I am buying a new Fabia 105 TSI SE in Pacific Blue which should be on its way to the UK very soon. I was persuaded by the dealer to add Williams Ceramic Coat to the order for an extra £249. Is this a sensible use of my money or have I been taken in by the "cutting edge formulation developed by NASA" on the glossy leaflet? I would appreciate the views of others who have been offered this product, with its 5 year guarantee, or better still anyone who has had it applied and who can comment on whether they think it is any good.

if this is just another paint sealant, £249 seems like the base dealer price- you can usually knock some money off that with haggling, to maybe 200. Ive had Autoglym Life-shine applied at purchase, guarantee for the life of your ownership of the car. it seems to make water bead up nicely and makes cleaning bugs off the paintwork a bit easier. i would buy it again on my next car.

waste of money, just wash weekly using quality shampoo and 2 buckets (1 wash 1 rinse) and wax your car every 3 - 4 months with something like collinite

If you can be bothered applying something like gtecnic nano coating or wolf chemical body wrap (I think thats its name) you can get those "life time" results yourself for much cheaper.

They wont last forever though, probably about 2 years if you're lucky.

I'd always say Snow Foam, two bucket method at least once a month, then a good wax like Autoglym HD or collinite every few months.

Typically less than 12 months apmaman

However...Williams Ceramic is probably better than the dreadful Autoglym and Diamondbrite type products, that are just ordinary sealer coats

This is ceramic coat, so should be better

If you dont like waxing and polishing..go for it...but dont pay the dealer price

Check the Gtechniq web site, interesting products like EXO

Edited 12 November, 201213 yr by irfant

Ceramishield too:

http://www.shop.concoursonline.co.uk/p/8310528/ceramishield-ceramic-paint-sealant.html

I used the Gtechniq Wheel armour on my Gigaro's , removed all four and gave them a good clean and then two coats of the stuff and it hasnt lasted three months , a decent sealant would last that long

I know lots of people rave about it but i'm not convinced

I used the Gtechniq Wheel armour on my Gigaro's , removed all four and gave them a good clean and then two coats of the stuff and it hasnt lasted three months , a decent sealant would last that long

I know lots of people rave about it but i'm not convinced

I just done it (only had time for two wheels lol) with Turtlewax Nano-Tech Wax for Wheels (http://www.turtlewaxuk.com/Brochure/Extreme%20Leaflet%20PDF.pdf) just because I had it laying around in the garage.

Had Autoglym equivalent (large white spray can) but went for Turtlewax instead.

I will post nice photos of the gigaro rims in my review thread later on this week when I get the chance to process them.

I looked up that "second skin" type of products and they are not for the faint hearted as once applied it is next to impossible to remove so you only have one go at it really...

Two coats of super resin and then high gloss does it for me.

I need to try that HD wax as well.

http://shop.autoglym.com/polish-and-wax

Any views on any special care for BlackMagic paint on my vRS?

I think they are generally a waste of money to be honest, your better off either doing it yourself or going to a proper car detailer IMO who will do a better job.

The product they use is only going to be worth £30-£50 the rest your paying the dealership car cleaner to polish your car.

Edited 12 November, 201213 yr by John Eva

Any views on any special care for BlackMagic paint on my vRS?

You probably know already... but always do everything in straight lines: washing, drying, waxing (polishing may be the only exception). Doing circles is how you get swirl marks, and black cars will show them better than anything else. Mr Myagi from "Karate Kid" was talking out of his arse with his "wax on, wax off" circles.

Thanks mate

There are no special care products for that pearl effect BlackMagic paint?

Also, what do you use for washing, sponge, soft brush, cloth, touchless foaming washes?

Then what to use for drying? I was using compressed air, but this is only good for those special areas which never dry and can hardly be used on whole car lol. Those soft rubber drying blades any good for the paint? Or Chamois (sp?) better?

I know it's detailing 101 so do expect a lengthy post

I am too scared to venture into detailing forums as it is plain madness what some people do to their cars.

I spent 12 hours over the weekend preping Lupo for sale (10 years alus look like new less kerbing marks lol) and cleaning vRS and that was without doing anything special really...

Washing:

Pressure Washer

Snow Foam Lance

Snow Foam

Car Shampoo

2 buckets with Grit Guards

Microfibre Wash Pad.Mitt..Never a sponge or a silicone blade!!!

A decent Drying towel..Never a Chamoix (They were good once on cellulose based paints..not on todays acrylic water based paint)

Polish..Many to choose from but you probably only need a cleaner polish on a new car

Sealer: Many to choose from

Waxing: Many to choose from

Wheels: Wheel brushis handy..+ Wheel sealant, then no need for cleaning products..just car shampoo and your PW

Best advice on the net here : http://www.polishedb...are-advice.html

All Purpose cleaner liberally applied to the wheel arches is a must have too

I pretty much agree with the above. Lambs' wool mitt and microfibre drying towel work for me. They don't pick up grit like sponges and chamoises (chamoix?) do. One bucket is for your shampoo, the second is filled with water for rinsing and swirling the (slightly dirtier) mitt between sections of car. I don't have a grit guard (but I should). You'd be amazed how dirty and grit-filled the second bucket becomes.

