Diamond Brite Permanent

[TVRBRZ]

Hi all,

Shortly to accept delivery on a new Scooby Outback. The dealer is recommending Diamond Brite Permanent for £300.

I had a bad experience before with a Protection kit on a new car, but that was 15 yrs ago (swirl marks on paintwork and a stain on seat cloth that could never be removed).

Searching this forum for Diamond Brite reveals a post from 2017 with an overwhelmingly negative response. Does anyone have any favourable comments and have things improved in recent years?

Feedback much appreciated

Regds

[Stig]

I would spend the money with a reputable detailer instead and get a correction/ceramic protection.

A detailer makes his living from it and his reputation is on the line. A dealer is there to sell you cars and accessories.

[TVRBRZ]

Thanks Stig - that was the advice in the 2017 post too!

[steveo3002]

its a few quids worth of average product and lots of commission for the sales person , usually slapped over a minimum of prep so any swirl marks etc will remain

i would spend the money on a box full of decent cleaning materials or put it towards a proper detail job

[vikingaero]

I bought some 1,2 & 3 bottles of Autoglym Lifeshine and apply them to my cars myself. Despite all the labels proclaiming Professional Use Only, it's easier than wax to apply. If you mess it up somehow (maybe you put some on and didn't polish in time), the instructions advise you to splat the area with more product to dissolve it.

[TVRBRZ]

Thanks for the advice. I've always washed and waxed previous cars myself with good quality products and they don't look too bad after 10+ years old.

The take away from this post for me is to find a local detailer and budget for a professional to do it every couple of years.

The spiel from the dealer seemed to imply some magical new technology that transcended mere polish, but evidently it is just good quality polish, cheap labour and a fat commission cheque!!!! Cheers all

[Spy]

What price would you expect to pay a pro detailer to prepare and ceramic coat a brand new car ?

[itcaptainslow]

Spy said:

What price would you expect to pay a pro detailer to prepare and ceramic coat a brand new car ?

I paid Azuri in Stevenage £795 + VAT for my Up! GTI to be new car detailed and ceramic coated last year.

[Red9zero]

When I bought my current car the sales chap was so desperate to sell the Gard X treatment, he discounted the car so it was effectively free. It was still overpriced at that.

[Stallzy]

Red9zero said:

When I bought my current car the sales chap was so desperate to sell the Gard X treatment, he discounted the car so it was effectively free. It was still overpriced at that.

Yeah, my first car also had the similar branded treatment + fabric protection (which actually seemed decent) thrown in for free, even though I wasn't too concerned about it.

Nowadays though I'd just get a Si / Ceramic coating done depending on your budget and how long you want the coating to last. If the car is something you expect to own 5+ or 10+ years and the paint is basically factory or you're going to have a paint correction done, then PPF isn't a bad option but I think you may be able to do a ceramic coating and then get PPF afterwards or while there's a ceramic coating underneath also.

[sly fox]

itcaptainslow said:

I paid Azuri in Stevenage £795 + VAT for my Up! GTI to be new car detailed and ceramic coated last year.

Christ - i paid £350 all in - Paint correction needed on a 3 month old car as a local cat had been climbing up the bonnet onto the roof - you could see claw mark traces.

Took 2 guys approx 6 hours for exterior clean, detail, paint correction and ceramic coating.
Thames Valley region

[itcaptainslow]

sly fox said:

itcaptainslow said:

I paid Azuri in Stevenage £795 + VAT for my Up! GTI to be new car detailed and ceramic coated last year.

Christ - i paid £350 all in - Paint correction needed on a 3 month old car as a local cat had been climbing up the bonnet onto the roof - you could see claw mark traces.

Took 2 guys approx 6 hours for exterior clean, detail, paint correction and ceramic coating.
Thames Valley region

Quite agree that they a/ charged too much and b/ it wasn’t worth it. I won’t be repeating the experience or using them again!

Edited by itcaptainslow on Saturday 3rd December 13:26

[anonymous-user]

You can get the AG Lifeshine off ebay for a tenner and just do it yourself.

[dfen5]

I bought CarPro Cquartz U.K. 3.0, gets great ratings, so easy to apply, lasts very well when topped up with their Reload. About £40 and an afternoon of elbow grease.

[Longy00000]

sly fox said:

Christ - i paid £350 all in - Paint correction needed on a 3 month old car as a local cat had been climbing up the bonnet onto the roof - you could see claw mark traces.

Took 2 guys approx 6 hours for exterior clean, detail, paint correction and ceramic coating.
Thames Valley region

Wow you were still robbed as that sounds more like a Valet than a correction and detail with ceramic coating.
I put my car in for a light correction as the paint was judged to be in very good condition and a ceramic coating and it took 4 days from a very well respected detailing outfit, allowing me to collect on the morning of the 5th day.
Yes it was a bit expensive £1250 ( I think) but a full detailing is a time consuming business and at best I woukd expect at least 3 days if a ceramic coating is being done with a wheels off approach.
The machine polishing ( I've done some of this myself) can take forever with various compounds / polishes needed at different stages with a million different sized heads. It can seem like an endless task with the wash , decontamination, clay barring etc beforehand to prep it is a days work on its own.
Not wanting to come across badly here or to upset anyone but I do think detailing and coating is expensive and is time consuming BUT is a million miles ahead of what the dealers offer so I wouldn't bother with the dealers offer.
You can buy better products and apply them yourself for half the cost and do just as good a job as them. However you can go full PROFESSIONAL and pay a fair bit more but get a different and better outcome altogether.