isn't that exactly what you do with regular waxing anyway? A good coat of sealant/wax etc. is all your car needs, and you can do that for a tenth of the cost with Autoglym products. Even if you want 'quality' products as sold on places like www.polishedbliss.co.uk, it will still be cheaper than the dealer, and you'll be safe in the knowledge that you did a proper job of protecting your paintwork, rather than paying £200 for a spotty teenager to come along and slap some wax over your car with his dirty rag! You could even get a professional detailer to come to your house and wax/seal your paintwork for that money, and they'll be doing a far better job of it than the dealer would.

Interior protection I can see the benefit of though if your car gets a lot of people sat in it, or a lot dirt/spills etc. Personally I still wouldn't bother, as I have never had a dirty interior, and even on 4+ year old cars, I've been able to bring them 'back to new' condition before I've sold them on.

 

[cdb2]

I frequent a number of detailing forums - general consensus of the paint treatments is that they are a high profit margin money maker for the main dealers. Some people even sell some of the treatments on ebay for about £25! At the end of the day the dealer pays a few quid for them and the guy who washes the cars 'applies' them.

If I was going for a sealant I'd either choose one and apply it myself or have one professionally applied by a detailing company, not pay a lot of money to a main dealer to apply. Personally I'm happy with a quality wax of my choice.

TS has a good detailing forum as does the Meguiars website, also www.autopia.org is very good.

One of the best tools in keeping your paint looking good is a lambswool washmit rather than a sponge. The grit\debris trapped between the sponge and car body are a major cause of swirls.

Dave, as you generally change car every 3 yrs, you have silver and you've mentioned before that the dealers say how good your paintwork looks when you trade in, I would keep the £199 if I were you!

 

[Amchlolor]

One of the best tools in keeping your paint looking good is a lambswool washmit rather than a sponge. The grit\debris trapped between the sponge and car body are a major cause of swirls.

Silly question,but do they keep your hand dry ??
By the time I finished washing the wife's car with a sponge yesterday (it gets done by hand in the winter,mine goes through the car wash) I was in bleeding agony trying to get my hand to thaw out...

 

[southpaw66]

Silly question,but do they keep your hand dry ??

Nope.

I personally just applied some Autoglym Supoer Resin Polish in the first few days - beautiful finish. However, the monkeys at the dealers 'cleaned' it last week when it was in and I swear they've put some swirls in the lower parts of the car where it was dirtiest. Next time I'm banning them from washing it!

 

[steve184]

personally i think its a complete con!

 

[cdb2]

Silly question,but do they keep your hand dry ??

Unfortuntelky not Bowfer, but the secret is to wear a Marigold glove under the mit - one glove on the left hand, the other glove and mit on the other!

I use a Megs lambswool mit, they also do microfibre ones. Halfords do their own make too. Essentially they are like a single oven glove but with lambswool on one side and mesh on the other.

For Marigolds I use Sainsbury's own heavy duty as they last longer - being heavy duty they are thicker so will keep u warmer lol!