New Car Protection Needed, Recommendations?

[Jaywaj]

Hi All

New PH member here.

I'm taking delivery of a new Mini Cooper S this month and I am looking to get some sort of exterior and interior protection on it. My 3 options are:

• Dealer is offering GardX Protection inside and out for £399. This is the simple choice as it will be sorted before handover and they say it will be a doddle to clean the car for the 3 years of the PCP, but I know that these are usually not the best value.

• Go with a local detailer offering a similar package for less. I don't know who I would use for this so I would appreciate any recommendations people have for a place in the North West. I am based on the West side of Manchester and would ideally go somewhere local.

• Purchase some good-quality, long-lasting protective products and have a go at applying them myself. Any recommendations on what to use and where to buy them would be much appreciated!

My budget is essentially anything less than what the dealer is trying to fleece me on the GardX. Less if I was doing it myself. While I can muster the motivation to wash the car myself, it isn't something I do too regularly (Usually just on a sunny weekend) so protection that means I don't need to clean as regularly or with so much effort would be great.

With the interior I tend to keep my car spotless, and don't have any kids so the interior protection is more for peace of mind because I know that accidents sometimes happen!

Thanks!

P.S. if anyone has any air fresheners they recommend that would be great too. I'm looking for one of the under-seat or cup-holder variety.