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Paint protection....

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So when I purshased my GB, the dealer was trying to sell me a product called "TST paint protection". Anyone ever heard of it? Sounded like a great concept..and came with a 7 year warranty. But I already had the checks made out to exact price of the purchase prior to getting there. I think i'll be going back to have it applied, but was wondering if anyone else uses something similar? I did see 3M has a new product at autozone. Its a spray on silicone type protection for your paint, but that only has a 1 year warranty. I know some of us like to keep it garage kept and drive it very little. But I currently dont have a grage and its my DD until I get a beater. But I do want to keep the paint and finish as healthy as possible. So anyways let me know what y'all think!
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
if its teflon product they are trying to sell you walk away.

now is the 3M thing you are talking about this?
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/landing/page.jsp?name=3m-paint-defender-spray-film
I saw it on tv looks pretty cool thinking about getting it for road trip protection.
 
Justin said:
if its teflon product they are trying to sell you walk away.

Whats the problem with teflon? Accodring to their website they are the "leader" in this indusrty. The company calls it TST 5000 with PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene). Wiki says it is basicly teflon. Seems like this product would be better then the spray can of stuff. The main attraction tp me here is the warranty they offer, as oppsed to the 1 year from 3M. I dont know how the 3M product dries, and I would hope that it wouldnt look like sh*t when it does.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
Shaun12 said:
Whats the problem with teflon? Accodring to their website they are the "leader" in this indusrty. The company calls it TST 5000 with PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene). Wiki says it is basicly teflon. Seems like this product would be better then the spray can of stuff. The main attraction tp me here is the warranty they offer, as oppsed to the 1 year from 3M. I dont know how the 3M product dries, and I would hope that it wouldnt look like sh*t when it does.
teflon to get it to bond to anything you have to heat it to like 700 something degrees. so its just another snake oil sale the dealers like to push. there is heated debate about it on car detailing forums.

clear bras are a good product if you want to protect your finish. but you can see a line where it stops.

I dont know what the 3M spray looks like when dry or anything. but the thing about it that appeals to me is you can remove it easily I would use it more as a temp protection then a permanent go to the car show with thing.
 
Warranty does not mean much, the product is cheap but your time is gone. No labor guarantee's. Not really a teflon fan, but have not tried them in the last 5 years, but have played with them prior. I am about as anal retentive as they come, think Pebble Beach or concours quality . Below are my recommendations. Have tried all the Girots and Adams stuff as well as the retail brands. Nothing is awful, but his is what I use now. At least till someone shows me something else that blows me away.

Tried a lot of waxes and polishes over the 30 years for a number of street, race and show cars. For the last few years I have stuck with the Zaino products for just about every car. Great protection and unmatched shine that will last. Gets deeper looking with each easy coat up to about 6. Super reflective. The Zaino stuff is very addictive, even smells good. Google Zaino, call with questions, they actually talk to you, Sal is a great guy.

The entire line is very good, they have a product called Clear seal that is the final seal coat. Wipe and walk away. The leather in a bottle product is the best leather care product I have used to date. They have an expensive detail spray and a less expensive one. Both are good, but the show car one is badass for a show day.

You will not be disappointed in any of the products. The only caveat is for that custom paint job that is a dark metallic color ( Dark blues, Greens, etc) or Red. (Ford water based Red's won't matter). You can create more depth with some of the Meguiars/Mothers Pro products and an exotic Carnuba. This method is great for a car show, but does not last nearly as long as the Zaino method.

One product I recommend is for the interior and the matte plastic trim is the Meguiars quick interior detailer/cleaner spray (purple label). Non greasy and leaves a factory new finish. Works xlnt on the engine bay plastic as well. Way better than the Armorall types and others that leave a slick shiny film. But some folks like the shiny look, so to each his own.

If you are looking at the 3m spray protection film. Do not put it on too thin, it is hard to remove, it requires 3 coats about 75 degree application in shade is optimum. Went to a 3M demo, about to try this on my Son's Truck as an experiment. His is parked outside, sit's in the sun all day, washed every week through a car wash, that ought to tell me the durability factor pretty quick.