Before starting, I give everything a thorough hose. The more you can get off before using mitts, the better. The more you actually place a mitt or drying towel on the paint, the more swirls/scratches inevitably appear, no matter how careful you are. It's the minor scratches in the clear-coat that catch the eye, particularly on dark colours, and detract from the overall shine.

I do the wheels first, as they usually have the most crap on them. If you're going to use your shampoo rather than a specialised wheel cleaner, then I'd probably empty, clean and then refill your two buckets again. If you have bad bug or tar splatter, you may need specialised cleaners for them, otherwise it's time for the shampoo.

First, do roof, windows (unless using separate, specialised product), hatch area, boot, doors, mudguards, working from top to bottom. I tend to break the roof and bonnet into sections, rather than one dip into the shampoo with the mitt, but it depends how anal you want to be... Rinse and swirl your mitt in the second bucket between sections. If it gets too dirty, empty it and refill with clean water. Remember some of that stuff will end up on your sponge, then on your nice paint... Naturally, hose off remaining shampoo on each section before proceeding to the next.

If it's a warm or hot day, you may want to dry some parts as you go along to prevent water spotting. Otherwise give it another once-over with the hose when you've finished all cleaning, trying to get a sheeting effect going to get as much water as possible to roll off under its own steam. Some don't like this, but I will drive around the block to get more water to fly off (some say you might pick up some dust/grit, but that's life).

Drape your microfibre towel on the paint as much as possible rather than actually rubbing/dragging it across the surface. Again, the less movement of cloth against paint, the less chance of swirls or scratches. I've heard of some blokes who have a whole lot of towels they drape/place on the car, but I can't be bothered with that. Also, some have tried blower vacs to dry, but as I don't have one I can't tell you if that works or is "dangerous" or not.

To my mind you're not really trying to dry the paint 100%, just break up the larger drops into tiny droplets, less likely to leave water marks. Make sure you lift the hatch early on, because a lot of water "hides" on it. Also, try and do the sills, inside the doors and the top of the rear bumper with the open hatch, all spots which seem to get dirtier and/or wetter than they should.

Every few months, break out the clay, polish and wax (all separate processes and another essay in themselves). Voila, your car will be looking good!

I have a sand blasting attachment for my pressure cleaner but I do not suppose it would be of any use? Just joking !

Thanks guys, I need to invest in some good washing mitts and grid guard buckets. I'd love to have a single bucket with two compartments (saves me back tons!) with a little splash guard in the middle to prevent from cross contamination. I've never done clay bar thang in my life so need to look into it as well.

Now, to brave that website frequented by OCD cleaning nutters

I just got a Snow foam lance for my pressure washer and Magifoam as a prewash it works fantasic.

I will normally do this process.

Quick hose over to wet it

Snow Foam and leave for 8-10 mins

Pressure wash off

2 Bucket wash, 1 to rinse Microfibre Wash Pad, one for car wash water

Then dry with micro fiber cloth

Seen this wax at AutoBrite when getting the snow foam lance and might give that a go.

http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/polishing-prep-waxing/waxes-sealants-ceramic-coatings/black-magic-carnauba-paste-wax.html

Ethier that or the nano protection kit they do.

http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/nanotechnology/autobrite-nano-full-kit.html

I've always used TurtleWax Glossguard, superseded by the Platinum range, which has been again superseded by a new product in a purple bottle, but I haven't used that yet as I still have loads of the Glossguard left! It looks like & is as thin as water, dries to a very faint haze, and polishes off easily with NO RESIDUE or swirl marks (if you wash with a non-wax car wash such as Armour All) - brilliant!! Last a good 6 months. It also seems to hide any small scratches. I won't use anything else as this is so easy and it shines like a mirror. I am no expert but when it's parked up next to another car that's clearly been cleaned well, it is much better.

My Bosch Power washer has a built in bottle for detergent and a special low pressure lance to use it with so I suppose it will be compatible with those snow foam washes straight away.

What I marvel at is how excruciatingly expensive all those top of the range car detailing products are! If I wanted to kit myself up with all the products needed to detail the whole car, including mechanical polish, air drier and all the various fabrics and cloths it would not stop below half a grand!

Anybody knows a good source of a decent quality microfibre cloths which are not overpriced because they are branded?

Also, I do wonder how much truth is in all those claims from manufacturers of all those wondrous car detailing products? Does anybody actually do any scientific analysis on them? So far all there is goes to the tune of "I used it and it was brilliant" - you just spent £££ on the stuff and are bound to be that little bit biased me think...

These have some reasonable prices for them.

http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/essential-accessories/microfibre-towels.html

I know Halfords are charging £25 for them when i looked.

Anybody knows a good source of a decent quality microfibre cloths which are not overpriced because they are branded?

Asda sell the Kent ones, normally £3 for 6

Asda sell the Kent ones, normailly £3 for 6

Will have a look Friday as will be in da hood of da local AsDa