Supaguard

[Peter-B]

Ok so popped into my dealer for an update on delivery date for the car and got the standard sell of the Supaguard paint protection and upholstery protection. My question is, is it worth it and has anyone actually bought it? List price is £199, I've been offered it for £175 but to be honest I've no idea whether the manufacturer's claims are all that accurate.

[ChrisRs]

Its not worth it at all unless you cant be arsed to wash and protect your car with wax or sealer

But it doesnt last long and 9 times out of 10, is badly applied

Save your money and get some wash buckets, mitt, shampoo and wax and sealer

[Guest]

Peter, yes I bought it when I got my Fabia Estate new. I bought it because I wanted extra protection for the paint and the inside of the car as at the time I just didn't get much time to clean my car but when I do I want it to look perfect. And cleaning a Supagarded car is very very easy, the dirt just falls off. That was four and a half years ago and I got a good deal on the price of a professional job that was carried out by the Supagard team, not the dealer. I was given a maintenance kit too with the right stuff in it to wash the car and protect the Supagard. I spent some time watching the team of two people do the job. It took several man hours to do it. I had the exterior and interior of the car treated and it lasted really really well and was worth every penny. The exterior coating lasts at least three years before you need to reapply it. I re-applied it myself. The interior coating lasts much longer and is guaranteed so that if you get a stain or mark that won't come out, Supagard will fix it or replace the cover on the seat so it's new again. I had a whole seat squab replaced at the expense of Supagards insurers as a stain on my rear seat would not come out. It was an industrial ink that has seeped out overnight on the seat and got deep into the pores. Even Supagard didn't stop it staining which didn't surprise me. If I had been able to wipe it off straight away it would have been ok I'm sure. Even so, most of it did come out which it would not have done so without Supagard. I have since spilled a cup of tea on the same seat and it just wiped off with no effect on the fabric at all!

Regarding the paintwork on the outside. Again for me it's been a win win situation. Not only has it virtually eliminated swirl marks, I've got none that you can see even in bright sunlight, but it protected my paint recently when a ladder fell on the rear of the car and put a sizeable dent in a rear panel. During the bodyshop repair, whilst in the oven, my car suffered from 'paint sweat' to the roof. This is where the plastic bag that they put the car in during oven baking comes into contact with the paint on the car. This normally causes irreparable damage to the clearcoat and underlying paint right through to the metal, to the point that usually a respray is required on the affected area. Due to being coated in Supagard, it merely required a mild claying to remove the damage and recoating with Supagard. It's perfect and the bodyshop mentioned it was the Supagard that protected it, something a wax or ordinary sealer won't do apparently. Be clear, that Supagard is NOT like waxes or other lesser sealers (although it doesn't cost massive amounts to buy over the counter). Being in the trade, I've used them all over the years and Supagard is by far the best in my opinion. Meguariers in good but needs constant re-applying to shine and protect and wouldn't have helped my car in the oven. I use Meguaires on my motorcycles because you can get a deeper shine than with Supagard if you apply several coats using their whole system. It's also very expensive and it wears off fast. My nephew has his own bodyshop operation and garages. He has tried them all and thinks like me that Supagard is one of the very best, along with 'Lifeshine'. Everyone has an opinion on this of course and will prefer one of the other. But I can't knock my experience with Supagard. It certainly does protect well.

[b.o.w.]

Had my car supagaurded at dealer new 3 months ago but did get free as a part of the deal breaker. I agree with estate mans comments and have found it excellent so far as my car has begun its life in winter and time and the effort to do a high quality job myself are very limited. Maybe check around to see if you can get a better deal and then ask them to price match .

[TeebsVRS]

I think I'd rather have a decent pro valeters have nearly £200 to do the same job. For that you'd probably get a basic paint correction package too.

[tonyfvrs]

I opted for Supaguard for the first time on my vRS and it is superb.

I must admit I never thought I would report this, but I would have it again on any new car.

Tony

[Glenncraig]

I agree about how good supargaurd my Fabia is 5 years old and still looks great. I use the alloy wheel cleanrer and protector and the wheels always look like new. A light pressure wash and all the filth just falls off. I'd recommend Supaguard to everyone.

[Jabozuma]

Anybody used this system?

http://www.3mventureshield.co.uk/paint-protection-film/

[curleybar]

Hi Peter,

We have Supagard protection on the Mazda (Who's that booin....?) and it is very good as others have said.

Interstingly they (Supagard) also do a "Waterless wash" for the really lazy.

My Fabia had the Autoglym version applied by the supplying dealer as a freebie and to be honest it was less impressive...?

[Guest]

I think I'd rather have a decent pro valeters have nearly £200 to do the same job. For that you'd probably get a basic paint correction package too.

To be honest, around my area many of the dealers use the 'proper' Supagard guys to do the job. They are proper valeters. I watched my car being done. It took two and a quarter hours for the inside and out to be worked, and was better fun than watching the kettle boil!! But that's two guys so four and a half hours work on a new car. They left no stone unturned to do a brilliant job, a job that normally at the time would have cost £275 but I got a £125 discount and the maintenance kit. Well worth it for me.

[ab vrs]

Whatever product used, the key is the preparation. Doesn't matter if superguard, autogylm or other sealent/wax, poor prep will result in poor finish and longevity.

[Bishopton]

Anybody used this system?

http://www.3mventure...rotection-film/

used it on a couple of CMaxs I had. Only small areas to protect from stone chips but was v easy to clean. Heard good reports from a friend who covered bonnet of Impreza

[Furbytom]

My brother used to work as a tech at a Vauxhall dealer. He told me that the paint protection kits (supaguard etc) used to cost them about 40 quid to buy in then they would charge 200+ to the customer for it. Quite a mark-up and believe you me it was never applied in what you would call a professional manner..... if they could be bothered at all lol!

[ChrisRs]

used it on a couple of CMaxs I had. Only small areas to protect from stone chips but was v easy to clean. Heard good reports from a friend who covered bonnet of Impreza

None of these sealers will protect from stone chips...Is that what the dealer told you?

[Ootohere]

Bishopton's reply was about the 3M film that does indeed work, not sealer.

Expensive but there was a clearance earlier on this year of MK 1 front kits (about £13) that could be jigged a little and cut for a mk2.

Or buy the Off Cuts and then do your own application, save a few hundred pounds.

george

[j.braderz]

at my work i work for a professional valeting company

we do contracts for skoda and suzuki

they often use G3 or supragaurd

IMO they are gash the kit costs about 40 pounds as some one said before

one of the salesmen push it onto all cars he sells

after valeting the car we apply the "protection" it takes up aprox 20 mins MAX to apply the protection

i would stick to a nice wax on your car "autoglym radiant wax (super resin polish) with a nice but off quality canuba wax"

on seats i would just use scotchgard on carpets if you want some protection on them

with these kits the is nothing put on the leather if you car has leather

thats just my 2p

the best one is autoglym life shine to be honest

Edited 18 December, 2012 by j.braderz

[ChrisRs]

I agree with this..but AG lifestyle is as bad IMO

Its all in the preparation and dealer PDI's dont do it properly

[Bishopton]

Bishopton's reply was about the 3M film that does indeed work, not sealer.

Expensive but there was a clearance earlier on this year of MK 1 front kits (about £13) that could be jigged a little and cut for a mk2.

Or buy the Off Cuts and then do your own application, save a few hundred pounds.

george

saved me replying!

[Greedyben]

A 'new car prep' from a proper 'detailer' is usually recommended over the supaguard style paint protection treatments.