[Rickyk74]

Hi,

Firstly great forum - learning lots about the DS and I don't even take delivery until late Sept :-(

I have ordered a HSE black edition in black (stealth style), cirrus grey interior with a nice few options on top.

I was hoping if anyone could advise me on the SmartGuard protection that the dealer has included. SmartGuard protection band 3 for £599 incl VAT and SmartGuard Alloy protection for £259 incl VAT. So £858 in total. Question is, is it any good? Worth it? Has anyone else had this treatment and is it worth it?

Look forward to your comments/advice,

Richard

 

[adam.d.lloyd]

Largely not worth it, most folks don't recommend it, or if they want it request it at a much lower cost/thrown in for free. The markup on the service/products is apparently shocking.

 

[BFGDSMan]

There is another thread about this elsewhere on the forum -

http://www.discosportforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=820

My recommendation is a professional detailer and GTechniq - will correct your paint (trust me your "new car" will have its fair share of defects by the time you get it) and the protect it for about £600 - or do it yourself if you know what you are doing for under £100. They also have lots of options ofr wheels, plastic trim, seats, carpets etc etc.

Dealer schemes are generally about earning the dealer a couple of hundred percent markup.

 

[IanH]

Had 2 LRs Supraguarded an Protect & Care and in all honesty its a waste of money. My wife has an HSE on order and we wont be taking up any of the dealer 'options' - even the Gap Insurance I arranged myself (replacement new vehicle) at a third of what the dealer quoted.

 

[Rickyk74]

Do you think I can cancel the smartguard option now I have signed the finance agreement, as I'd much rather spend the £800 plus on a proper detail. Thoughts and suggestions on how to do this much appreciated!

 

[merctony]

Best thing is to sit near a drain, take a flask of tea with you, then slowly take the money from your pocket and rip into little pieces, because that how much use the so called paint guards are, the only people who say they are good, come out with such saying like ( l could see the water turning into droplets and running off my car) are the people who wasted their money and go to bed and cry most nights.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY,
regards
tony

 

[Triple7]

You are entitled to delete the car protection as it is dealer applied, the finance can be tweaked. 14 day cooling.

£900 is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a £75 product. A professional car properly prepare your car for half that amount.

See my thread about my car detail, be dated March '15 somewhere...

 

[BFGDSMan]

Slowly take the money from your pocket and rip into little pieces, because that how much use the so called paint guards are, the only people who say they are good, come out with such saying like ( l could see the water turning into droplets and running off my car) are the people who wasted their money and go to bed and cry most nights.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY,
regards
tony

I am one of those people (but not offended by your comment). What I do know is my wifes Merc only needs washing once a month not once a week and when it rains there is a degree of self cleaning, with bird poo 50 % drains off (so less cleaning required). One wipe with a microfibre mit and water removes all dirt so much less wahing and much less chance for damage to occur. Also since so much water drains of the car my wifes SLK takes literally about 30 secs to dry with one 45cm x 45cm micro fibre drying towel - again less chance for damage to occur.

Now my DS is white so there is no need to go to such extremes to protect the paint as white paint hides a multitude of sins, but for anything dark, and especially those premium colours such as Barolo Black that look proper speckerly in the sun, high end paint detailing and protection will enhance the shine. Paint tecnology has advanced massively in the last 20 years (remember when you never bought a red car as it faded within 5 years in the sun?), but is ultimatley protected by a 200 micron deep layer of laquer from pollutants. LR paint laquer is generally considered medium soft (not as bad as Japanese but not as good as BMW and Merc) and is not good to resisting swirl marks, tree sap or bird poo.

As with anything it is about what you pay for. Watch videos on Youtube about cheap dealer applied finishes versus those by a detailer with top end products such as GTechniq and IMHO it is not such the waste of money you say.

However, we all have our personal opinions, and my wife is very happy with her mirror finished gloss SLK in black that bar a couple of self inflicted scratches shines bright and still has 180 microns of the original 200 microns laquer finish after 7 years (which even surprised the dealer who said they expect it to loose 10 microns per year) when it went to have some work done on it recently.

 

[rtdf]

I had a car that had smartguard applied previously. It wasn't very good, didn't protect against birdlime which was on for a v short period.. had to be sorted under warranty. A dealer who was previously at the dealership where this occurred admitted it wasn't very good. In the end, I went back to polishing/wax etc.

 

[Rickyk74]

Many thanks for the advise. Have cancelled the smart guard at a cost of £859 and have it scheduled for a complete inside and outside detail and protection with GTechniq crystal serum and other GTechniq products. This includes absolutely everything including engine bay, wheels on and off etc all for £905.

 

[BFGDSMan]

Many thanks for the advise. Have cancelled the smart guard at a cost of £859 and have it scheduled for a complete inside and outside detail and protection with GTechniq crystal serum and other GTechniq products. This includes absolutely everything including engine bay, wheels on and off etc all for £905.

Guarantee you will not regret it

Crystal is the dogs and would definatley have it if I had a dark car and was keeping long term - I know how good exo + c2 is!