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My wife just bought brand new Escape - w/Simoniz treatment. Looks beautiful, and at very least it's warranted for same length as her payments. Value is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.
Its good to have different opinions. Its what makes us each unique. There is a much better product that works better than simoniz and truely is permanent. Opticoat 2.0
I was just going to say, Opticoat or Optiseal.
I am using Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 with good results my 2008 Corvette and her 2013 Escape
I am and have been a professional detailer for 30 yrs.
The dealership baloney is exactly that. It is their stock-in-trade.
They know the paint "forever" protectant is bull and that's why they give it away
when they want you to think you're getting something.
Clay the paint and use a good polymer paint sealant (lots of them out there). At a good detail shop that will cost you 150.00 to 200.00 per year. And its likely they'll do the interior too.
I throw in Scotch Guard a Leather treatment and vinyl dressing.
(by the way no one treatment does both leather AND vinyl).
There is no mystical, majical treatment that will make your car look new and glow in the dark.
Like painting and all other final coat on things, the finish is the product of the prep work.
There is no substitute for the ministrations of a professional detailer.
The best thing you can do for your car's finish is keep things off of it. Tree Sap, Bird droppings, Industrial waste out of the air and many others all attack your paint (and any protectant) in varying degrees. Get them off the car ASAP!!!
Dan's Detail
Go ahead and have them do it but just so it's out there, that 7-year sealant that the dealers like to sell is the biggest bunch of baloney out there. I'm a professional detailer on the side and can say that there is no such thing as a sealant that lasts 7 years. With proper care on a garaged car, sealant will last six months...TOPS.
So the next time you buy a car and they ask you if you want their magical sealant, just say no.
I am and have been a professional detailer for 30 yrs.
The dealership baloney is exactly that. It is their stock-in-trade.
They know the paint "forever" protectant is bull and that's why they give it away
when they want you to think you're getting something.
Clay the paint and use a good polymer paint sealant (lots of them out there). At a good detail shop that will cost you 150.00 to 200.00 per year. And its likely they'll do the interior too.
I throw in Scotch Guard a Leather treatment and vinyl dressing.
(by the way no one treatment does both leather AND vinyl).
There is no mystical, majical treatment that will make your car look new and glow in the dark.
Like painting and all other final coat on things, the finish is the product of the prep work.
There is no substitute for the ministrations of a professional detailer.
The best thing you can do for your car's finish is keep things off of it. Tree Sap, Bird droppings, Industrial waste out of the air and many others all attack your paint (and any protectant) in varying degrees. Get them off the car ASAP!!!
Dan's Detail
At one time I had as many as seventeen show cars that I maintained myself. Over the years I've tried all the "high end" products - Zaino, Klasse, Duragloss, Sovereign (sic?) and can assure you they do nothing that a $10 bottle of Megs or Turtle Wax will do. It all comes down to surface preparation, already referenced earlier in this thread:
Wash==>clay==>cleaner==>polish==>wax
Once you've prepped the surface, apply whatever wax you like and reapply every 3-4 months and you won't have to prep again for a long time and the car will look like new for many, many years. Most of those high end products sell to a cult like following and more power to them. Corvette owners love Zaino because the owner drives a Corvette.
The most recent Consumer Reports ratings of waxes put NXT 2.0 at the top, pick it up at Wally World for $12 a bottle, do your can about ten times with the one bottle. $1.20 or $800, the choice is up to the consumer.
The Simoniz glass coat is worth the money, while the product may be "snake oil" what makes it worth the money is the warranty. In 2013 Simoniz actually changed the 7 year warranty to a lifetime warranty on new cars only. I work at a dealership in NJ where we sell this for 695$ our profit margin on this product is minimal. We do recommend this product to our customer and show them the 7 minute video that the history channels modern marvels did on the product.
We had a customer not too long ago who had one of their children step in bubblegum then get that gum all over the seats of the car. The chemical to protect the seats worked and we were able to remove most of the gum. Unfortunately we weren't able to remove all of the gum. That's where the warranty kicked in and actually paid to have all the seats with remnants of gum on them reupholstered. Turned out to be close to 1,000$ in repairs that were covered by the warranty. The customer couldn't be happier and as a manager at the selling dealership we too couldn't be happier that while the product didn't work 100% the warranty did. It was a win a the way around for all parties involved.
Wish I would have known about all these negative reviews prior to getting suckered into spending 600$$ on Simoniz. I could cry...could I cx my appt. for tomorrow and have the money refunded even though it was financed in the price of the vehicle??
I made the mistake of buying the simoniz when I bought my lexus. It was very expensive and the dealership said if I had a problem just bring it back and it will be taken care. Well I had a problem with bugs on the hood that ruin the paint on the hood. I took it back to lexus dealership so they would take care of it. In a nutshell, it took two visual inspections from simoniz, three trips to the dealership, and three months of waiting. I was then told that the dead bugs that shouldn't have stuck to the hood, had ate through the clear coat, and my entire hood had to be repainted. And simoniz had the nerve to tell me that even though their expensive product had failed, they expected me to pay half of the paint job. Thats when I lost my temper and the poor advisor got the bunt end of my very verbal disapproval. I wanted my money back from buying the simoniz scam and they of coarse refused. They did paint my hood and I did not pay anything for that. DO NOT buy this product. It's expensive and does not work any better that washing your car on a normal schedule and waxing your car twice a year.
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