Volvo Car Protect

[Cull06]

Originally Posted by justj

Thank you all. I'm somewhere in the middle to be honest - I will look after my car and will happily wax it a couple of times a year. Being brand new this time, I obviously want to look after it. I'm going to decline their offer and look at either waxing myself initially or getting a professional detailer to do it locally. Thanks for all the opinions.

If you’re going to regularly wash and wax like you’re saying. I think that’s the right decision 👍

[icemintb]

£400 for some cheap ceramic coating (is it even ceramic coating or just a coat of wax?)? either way, if you have the time and a few tools, you can probably spend £50 (for a good brand- such as CarPro CQuartz or gtechniq) and do it yourself. Please note that if you do it properly, you're spending a good 8 hours! but at least will last you 2+ years and save you £350!

[MK09]

I had the Lifeshine applied to my XC90 which I bought new in November. I don’t wash my car often (don’t know what I was thinking buying a black one) so the prospect of something that helped keep the car cleaner for longer appealed. The product itself is good. The issue, as I’d read on many other forums (and should have followed the advice), is that a dealer won’t do the paint preparation to remove all the swirls - very noticeable on a black car - imperfections and contaminants etc present when the car is delivered. Only a professional detailer will do that.

For my next car I’d pay the extra to have it professionally detailed and ceramic coated.

[key76]

I paid for the treatment as I didn't want the hassle of constant waxing as I usually do and the coating helps (had it on previous cars as well).

My dealer made an absolute pigs ear of it, and put swirl marks in the paint with their wash when they took delivery, and then sealed those in with the coating, so the car looks utter **** up close with the sun hitting it.

They promised to remove the coating and re-do it after accepting they ruined it, but then we hit lockdown last year, and never really had chance to go back since.

Must book it in at some point, but I would never use a dealer again for it, I'd still treat it, but take it to specialist valeted to have it applied.

[soupytwister]

Dealer washing - <shudder>. Who thinks it's anyone but the junior who gets to wash the car with a nicely dirty & contaminated brush on the end of a jet sprayer I always ask them not to....

Honestly, to properly cleanse, clay, polish, and wax a car needs more work than making Madonna look 5 years younger. It's a whole day job, and as others have said, I'd say you're better getting a professional detailer to do it than Volvo.

It's easy enough to do yourself, and the results are well worth the effort. Swirl free, sparkling, shiny, mirror finish. I did a black 911 once, and did half the car first just to show my friend what a difference it made using a proper cleanse to remove the old wax and contaminants etc. It's not that difficult, just needs time, and plenty of microfibre cloths....make sure you use a decent carnauba wax, a proper tub of which can cost upwards of £50. Autoglym doesn't cut it....

Run the back of your hand down the panel of a properly waxed car and it's smooth and effortless like a new silicon non-stick frying pan. Anything else, it'll feel rough, your hand will judder, and it's just, well, yuk....

[key76]

Originally Posted by soupytwister

Dealer washing - <shudder>. Who thinks it's anyone but the junior who gets to wash the car with a nicely dirty & contaminated brush on the end of a jet sprayer I always ask them not to....

Honestly, to properly cleanse, clay, polish, and wax a car needs more work than making Madonna look 5 years younger. It's a whole day job, and as others have said, I'd say you're better getting a professional detailer to do it than Volvo.

It's easy enough to do yourself, and the results are well worth the effort. Swirl free, sparkling, shiny, mirror finish. I did a black 911 once, and did half the car first just to show my friend what a difference it made using a proper cleanse to remove the old wax and contaminants etc. It's not that difficult, just needs time, and plenty of microfibre cloths....make sure you use a decent carnauba wax, a proper tub of which can cost upwards of £50. Autoglym doesn't cut it....

Run the back of your hand down the panel of a properly waxed car and it's smooth and effortless like a new silicon non-stick frying pan. Anything else, it'll feel rough, your hand will judder, and it's just, well, yuk....

I always ask them not to wash at service etc. But this was a new car I had yet to take delivery of so they washed it before applying the coating.

I used to spend 2 days cleaning my car. 1 day inside and 1 day outside. But as I age and my willingness to do it wavers, I am after shortcuts, but not at the expense of how it looks. I had hoped the ceramic coat would make exterior cleaning faster and easier, but now I have a car covered in swirl marks.

My last car I owned for 5 years and washed every 2-3 weeks. When I traded it in, there wasn't a single swirl in the paint. These clowns washed it once and ruined it.

[soupytwister]

Originally Posted by key76

My last car I owned for 5 years and washed every 2-3 weeks. When I traded it in, there wasn't a single swirl in the paint. These clowns washed it once and ruined it.

I feel your pain.....

[Gaggsy]

50p sponge from Halfords, bucket of warm water with a squirt of Fairy Liquid and hose it down afterwards. Job's a good 'un. 20 minutes once a month and I'm done.

<<lights blue touchpaper and retires... fast>>

[BroadwayBlueshirt]

Originally Posted by justj

I'm buying a new XC90 (great deal buy the way). Anyway, I've been offered Volvo Car Protect for £399. It says "Your car’s paintwork will be treated with a highly durable hydrophobic coating that bonds to the paint and forms a tough protective barrier with a high gloss finish. This keeps your car cleaner for longer and protects your paint from the worst that the elements can do - no need to wax or polish, all you have to do is wash the car"
Does anyone have any opinion as to whether this is worth it? I've never had a brand new Volvo before.

I got it free and it`s crap. They applied it a 2nd time and guess what?

Yep, correct.

This was the 'Williams racing' product. Don`t waste your money.

[justj]

Thanks. Not gone with it. Picking car up Thursday hopefully. I’ll maybe wax myself or get a detailer locally if I can’t find one.