Paint Protection. A multi-million pound scam?

StripeyMiata

Perhaps I'm over-reacting, if I am feel free to correct me.

I recently bought a brand new car, my first since 2008 and came across something that has troubled me ever since. The car is great by the way as was the salesman.

I’m a bit of a petrol head so researched what cars I wanted and got a shortlist of 4. Every quote I got from a dealer included “Paint Protection” on the quote. Firstly I thought it was sneaky putting it on a quote without asking, secondly the cost rang alarm bells. It ranged from £320 to £540 depending on car. I have cleaned my own cars for over 20 years and it seemed very expensive to me and I didn’t purchase it.

Doing some research it seems that the kits retail for very little, so it’s pretty much pure profit. I found a link to a article inside the trade that reveals a lot, not allowed to post it though as a new user which is fair enough. If you Google "am-online 33328" it will come up.

They seem to achieve 30% to 40% penetration for new cars with around £200 profit on each car. To me that seems excessive, especially for something I feel isn’t really needed. If you look at Ford (only because they are the best seller) who sold around 230000 cars in 2014 that means a possible profit of £16 million pounds for that marquee alone based on 35% penetration. It gets more expensive as you go upmarket, I’m led to believe that Aston Martin charge £2000 for a kit they buy for £72 +VAT

I suspect the dealers would argue it’s a good product, but even it it was it seems to me it’s terribly overpriced and shouldn’t be included in a first quote. It should be opt in only, my Dad didn’t even spot it on a quote he got until I told him what it was. If they want to sell it, OK then, but at a fair price. I don’t blame the salesmen, I’ve watched them as they just type the figures into the computer, it’s generated automatically.

Interestingly if you Google “gardx”, “diamondbrite” or “supagard” along with “opinions” you’ll see lots of people saying not to buy it on car forums, hardly anyone recommends it. It also seems to last 6 months on average.

I also own a 24 year old classic car, go to classic car shows a lot and see really old cars with no paint protection and they look fine. The fact that this seems to have appeared from nowhere in 6 years and every dealer is trying to sell it makes me somewhat suspicious that it’s a scam throughout the UK industry.

Recently I parked my car beside an identical car as mine, which had a “protected by Diamondbrite” sticker on the windscreen. Ironically mine was a lot cleaner looking.

vikingaero

I agree that most of these products are snake oils, but they do have their place.

For the average motorist who cleans his car weekly/fortnightly/monthly they are simply not needed. For the motorist who never/rarely cleans their car or lives in a flat where a hosepipe/water isn't readily available then some form of protection is better than nothing.

These paint protection products are nothing but poor pyramid selling. The valeter will be paid barely minimum wage to apply it. The salesman will get £30-50 commission, the sales manager gets commission, the dealer principal gets commission, the dealer gets a cut, the snake oil salesman gets a cut, the snake oil manager gets a cut etc etc.

Look on eBay for kits from these snake oil companies to work out the real cost of the products - normally no more than what you would pay in Halfords for a decent sealant and applicators.

The ruse is that the item is sold at the same time as GAP and (Extended) Warranties when they claim that they have to show you FSA/FCA to sell you Paint Protection. This makes consumers think that the product is more above board. The reality is that disclosure is required for GAP and Warranties but not Paint Protection. You can cancel GAP or Warranties after purchase but not Paint Protection.

If it means that you can purchase a car for a better price then take out GAP/Warranty and cancel it within 14 days.

One of my friends is a salesman for VW and he detests selling Paint Protection because it is poor value. There are claims that Paint Protection has a warranty itself but I've not heard of anyone who has successfully had a Paint Protected panel repainted because a bird pooped on it and stripped the paintwork.

force_ten

It should not be automatically added to the price of a new car as you said it should be an opt in

I normally buy second hand cars and it is always offered and I always refuse

I had it applied to my present car and it was thrown in by the dealer to try and make the deal a bit sweeter and he said i was getting an extra £350.00 worth of product when in reality i knew it was worth about £70.00

if i was buying a high end motor i would take it to a detailer for a new car protection detail rather than let the dealers valleter slosh on a few quids worth of paint sealer and charge me an arm and a leg for the privilege

ACG

I dont see the issue, you have a choice take it or dont.
It gives you piece of mind should you want it.

I was offered it and declined it, along with gap cover, alloy repair and something else which I forget.

The only thing wrong is to include it in the quote, but ultimately they are salesmen so you have t check what you are signing for whether that be a car or a new kitchen.

Mobeer

Gap insurance, warranty, paint protection - all things you can shop around for.

