Teflon Paint Protection/Sealant

[Preludetundra]

I live in Northern Virginia. When I bought my 2004 DC last month the dealer offered this protection package, but I declined. I didn't pay much attention to the details since I was not interested. However, i do think it was a Toyota program offer.

[Bbbutch]

I had a talk with a professional vehicle painter about paint sealant, clear coat, what ever you want to call that crap. He said that it is a very good idea to apply a clear coat when the vehicle is first painted. Not one month to 12 months later. You can't get the finish clean enough for the application of the clear coat to bond as well as it should and in time (about 4 or 5 years) it starts to delaminate or get cloudy.

[Zombie]

Originally Posted by Bbbutch

I had a talk with a professional vehicle painter about paint sealant, clear coat, what ever you want to call that crap. He said that it is a very good idea to apply a clear coat when the vehicle is first painted. Not one month to 12 months later. You can't get the finish clean enough for the application of the clear coat to bond as well as it should and in time (about 4 or 5 years) it starts to delaminate or get cloudy.

Bbbutch,
I think they were talking about the Teflon paint protectant which is completely different from an actual clear coat (part of the paint process). The Teflon is an aftermarket applied "wax" which is supposed to protect the paint for an unbelievable amount of time. I think it's just a gimmick.

[anmrivera]

Originally Posted by EricZ

I bought my Tundra in January. Against my better judgement, I went ahead with the dealer applied paint protection, fabric protection and undercoating. (Really I just wanted the undercoating, but they gave me a "killer" deal on the complete package.) I have gotten burned on paint protection in the past on my Chevy S-10 ZR-2 and I should know better...

Anyway, they claim that it is some type of teflon polymer that bonds to the paint and is supposedly guaranteed to stick for 1,000,000,000 years and is impervious to all compounds known to man. I was told that not only do I not have to wax, but I should not wax it for at least a year or it will cause a haze to form.

Of course I could not skip this wonder protection for my new baby. Did anyone else get this? Did I get burned? Be honest and blunt please, I don't like beating around the bush. When should I wax it? What about a haze forming on the paint?

I got something similar to that when I bought my truck in Oct 03. It is called Auto armor. It is supposed to be wax free for ten years! It is guaranteed by Toyota but get this. If it is wax free for ten, why did they give me a bottle and say I have to use it every year to keep it up! I can't say I was had completely. I got the sealent, rust protection, and fabric sealer for just over $500, it is a $1200 package! Last week I washed the truck and it did not bead up like I like it too so I put on my Gold class wax and it looks better now!

[EricZ]

Thanks for the replies. Like I said, I figured that I was wasting some money on it but I'm sure that it did something. Mainly I was concerned about the rust protection underneath so I got the package together. I guess that I'm just going to wax it like normal. I'm not that fanatical about cleaning it anyway.

[chandleb]

I just ordered a new Tundra double cab. The dealer called and wanted to sell me the paint sealant and the rust proofing. They said that the sealant would last for 7 years and came with a guarantee. I hate waxing, but I have read enough to know that sealants do not last for 7 years. I work as an engineer for a fluoropolymer manufacturer - one of the products we make is PTFE. Since I know a little bit about chemistry, I pressed the dealership to tell me what the chemistry of the sealant was. She finally told me that they used Auto Armor. I did a little research and here is what I found. EPC (Entire Car Protection) is a company that caters to car dealerships. They have all types of products - paint protectant, upholstry protectant, and undercoating to name a few. One of the products that they sell is the much discussed PTFE sealant - it is called Auto Armor Lightning Polyseal. I then found another site that sold the product. Carwarehouse.com sells a gallon of Lightning Polyseal with DuPont Teflon for $19.79 a gallon.

PTFE will not stick to anything - it has an extremely low surface energy. When it is suspension polymerized it comes out of the reactor as a ~0.02 micron sized spherical particles. It can be very effective if it is put in a coating that is strong enough to mechanically bind each particle in place. Once the coating is hardened the coating can be buffed which smears some of the PTFE onto the surface providing a chemical resistant low surface energy coating (water beads at a high contact angle). I would be surprised if any wipe on wipe off sealants are strong enough to mechanically bind the PTFE particles in place. If the PTFE particle is not ancored in place, the PTFE will simply fall off in a short period of time.

