Diamondbrite - is it worth it?

hewhoisnotintheknow

ask them what will happen if you dont have the treatment

if they say the car wont survive or look terrible in three years time walk away, in favour of a car that will last more than three years

nearly everyone i know whos had this treatment, then goes on to only wash the car every six months or so at the local car wash, swirling the paint up nicely!

iammumtoone

Bumping this up as thinking about having this myself.

It's between getting it done at dealership or independent valeting or not at all as it is not something I would do myself.

The dealership is telling me it is guaranteed for the time I own the car. I questioned what happens if it comes off as I have read that it only lasts 6 months, the reply was if the water stops 'beading' on the surface to bring it back to get it re-done. If that is the case it might be worth considering but I am doubtful this would be what happens.

Has anyone ever gone back under the guarantee to try to get an issue resolved? What was the outcome? I suspect there will be a 'get out' clause for the dealership somewhere in the small print.

BeenThroughItAll

iammumtoone wrote: »

Bumping this up as thinking about having this myself.

It's between getting it done at dealership or independent valeting or not at all as it is not something I would do myself.

The dealership is telling me it is guaranteed for the time I own the car. I questioned what happens if it comes off as I have read that it only lasts 6 months, the reply was if the water stops 'beading' on the surface to bring it back to get it re-done. If that is the case it might be worth considering but I am doubtful this would be what happens.

Has anyone ever gone back under the guarantee to try to get an issue resolved? What was the outcome? I suspect there will be a 'get out' clause for the dealership somewhere in the small print.

Just.

Don't.

Bother.

bowlhead99

iammumtoone wrote: »

Has anyone ever gone back under the guarantee to try to get an issue resolved? What was the outcome? I suspect there will be a 'get out' clause for the dealership somewhere in the small print.

The main getout clause is that for the guarantee to remain in place you must use their 'conserver' product on at least a monthly basis. Any claims after a year they will demand receipts to show that you kept buying it.

It is an additive that you put in your rinse after you do a wash (£24 a litre plus shipping, cheaper if you buy 5L at a time...) to 'top up' your protection. It will cut through tar, traffic film and general fallout if you apply it neat and the mild abrasive within will help remove scratches - presumably by removing a few microns of the clearcoat which your car manufacturer put over your paint, because that is how you remove a scratch.

The guarantee doesn't cover paint chips and it also doesn't cover animal or vegetable deposits (bird dirt, tree sap) that you let sit on the car for more than 7 days - these invalidate the guarantee based on their inspection. Presumably their word against yours.

To maintain the 'optimum condition' they recommend but do not demand an annual inspection, usually from your supplying dealer. Who is entitled to charge an inspection fee/valet fee when they do so.

The guarantee conditions are here http://www.jewelultraguarantee.com/termsandconditions.pdf

Thing is, pretty much all car dealers, even of 'prestige' brands, are terrible at washing cars and are not professional detailers. They are highly unlikely to be machine polishing all the swirl marks out of your car and claying the surface prior to application of a protection product, because that is something that would cost £00s at dealer labour rates if they even had the skills for it.

Cars prepped for showroom typically have a wax or polish applied that makes it look glossy and contains fillers to temporarily cover up the permanent swirls that have accumulated over time (or even been introduced by the heavy-handed hand wash of the supplying dealer's boys on a new car). Joe public thinks it looks nice and shiny and is suckered in. But any paint protection application slapped over the top is limited by the quality of what your car starts off at.

Personally I would never buy a diamondbrite-type product from a car dealer. Either buy well regarded detailing products and DIY if you have the time and patience (whether that's with a good quality wax or a modern nano-type sealant) or take it to a well reputed professional detailer who will charge you for it. Or just accept you are not the type of person who cares too much about his paintwork as long as it's clean, and you'll be taking it through carwash machines when it looks dirty.

Some paint protection jobs from detailers can be very expensive depending on what they use, but they will be honest about how long it will last and what aftercare to use. To find a salesman saying 'it has a lifetime guarantee, if you look after it, as long as you can prove you are keeping buying the maintenance product from me forever' - that's just something to stay clear of.

