[piliff]

hi all, just thought i would post a note regarding anyone collecting a new Juke anytime, i have been a professional valeter and vehicle prep manager for years workink for main dealers.to the unknowing and untrained eye its amazing what you dont notice when you dont look carefully and most people collecting a new vehicle are is such awe they dont examine at all.i would advise that you always insist on inspecting your new car inside under flourescent lighting as this will help show any faults or defects in the finish, always try to have the lights refecting off the paintwork and look from above and at eye level along the sides and roof and bonnett, if you cant see any paint faults under lights chances are you wont see it in the daylight.dont worry most new vehicles are fine but you do get some that have had paint rectification before it leaves the factory, if a dealer insists on the car being outside just be carefull they are aware of a paint defect they dont want you to see.hope this helps anyone collecting a new one, sorry if its in the wrong section but thought it would be of some use in here.

 

[SilverNismo]

Interesting stuff piliff, worth knowing for folks getting their hopefully shiny new cars soon like myself!Sorry if off topic but I would be very interested in your thoughts/experience as a professionalvaleter on the supagard type preparation dealers always offer. I have just asked this question ona topic called supagard in the detailing area of the forums but I guess this may be of interest to other folks.Also sorry if I am retreading old ground here - I have seen some funny remarks about supagard on forums already

 

[piliff]

hi silvernismo,i have used supagard going back a few years, it consists of a special polish sealer contained in a sponge applicator, as with most of the paint protectors its all down to the individual applying it to your vehicle, if a valet bay is busy and the operator cant be bothered it will be just applied to the larger panels and not much care taken, but it if time and care is taken it is well worth applying especially to a new car.as to the question of is it worth it? yes it is defianately worth applying, it will seal and protect the paintwork, they contain a special formula that bonds to the cars paintwork to the degree that if a bodyshop tries to paint a panel without preparing properly the new paint will react due to the sealant.if you looked at the cars paintwork under a microscope it would look like craters and the paint sealant has the effect of smoothing the surface out to prevent anything adhering to it, dealers often sell the product for anything from 299.00 to well over 500.00, which to me is too much.bearing in mind most of the products dealers use will cost them well under 100.00 to buy, and in many cases a lot less when they buy in bulk.we apply a product to the new Jaguars we sell for on average 299.00, on a car costing anything upwards of 30k its probably not a fortune to the buyers, and i know that my guys apply the products correctly and we pay them a 10.00 bonus for everyone they apply to keep them motivated enough to care about applying it.but i would recommend you buy the product yourself and do the job as soon as you buy your new car, there is no great skill in applying it, basically ensure the paint is perfectly smooth, clay bar it first, apply a very thin polish first to remove any residue, and then apply the sealant doing a panel at a time depending on which one you use. one of the best i have used is Autosmarts Silver Seal, it is esay to apply and gives a very good seal, interior protection is often skipped by most valeters often just giving the fabrics a quick spray, you need to ensure it has a good coverage to protect from spills, i have often done demos by spraying the fabric protection on paper towels soaking them then drying them out and then running water over it on both the protected part and the non protected part, customers are impressed.you can always tell when a car has been protected with a sealer correctly if you machine polish it years after, it will always polish back up very easy.and if a salesman tells you, you wont have to polish your car ever again, rubbish, the sealer will protect the paintwork to a degree, but if you never polish it the sealer is the only thing protectin the car, the more polish you apply the better the car will survive the elements, use a good hard wax like Autoglym HD polish, easy to apply and gives a superb finish.if you need anymore info or advise please ask, happy to help anyone.

 

[SilverNismo]

Thanks very much piliff for your detailed reply! Your answer is sort of in line with other posts, but I find it most interesting to get a dealers pointof view if you know what I mean.So I have decided to not let the dealer do a supagard (obviously as I'm not made of money).I will see how much hassle/cash/time to buy the things I need to do it myself,and weigh that up with how much cash I have spare when the car arrives - I may pay someone to do a professional protection job.Thanks again and I'm sure I'll have many more questions in time!