Finally with respect to the clear bra products. FULL DISCLOSURE :They are expensive to have installed , about $1,200ish for a Mustang ( bumper, half hood, leading edge of roof, behind rockers, headlights, lower rockers /doors) done right. The film will yellow over time, even if the car only see sun once a year ( been there done that many times). The warranty will cover the film replacement, but the $800 labor to re-do is on you. The Boss LS is an interesting dilemma as the film will turn the matte stripe glossy on the hood area. Have put the film over the glossy sticker side stripes on a Ford GT and it worked good, I also was able to remove it without damage on that car. Not so sure the vinyl on the Boss is as thick or durable, though. Nor does the edge of the Boss stripe wrap fully on the Hood and tuck under like the side stripes on the GT.

On a light colored car you will see black lines at the edges over time, on a white or light silver car the yellowing is most noticeable as are the edge lines ..over time. I have re-done many cars, the colors where the yellowing and lines are less noticeable over time are Dark Grey metallics, Black, Black metallics, Dark Blues, Medium Blues and Red ... In that order. The worst are White, for the yellowing and Yellow, white and light Silvers for the edge lines. That said, I have it on a Black metallic Audi, a Silver Z06, a White/Blue FGT and about to do it for track protection on a SBY LS Boss.

When you complain they will tell you to use a different cleaner, wax or just Plexus spray to clean it. Trust me it won't matter. They all yellow so far. Have tried pretty much all the films, 3m, Expel, Avery, etc. They all say they won't, but so far they all do. My experience with these starts about 2004 to present. The best way to do it is to have no edge lines, that is a custom wrap and runs $2k to $3.5k depending on the car. A friend spent $6.5k wrapping an entire Ferrari. In this case it is perfect, and yellowing will not be noticed as is ages evenly.

On your track car or driver with 60,000 miles when you pull the film , assuming you went half hood, you will notice the uncovered area is now different in terms of shade and light reflection. All depends on how much race dust you have driven through over the years. So any front facing panel where the entire panel is not protected will show this. But it will still be better than a bunch of chips that are touched up.

All that said, I still do it as it saves a ton of rock chips and is cheaper than a touch up re-paint, which is never perfectly matched either.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll see what the 3M stuff does first as its the cheapest of all the options.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
I have the full line of zaino and have used it for years and it does last a long time. I am giving 22PLE a shot and so far I love it.

for the zaino I like to do the "ultimate enthusiasts treatment" they recommend. looks fantastic.

I am not a fan of the clear bra for all the reasons you just laid out. thats why I wont put one on my car I am to anal for one.
 
The only form of Teflon that will protect paint is not the type that will look good over your paint, lol. Like previously mentioned, snake oil. A spray-on anything is not going to protect from even the lightest road rash. Teflon is best used for chemical tubing and cooking pans. We use Teflon tubing all the time at work for nasty and sometimes deadly chemicals. I can't see how any liquid non-solid form of it would be on any use for...anything, really.

Your best bet is a clear bra on the nose like Justin mentioned. Don't buy the interior upholstery protection either. If you really want protection save the money to buy good looking seat covers. Dealers try to appear honest but don't be fooled. I went and looked at a Fiesta today and they wanted 15K for it. All of the paperwork had the wrong mileage. Their own dealership wrote down 140xxxk miles on the oil change service sheet, an inspection wrote down 13k something..sketchy). There were scrapes, some pretty bad down to primer. As far as they were concerned it was "normal" for a 9000 mile car. HA! And the oil had not been changed till 9k. Unacceptable for a city driven car...VERY unacceptable in my book. NEVER trust a dealer, even if they have a big Ford sign out front. It just means the had the money to get a franchise license. Probably from screwing everyone they met. If I ever win the lottery I will start a dealership where the prices are THE price, no trade-ins. Then watch all the BS dealers freak the F out, muhahaha. It's BS that you should even have to negotiate a price, IMO.
1. When I bought the Focus I have now, instead of getting the proper tool, a Phillips screwdriver but he only had one huge flathead, the retard salesman literally RIPPED my rear plate off my trade-in. :eek:
2. The dealer I bought the Boss from swirled the crap out of her and I am still trying to fix it :mad:.
3. The dealer I bought my 2011 GT from (and who has the Fiesta I looked at) taught a new service guy how to drive stick in her. IN THE SERVICE BAY. And another guy sat at the entrance riding my clutch rocking the car back and forth talking to another customer about how great his POS was. And the service manager referred to me as "that kid". I have it all on video from inside the car. I will NEVER bring my Boss back to ANY dealer. I will pay more at a performance shop if I need work I cannot complete done.