TBH I am a bit anal about my paintwork and these days when I take the car to a service I leave a 'do not wash' sign on it because I don't want my lovely car ruined by some saturday kid doing a handwash with an old rag and single bucket and then chamoising it dry after - a recipe for swirl marks even if it sounds like a more personal service than a drive-thru carwash machine.

thescouselander

Don't bother. The dealer wash pushing this stuff when I bought my car and in the end I got them to put it on for free. As far as I can tell it doesn't do anything.

bowlhead99

thescouselander wrote: »

Don't bother. The dealer wash pushing this stuff when I bought my car and in the end I got them to put it on for free. As far as I can tell it doesn't do anything.

Waxes and sealants do 'do something'. They are a layer of protection on top of your paintwork, against the outside world.

Obviously if you can't tell the difference between having it and not having it then it isn't worth it to you, and if you are not going to go to the effort of maintaining it then there's no point having it just for a bit of extra shine during your first few months of ownership. But there are some people who say they like it - the question is just whether a paint treatment is worth the £x00 they want to charge for it.

If you're buying a £1000 car then any kind of treatment is very unlikely to be worth it, but it is a relatively smaller cost on a £30,000 car (a fraction of a percent of the car cost). I wouldn't use this one due to the outrageous dealer claims and hidden small print but did try gtechniq from an independent detailer which is quite good. Nothing is 'lifetime' though.

thescouselander

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Waxes and sealants do 'do something'. They are a layer of protection on top of your paintwork, against the outside world.

Obviously if you can't tell the difference between having it and not having it then it isn't worth it to you, and if you are not going to go to the effort of maintaining it then there's no point having it just for a bit of extra shine during your first few months of ownership. But there are some people who say they like it - the question is just whether a paint treatment is worth the £x00 they want to charge for it.

If you're buying a £1000 car then any kind of treatment is very unlikely to be worth it, but it is a relatively smaller cost on a £30,000 car (a fraction of a percent of the car cost). I wouldn't use this one due to the outrageous dealer claims and hidden small print but did try gtechniq from an independent detailer which is quite good. Nothing is 'lifetime' though.

I do maintain my car paintwork, usually with wax, and that seems far more effective to me. I haven't observed any of the claimed benefits from Diamond Bright though. It certainly doesn't make the car any easier to clean which is what the dealer claimed it would do.

iammumtoone

thank you for your responses everyone especially to bowlhead for the detailed explained of how they are likely to get out of a claim.

I am not bothered about the external protection of the car, I can wash it every now and again.

The inside I do want to protect, can anyone recommend a treatment I can buy and do myself to protect the seats and interior from stains. I can then compare how much it will cost me myself to what the dealer quoted. In the terms they have the same get out clauses for the inside of the car, however the product they put inside must be better than just leaving it?

Thanks

force_ten

iammumtoone wrote: »

thank you for your responses everyone especially to bowlhead for the detailed explained of how they are likely to get out of a claim.

I am not bothered about the external protection of the car, I can wash it every now and again.

The inside I do want to protect, can anyone recommend a treatment I can buy and do myself to protect the seats and interior from stains. I can then compare how much it will cost me myself to what the dealer quoted. In the terms they have the same get out clauses for the inside of the car, however the product they put inside must be better than just leaving it?

Thanks

the first thing that comes to mind is

/www.3mdirect.co.uk/scotchgard-auto-fabric-and-carpet-protector

you can buy single cans that link is just for info

if you can get the paint protection for free then have it done if you have to pay hundreds of pounds for it then dont bother, on a second hand car I would put my head on the line and say that the car will not be properly prepared before application and the product will actually be applied to a clean looking dirty car if that makes sense

i would say that to properly prepare the car before application, you would use a traffic film remover, fallout remover, tar remover, wash the car down, clay bar the car, wash again fully dry the car and then apply the product

a professional detailer may follow a similar regime to the one above, a main dealer will throw a bucket of water over the car dry it off and apply the product and get onto the next one

iammumtoone

Thanks I was offered the outside and inside for £70

As cost of product is around £20. I have to consider if it is worth me paying £50 for someone to do it for me and have the outside done as well? Probably not, I would be not able to do the outside myself but am sure I am capable of spraying a can inside.

I saw all the cars lined up to have this done the amount they seemed to have to get through the throwing of the bucket of water over them before hand would most likely be their method.

Of course this price may not be open to me anymore as I had to agree to buy the car there and then to get this amazing deal :rotfl: . I strongly suspect when I go back at the weekend to actually buy the car the offer will still be available if I want it.