Paint Protection

[Cyberman]

How does decade-old paintwork hold out?

I'm about to take delivery of a new Golf mkVII. My present Golf mkIV is 11 years old. I bought it when it was 12 months old, and don't know whether it had paint protection before I bought it (it did have window tinting, so it's a possibility).

In the 10 years I've had the car I've had it polished 2 or 3 times - not that it ever looked like it needed it, but as a precautionary measure. It's at least 4 years since its last polish, and it sits in my driveway (no cover, apart from 2-storey buildings on each side of the 2.7m-wide drive, therefore sun only for a couple of hours in the middle of the day).

I've never thought that it may have paint protection, but it's still very shiny. It's had a few scratches (presumably pedestrians rubbing up against it in car parks), and they have failed to come out when I've had the car polished. Frankly I'm wondering whether I should have treated the paint differently if I'd known it was (presumably) paint protected. Perhaps there's another method for dealing with scratches on protected paintwork?

If the paintwork looks this good after 11 years, I'm very, very pleased. But is my old car likely to be standard 2003 VW paintwork, or has it been protected? The original dealer hasn't kept records that long. Obviously my new car dealer is going to tell me to get paint protection, so I don't trust them.

[darkfriend]

Hello.

If you had paint protection on your mark IV then it has definitely worn off by now, or indeed been polished off. Either way, it no longer has paint protection.

Do not get the dealer to paint protect your new car- it's a rip-off. You can do it yourself for easily a quarter of the price (visit the detailing thread or go to Carcareproducts.com.au or email them and ask what they recommend, or get it done privately).

The dealer just gets someone else to do it and charges you extra.

The same goes for window-tinting your new car- get it done privately. As for fabric protection- do it yourself!

In fact, when buying a new car, ask to bypass the 'extras person' altogether and save yourself the time, money and attempted guilt trip they try to send you on to get you to waste your money and increase their profits

[Dutch77]

In fact, when buying a new car, ask to bypass the 'extras person' altogether and save yourself the time, money and attempted guilt trip they try to send you on to get you to waste your money and increase their profits

Often the Ming Mole is still worth a visit for coffee, just don't give in.

Cyberman: I note you're in Adelaide, you can get the paint and tint looked after by Hamish @ Elite Finish, he'll do Opticoat at sharp pricing.

[Ralfi]

Considering which company to use for aftermarket Laint Protection.

I used Detailing Services for the Polo, which I was happy with. Although, back then, it was more of a basic service which cost $180. It's now a more thorough (& hence costly: $700). Can anyone comment on the quality of this detail? If I were to go with FI again, I might go the $850 option & get the interior down also.

I notice Tint-a-Car (of which I will use for the tint), have a $899 (external only) detail with free tint. Can anyone comment of their Paint Protection quality? Of course, I won't get the internals done in this scenario.

I'm thinking FI for external/internal protection & Tint-a-Car for the tint may be the way to go...even if it'll work out more expensive...?