In December, someone in an FL1 ran into our 9 month old, spotless Freely 2 and caused a bit of damage. Still arguing with the insurance company about fault etc, but that's not what this post is about.

When I picked the car up, there was some overspray on a part of the door, that hadn't needed spraying or repairing. Bodyshop manager came out, agreed it was wrong and then fixed it with a cloth that was soaked in something (tar and glue remover maybe?) I then reminded him that the car is Supaguarded, and that he needed to re-apply the coat to the part of the car that he had just wiped, so he did, with another cloth and a spray bottle.

Imagine my surprise when I bought my own car (I share the Freely with my mum) and it took Seat 3 DAYS to apply Supagard to the exterior?! Apparently the reason is that Supaguard is not just a standard polish, but requires the following application procedure:

Apply to clean car, in a heated room, above normal room temperature. Then leave in this room for 24 hours to bake.

Wash

Apply another coat, at room temperature, leave for 24 hours.

Wash

Apply another coat, which is what we think of as a polish. Car is ready.

I'm guessing that this is the reason that our car when only 6 months old, was failing to bead water, as the coat had worn off. So I'm guessing we paid ALOT of money for only the last process of the Supagard package! Apparently Supagard has a 3 year warranty. Ours will be going back the next time I am home to be re-coated.

Is there anyone else here with a Supagarded car that thinks it was a rip off?! If so, this is possibly the reason. Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

supaguard type coats are a rip off because to maintain the warranty you have to wash and apply using their approved stuff, this can be even down to each month, and they are only as good as the person who applied it

a strong chemical, like the hand wash people use, or the automatic washers can remove the thin coating leaving you with a patchwork of guarded areas

I'm not sure how long it takes to cure, but my old Kia Sportage was delayed 2 days due to them not having it done, and 2 months later it was in the garage getting lots of work done on it, and needed supaguarding again, which was done not very well at all

Personally i would rather pay somebody to correct, clean and wax the car than pay for supaguard type products, similar sort of price, a couple of coats of wax will last about 6 -12 months depending on how you wash your car and can be topped up with a £30 pot of wax Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Yep, I've realised it's a rip off. I nly got it on the Seat because they threw it in.

Funnily enough, there was a professional mobile valeter at the business that is next door to me when I picked mune up and we got talking. He said for £60 he'd wash, clay, wash, polish, something else the exterior, polish and protect wheels, then shampoo and coat the interior, and that would last about 12 months with regular washing. So for £299, which is the normal price of Supagard, he'll come 5 times = 5 years!

He also said you can't go wrong with Auto Glym's stuff...although there are some exceptions! Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

for a long lasting durable wax you can't go far wrong with Collinite 476s, 2 coats, 12 hours appart to allow for curing will normally last about 10-12 months.

Auto Glym stuff is all right, but i prefer others products out there, A really good product to look out for is DoDo Juice stuff, normally more online than your standard car products store

SmartWax seems to get good results too and is quite long lasting from what one of the forum members has said

I use Gloss-It (machine polishing products) Selection of cheap shampoos to the more expensive Zymol one and when I have time and the weather the car will get a couple of coats of Dodo Juice Supernatrual wax, and then topped up after each wash with Dodo Red Mist

I'm also going to have to get my alloys cleaned fully and then get a newish product to seal them with, Nanolex Premium alloy sealant, but i will have to swap wheels for a while as ideally you need to keep it warm for 8 hours to cure it, but then it will keep them clean for a good 5-8 months with just a good pressure wash, no use for alloy wheel cleaning stuff, which will save me about 50minutes a wheel  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Blimey Nick, actually admitting to owning a Kia Sportege on an open forum, have you no shame

As above superguard is a total waste of money, a family friend is a paint shop manager been with M BENZ, BMW etc & advice he gave me as long as u wash & wax the car regular as i do, dont waste £350 on superguard.

Cheers Pinks...I learn something every day! I'm saving your list of product recommendations! Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

ad210358 wrote:

Blimey Nick, actually admitting to owning a Kia Sportege on an open forum, have you no shame

it was actually alright for the money, when I had it, it was anyway

6 months off road, just before it was 2 month old due to motorbike bouncing on dashboard and written off just after 2nd birthday due to transit van crashing in to it outside my house

had FL1 as loan car for 6 month then the Fl2 was released so it all ended well  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Alls well that ends well.

Big Dave wrote:

Imagine my surprise when I bought my own car (I share the Freely with my mum) and it took Seat 3 DAYS to apply Supagard to the exterior?! Apparently the reason is that Supaguard is not just a standard polish, but requires the following application procedure:

Apply to clean car, in a heated room, above normal room temperature. Then leave in this room for 24 hours to bake.

Wash

Apply another coat, at room temperature, leave for 24 hours.

Wash

Apply another coat, which is what we think of as a polish. Car is ready.


Is there anyone else here with a Supagarded car that thinks it was a rip off?! If so, this is possibly the reason.

Add to the above I generally take around two & a half hours to just do the application & I allways say to the customer that they can stand & watch me do it if they want. I then explain the aftercare & go through the warranty with them & leave them the warranty certificate & aftercare pack.
Diamondbrite & Lifeshine both now have Lifetime warrantys - that is as long as you own the car.

If forum allows please have a look in the warranted packages section of my website & there is a designates Diamondbrite photo gallery.
(snip) (Past) Freelander 2 HSE 2010 MY In Rimini Red.
(Past) RR Evoque Dynamic Lux Si4 In Firenze Red.
(Past) RR Evouque Pure Tech in Barollo Black with bespoke Firenze Red colour coding.
(Present) Freelander Metropolis 2015 MY In Santorini Black with Ivory Premium Leather.

Aaa...thanks exec valeter! The fella I saw doing the cars next door when I picked mine up was saying pretty much the same...I think he just didn't want to hurt my feelings! Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County