If you really want Auto Armor sealant, save $380 and buy a gallon from carwashwarehouse for $19.79. It should be enough to last the rest of your life. For me I will stick with Klasse.

Check out these links.

http://www.ecpinc.net/ecpframe.htm
http://www.carwashwarehouse.com/ECP5...com/ECP578.php
http://www.carwashwarehouse.com/waxessealants.php

[BlueRanger]

Save your money, thats the biggest gimmick ever, scotchguard the inside? They just spray it on with a damn spray bottle. Do it yourself or take it to a pro detailer that will charge you half that for a much better job with better products (provided they know what their doing as well)

[charlier180]

My Toyota Dealer offered me the "Simoniz System 5" protection program for my 4Runner at $495.

The brochure they gave me lists the following web site:

http://www.simonizusa.com/demoend.asp


Charlie

[BlueRanger]

read my above post, or even do it yourself! Save your money and have the satisfaction of working on your own rig.

[Asterisk]

Well I ponied up the big bucks for the 5 Star package and just spent a b-i-g part of my Saturday applying it. Wash, dry, use clay-bar, wash again with different stuff, let air dry, rinse off, dry entire truck, apply the sealant and buff off. Stand back and admire. The clay-bar was amazing for getting stuff off the paint and the truck looks absolutely awesome. It glows! (Silver Sky Metallic). The sealant leaves the finish so incredibly slick. It hasn't endured the test of Texas summer sun and salt water at the beach, but I'll write back and let you know how it holds up.

[Brandon1]

Yeah, 5-Star is one of those "looks too good to be true" products and their marketing makes this product look fake.

Let us know how it works out, I would be curious.

[TundraSoul]

Originally Posted by grantb

Just got my Tundra. The dealership offered me this Simoniz protection. They put teflon something on the outside, and teflon protection for the interior. $349. The pamphlet he gave me from Simoniz says that they will repair or repaint if there are any acid rain, bird droppings or tree sap markings that won't come off. Also repair or replace seat coverings if stained and they cannot clean
them.

Has anyone gotten this? Is it worth it?

TIA,

grant

I was offered the same thing the other day when I bought my truck. I passed on all the dealers value added items. As others have suggested you can protect the seats and paint yourself for a fraction of the cost. It's one thing having all these paid-for protections but it's another trying to make use of them when and if the time comes.

[Asterisk]

I applied 5 Star Shine to my Tundra 2 weeks ago and I'm very impressed with the shine, but even better is the way water beads up, Wow! The water doesn't just bead up, it rolls off. It left the finish super slick. I'll write back after a month or so and report on the way it holds up in the Texas sun. I can't believe I spent that much money, but if I can get out of waxing the Tundra, and have the paint protected, I'm in.

[Brandon1]

It wont last more than 4-5months max. If it does, then i'll send you $10.

[Tundradrenalin]

Originally Posted by TundraSoul

I was offered the same thing the other day when I bought my truck. I passed on all the dealers value added items. As others have suggested you can protect the seats and paint yourself for a fraction of the cost. It's one thing having all these paid-for protections but it's another trying to make use of them when and if the time comes.

I was a sucker and bought it. Three weeks after driving off the lot I was at a car wash place using the high pressure water, spraying a bird poo that had been there no longer than a day. I got the poo off, but along with the poo coming off a piece of the paint about 1mm x 2mm came off too! I drove to the dealer 5 minutes after I finished. I walked into the ladies office that pawned me the "paint protection package" and said come outside I wanna show you what your paint package did to my truck.
She brought a service tech with her for backup.

She said that they could take the hood off and have it repainted for me or give me some touch up paint. The service guy opens his stingy mouth and says (I can't believe he said this) "How can we be sure that wasn't a rock from the road, it looks like a rock."
I WANTED TO SMASH HIS FACE WITH A ROCK!

I set an appointment to get it repainted, but they didn't offer me a loaner and it was going to take 2 days................... I never got it repainted. I'm still pisst about it to this day.