So far ALL three dealerships I have had experience with are 0 for 3 in my book. Sorry for the rant. Just trying to give you a heads-up to not trust them and their Teflon-coated smiles.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
WinterSucks said:
The only form of Teflon that will protect paint is not the type that will look good over your paint, lol. Like previously mentioned, snake oil. A spray-on anything is not going to protect from even the lightest road rash. Teflon is best used for chemical tubing and cooking pans. We use Teflon tubing all the time at work for nasty and sometimes deadly chemicals. I can't see how any liquid non-solid form of it would be on any use for...anything, really.

Your best bet is a clear bra on the nose like Justin mentioned. Don't buy the interior upholstery protection either. If you really want protection save the money to buy good looking seat covers. Dealers try to appear honest but don't be fooled. I went and looked at a Fiesta today and they wanted 15K for it. All of the paperwork had the wrong mileage. Their own dealership wrote down 140xxxk miles on the oil change service sheet, an inspection wrote down 13k something..sketchy). There were scrapes, some pretty bad down to primer. As far as they were concerned it was "normal" for a 9000 mile car. HA! And the oil had not been changed till 9k. Unacceptable for a city driven car...VERY unacceptable in my book. NEVER trust a dealer, even if they have a big Ford sign out front. It just means the had the money to get a franchise license. Probably from screwing everyone they met. If I ever win the lottery I will start a dealership where the prices are THE price, no trade-ins. Then watch all the BS dealers freak the F out, muhahaha. It's BS that you should even have to negotiate a price, IMO.
1. When I bought the Focus I have now, instead of getting the proper tool, a Phillips screwdriver but he only had one huge flathead, the retard salesman literally RIPPED my rear plate off my trade-in. :eek:
2. The dealer I bought the Boss from swirled the crap out of her and I am still trying to fix it :mad:.
3. The dealer I bought my 2011 GT from (and who has the Fiesta I looked at) taught a new service guy how to drive stick in her. IN THE SERVICE BAY. And another guy sat at the entrance riding my clutch rocking the car back and forth talking to another customer about how great his POS was. And the service manager referred to me as "that kid". I have it all on video from inside the car. I will NEVER bring my Boss back to ANY dealer. I will pay more at a performance shop if I need work I cannot complete done.

So far ALL three dealerships I have had experience with are 0 for 3 in my book. Sorry for the rant. Just trying to give you a heads-up to not trust them and their Teflon-coated smiles.
start a thread on what you have done so far for the swirls. I am sure one of us can help you out with that if you are looking for some advice.
 
That is the first I have heard regarding yellowing with 3M clear bra. I am on my second car using 3M and have never had a yellowing issue. It sounds like something may have come in contact with the film.
 
I think I have read before that they will yellow if the car lives outside. IIRC it was someone in Texas.

Shaun,
while using it for your temporary DD just avoid trucks and use the car cover. I wouldn't put the cover on until after you wash and dry, though. Any dirt on her will get rubbed in by the cover. You can apply some sealer. I use Blackfire Wet Diamond, but you have to be really careful with it around the black trim and vinyl edges. It will look fine until several days later then you will see white all over the trim and decal edges. You can wipe off the vinyl edges but I have not removed it from the trim yet. I have a feeling most sealers will do the same. You can coat the paint with this stuff and let it sit overnight before buffing it off. Super easy.

Justin, I probably should start one with my detailing adventure this has turned out to be, lol. Unfortunately they didn't just stop at swirling it... I might have to go more aggressive than Ultimate Compound in some spots. But I can report that so far that a cutting pad, Porter Cable orbital, and UC combo is safe on the vinyl. I followed that with a polish.

I am starting to watch this guys vids for detailing. He is pretty amusing and cuts through a lot of the BS.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiIEHn-9qo8[/youtube]
 
I'm not sure about the product the dealer is trying to sell you, but I did purchase a can of the new 3M prodcut from Autozone. I plan to apply it when I get the car back from the dealer next week. My intent is to put it on the front bumper, hood and fenders, from the back start of the C strip forward. I was also thinking about doing the rear fenders around the wheels. I will post some pictures once its done.
 

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