Paint protection

[Alexander Pierce III]

I have a 2008 SC 430 with 55K miles. What do you suggest for protection- cermanic coating or protective paint film?  Thank you in advance for your help.

[McBrian]

Get it professionally detailed once every two years ($600 average for everything) with your $ comfort choice of coatings.

Always use a touchless car wash or do it yourself with the same products the detailer uses.

Protective film is great on the leading edges but a hassle everywhere else. And that would be VERY expensive.

If your interior is still good, tint the windows to the darkest allowable by your county and always in every condition use a windscreen shield.

[Alexander Pierce III]

Thank you for the prompt reply.  Need some clarifiation-what are my choices for coatings for detailing?

[McBrian]

Basic hand waxes to ceramics to diamond-like nano

All still require some level of ongoing care. Options galore for you to pick your ongoing effort vs $.

If you're dealing with original paint, you have just done corrections, and you're just keeping it fresh don't spend a ton on anything. If you have a fresh paint job and are looking to preserve it, go all out and protect your investment.

Another option for your quality... Look for the shops with the "nicer" cars. Find out who the local BMW dealership uses. Suuuch a generalization but those customers cared more about the quality of the detail than they did for fixing the damn things. The shop we used was well priced but great with the cars.

[rich1068]

I'm always pushed for time but like to keep my GS looking as good as possible so I've recently started using ceramic products. Not the eye wateringly expensive multi stage/multi day stuff but just products I can find in my local auto store. I'm in the UK so I'm not sure if they're available over there but I'm using Autoglym Ceramic Wash & Protect which beads for weeks and topping up with Autoglym Rapid Ceramic Spray which is literally wipe on, wipe off. They've transformed the look of my car.

I've only had the GS since November and when this summer rolled round I noticed awful hologram patterns on the paint in direct sunlight. I used a glaze/polish with plenty of fillers (Alchemy Dark Matter though Poorboys Black Hole is recommended too) then finished off with the Autoglym Rapid Ceramic Spray. Three months and it still looks good.