EssexExile

With Diamondbrite to keep up the guarantee you have to wash it at the stated regular intervals & condition it in between. It's not going to happen so the guarantee is worthless.

nicholaswitchell

StripeyMiata wrote: »

Perhaps I'm over-reacting, if I am feel free to correct me.

I recently bought a brand new car, my first since 2008 and came across something that has troubled me ever since. The car is great by the way as was the salesman.

I’m a bit of a petrol head so researched what cars I wanted and got a shortlist of 4. Every quote I got from a dealer included “Paint Protection” on the quote. Firstly I thought it was sneaky putting it on a quote without asking, secondly the cost rang alarm bells. It ranged from £320 to £540 depending on car. I have cleaned my own cars for over 20 years and it seemed very expensive to me and I didn’t purchase it.

Doing some research it seems that the kits retail for very little, so it’s pretty much pure profit. I found a link to a article inside the trade that reveals a lot, not allowed to post it though as a new user which is fair enough. If you Google "am-online 33328" it will come up.

They seem to achieve 30% to 40% penetration for new cars with around £200 profit on each car. To me that seems excessive, especially for something I feel isn’t really needed. If you look at Ford (only because they are the best seller) who sold around 230000 cars in 2014 that means a possible profit of £16 million pounds for that marquee alone based on 35% penetration. It gets more expensive as you go upmarket, I’m led to believe that Aston Martin charge £2000 for a kit they buy for £72 +VAT

I suspect the dealers would argue it’s a good product, but even it it was it seems to me it’s terribly overpriced and shouldn’t be included in a first quote. It should be opt in only, my Dad didn’t even spot it on a quote he got until I told him what it was. If they want to sell it, OK then, but at a fair price. I don’t blame the salesmen, I’ve watched them as they just type the figures into the computer, it’s generated automatically.

Interestingly if you Google “gardx”, “diamondbrite” or “supagard” along with “opinions” you’ll see lots of people saying not to buy it on car forums, hardly anyone recommends it. It also seems to last 6 months on average.

I also own a 24 year old classic car, go to classic car shows a lot and see really old cars with no paint protection and they look fine. The fact that this seems to have appeared from nowhere in 6 years and every dealer is trying to sell it makes me somewhat suspicious that it’s a scam throughout the UK industry.

Recently I parked my car beside an identical car as mine, which had a “protected by Diamondbrite” sticker on the windscreen. Ironically mine was a lot cleaner looking.

Appears to me like you'd "better call Saul"!

What exactly are you hoping to happen to the sellers of "paint protection" here?

Strider590

Ahhh the good old "can't be bothered to wash my car" diamond+ceramic+unobtainium composite quadraspaz paint protection.

It has one purpose and one purpose ONLY, that's for the salesman to make back any "discount" he's given you on the vehicle, to get it back up the the screen price.

It costs a dealer £35 (inside information from a Toyota dealership) and they charge you a few hundred.

It's basically aimed at lazy people who don't want to wash their cars.

StripeyMiata

nicholaswitchell wrote: »

Appears to me like you'd "better call Saul"!

What exactly are you hoping to happen to the sellers of "paint protection" here?

Well I'm not looking a Gus Fring style hit on car salesmen

I posted really to see if anyone agreed with my assessment it was a scam and I believe it is at that markup. If they sold it at £200 a car or less I think it's acceptable. At an average of £400 a car I believe they are taking the !!!!.

And of course not sticking it on the first quote.

Secondly I posted to have a debate about it and also if someone searched for gardx, diamondbrite etc it would come up and help them make their own mind up. At the very least going in armed with the knowledge of how much it is costing the dealer will help to get it at a discount if you still want it.

Some other things happened during my car buying experience I will maybe write about in another post, where I think the salesman was up to no good.

I have however read the parking scams going on in the other forum, in Northern Ireland we're not affected any like how you guys in the mainland are, it's a real eye opener.

shaun_from_Africa

ACG wrote: »

I dont see the issue, you have a choice take it or dont.

I think the issue is that you don't have to take any actions to purchase the stuff but you have to decline the purchase as in many cases it is added automatically.
I wonder how many people are caught up in the excitement of buying a new car and simply don't notice the added extra on their invoice.


In fact, if something chargeable is added to an invoice and the retailer doesn't obtain the customers consent to take money for the extra, the retailer is acting illegally and there is no reason why a court wouldn't insist that the payment for the unauthorised extra be returned.

DoaM

But if the buyer signed the paperwork that included this addition (despite not noticing it), then any claim would fail because the dealer can legitimately say "The customer signed for the value of the invoice and all elements contained within it".