New car paint protection in Adelaide: is it worth doing on day one?

Most people ask us about new car paint protection in the week they pick the car up, often with the dealer’s quote still sitting in the glovebox. The short answer is yes, day one is the best time to do it. The longer answer is below, including the part where a brand new car is not always as perfect as it looks under showroom lights.

What does new paint look like at handover?

Usually better than it will ever look again. That is the whole argument for coating it early.

New is not the same as flawless, though. Between the factory and your driveway a car gets shipped, trucked, parked in a compound and washed by whoever prepares it for delivery. That last wash is where most of the trouble starts. A quick going-over with a gritty mitt or a brush leaves fine swirl marks, and on a dark colour you will spot them the first time the sun sits low.

So when a new car comes in, we look at the paint with you under proper lighting before anything is touched. Plenty of new cars need nothing more than decontamination and a light polish. Some need more. Either way you know the stage and the price before we start.

Is the dealer’s paint protection the same thing?

Usually not. The dealer offer tends to turn up at the finance desk as one line on the contract, bundled with interior and rust protection. The products are generally entry level wipe-on sealants, applied at volume, and the step that decides how the car looks in three years is normally skipped. That step is correcting the paint before anything gets sealed onto it.

A coating locks in whatever is underneath. Put one over delivery swirls and you keep those swirls for as long as the coating lasts. That is why we inspect and correct before we coat, new car or old.

Already signed up for the dealer package? Ask what product went on and if the paint was polished beforehand. The answer tells you most of what you need to know.

Why coat it now rather than next year?

Because Adelaide starts on the paint the day you drive out. UV is high for most of the year, and summer brings around six rain days, so bird droppings, sap and road fallout can sit on a panel for weeks without anything rinsing them off. None of it shows in the first month. It shows in year three, when the colour has gone flat and the car needs a Stage 2 or Stage 3 correction before a coating can go on.

There is a warranty reason too. Wurtzite P85 carries a lifetime warranty on brand new cars, and it only counts when a certified Wurtzite installer, like us, does the work.

One question comes up a lot: does new paint need time to cure before it can be coated? Not factory paint. It is baked at the plant, so it is ready the day you collect the car. The waiting advice belongs to fresh panel repairs, not a car straight off the delivery truck.

What should a new car get, and what does it cost?

For most new cars the Standard package does the job. Premium adds our interior protection for leather, fabric and vinyl, which earns its keep if the seats are light leather or the back seat carries kids and coffee. Ultimate is the full kit for a car you plan to keep for a long time.

All three carry the lifetime warranty for new cars and take one day. If the paint needs correcting, Stage 2 is $495 and Stage 3 is $895 with a package, and Stage 3 is for paint in poor condition, which is rare on a new car. RAA members get 10% off every ceramic coating package, paying cash takes 10% off, and Afterpay is accepted.

The coating and its technical data are on our ceramic coating Adelaide page. What each correction stage removes, and how long it takes, is on the paint correction stages page.

What if you cannot book in straight away?

Plenty of people collect the car on a Saturday and cannot spare a weekday for a fortnight. That is fine. A few habits keep the paint in the state it arrived in until then.

• Skip the automatic car wash. Automatic and DIY washes cause most of the swirl marks we polish out.
• Get bird droppings and sap off quickly with plenty of water and a soft microfibre. On a hot Adelaide day they etch into the clear coat within hours.
• Park under cover where you can, and away from trees that drop sap.
• Hold off on shop-bought sprays and waxes. They do no harm, but they have to come off again before a coating can bond to the paint.

Then pick a day. Drop off is between 8:30 and 10:00 am at Unit 2, 30 Petrova Ave, Windsor Gardens, and the car is ready late afternoon. You can choose a package and a date when you book your new car in online, or call (08) 8261 3552 and we will talk it through.