Paint protection - Ceramic ?? again!

[Cageeaich]

Hi Guys. I'm spending the kids inheritance on new full blown M car next month and wanted to ceramic coat or otherwise to protect the paint. Problem is, despite Gtechniq claims of 'five' or 'nine' years protection, CSL with EXO on an existing small M car from new appeared to wear off and need redoing in less than a year. The implied warranty is totally subjective and virtually useless (£1500 paid in less than a year). So not terribly confident about any product.  Waxing was 'wot I done' in the old days but its a lot of grief. The new M car will be used regularly and not stuck in the garage for Sunday outings. Titan coatings has been mentioned but this outfit keeps everything very close and impossible to find out about. Other brands make claims which appear not to be supported by evidence and guarantees are .......???  Most petrolheads who have their car Gtechniq'd rant about it when first done. They are less complimentary after 18 months. Any thoughts or suggestions? I don't really want to plastic film the car.

[Greydog]

Hi Keith

I have read the write ups but have no experience of them sorry, old bloke old school wash and wax once a week.

Dave

[Cageeaich]

Dave - I'm a bit old school and suspect there is more about marketing and creating a demand regards these all singing all dancing paint protections. My 2003 E46  3.0d had superb paint right up til I sold it 18 months ago after 200K. I used conventional wax and many could not believe how good the paintwork was.

Trouble now is that a) my joints don't like the work of waxing which needs doing frequently and b), I'm not sure modern paint is as good as it used to be. Hence, considering a paint protector of some sort.

I've already found that if I ask too many questions to auto detailers, they go very quiet. Gtechniq did em all a big favour publishing a price list which suddenly made those prices the de facto minimum. I'm still hoping to find a detailer who is absolutely genuine and wants my business. I am sure they are out there.

 

Have you noticed how 'write-ups' always praise the products but never critricise (objectively of course).

 

By the way, my right foot still works perfectly and is not affected by joint aging!🤣🤣

[Greydog]

Morning Keith 

Sounds like we are in similar condition/age body wise (76 last month) but still do 90% of my own maintenance on the cars the 10% not by me is MOT/Service at Specialist/Dealer to keep the history straight. 

I have added a few things to the tool box (includes a couple of young bendier sons) to help me along and there is less time pressure when your retired so I can take my time 

In the Spring after a good wash and cut back I work my way around the cars Clay barring to get rid of all all the winter crud. I do a panel at a time finishing as I go takes 2 days for each car. Couple of years back I added a good DA sander polisher to my tool box, one of the best additions don't know why I waited so long.

I know what you mean about keeping the right ankle supple 😈 Always owned performance cars and been fortunate over the years to have had some great ones, but the greatest fun is my wife's Subaru Outback.

In 2003 she suffered a frozen shoulder which made driving painful particularly parking. One of our boys had a Legacy which due to it's really light steering she could manage so we brought her a 3.0 Outback which was great but didn't go as she expected. While on business in the States I was told about a company who tuned the H6 Subaru engine I brought a complete twin turbo conversion for her Outback. A real easy swap and just a little fettling to get it running as it should 15 years on still sweet smooth and quiet. Outside it looks bog standard no noisy exhaust just bigger after the swap we had it on a rolling road 397hp at the wheels and ran 11.7 secs at Santa Pod. Beware old ladies in Silver Subaru Estate's 🤣

Enjoy your new Beemer keep it (and your License) CLEAN

Dave