Should I Buy Clear Coating

[RookieRalph]

New to this forum. Buying my first RV - New Thor Tellaro 20L. Assuming I will keep this unit for 3-5 years, should I pay the dealer $3000 for a Polymer Coating? Thank You.

[Jim_HiTek]

Why? Is the finish that comes from the factory that inferior?

[astrnmrtom]

If you do a search on dealer add-on your should avoid, one of the most common is paint sealer/treatments. These are very high profit items for the dealer and the concept goes back decades. I remember expensive clear coat protectants offered in the 70s and 80s that claimed you'd never have to wax your car again. It's auto industry snake oil.

The idea in today's market is the same, only the names have changed. Back then, Teflon was the magic chemical of choice, and the terms "space age polymers" leveraged the technological advancements seen during the Moon race.

I like to tell a story about a telescope company years ago that was trying to break into a market dominated by two major companies. Aluminum was the standard telescope tube material, and the new company advertised their scopes, which sold lower cost, as having innovative non-metallic tube materials that were more thermally stable than aluminum, better insulating, and "so strong, the military launched missiles out of it!" Wow, what a way to make fiberglass impregnated cardboard telescope tubes sound hi-tech! To be fair, the material worked, it was the advertising spin that was clever. Fiberglass impregnated cardboard would have never been seen as a good thing.

Today's Teflon equivalent is: "Nano-technology." Oh, it's helpful to know the term polymer is so broad, that it includes egg whites. I doubt anyone would think smearing egg whites on your paint would qualify as a protectant. Nano is another extremely broad term, as is ceramic. They are all used to paint a picture in a customer's mind, by inferring a connection with the word and the product's performance. Another real example of those two words combined is; powdery fine rock dust, can be considered a nano ceramic, something we work hard to wash off our vehicles on a regular basis. Mix it with some egg whites and you have a nano ceramic infused polymer! WOW!

Another trick is to use what I call the Starbucks effect. Say what you may about the company, but the marketing genus behind the product was it turned a cheap, working man's drink into a luxury, expensive status product. It was almost all about image, and less about the actual product. It works with a lot of things. You can sell a cheap perfume in a $1 bottle, sell it for $10, or you can take the same perfume, put it into a #50 bottle, have a famous celebrity say they use, it and sell it for $500. It leverages social status, and the fact that someone who spends a lot of money on a product, subconsciously, will want to justify the expense. Yes, the consumer may have purchased a superior product, but they also want badly to believe they've purchased a superior product because they paid more for it. This effect has been proven in brain and behavior studies using things like blind wine tasting. People who were told before hand, that a particular wine was a more expensive variety, rated it higher than if they were told it was a cheap wine, when both samples were exactly the same wine. What does that have to do with paint coatings? Like wine, there's probably a similar subconscious reaction to $3000 paint treatments, vs a $30 one. And sure some more expensive products are truly superior to their cheaper counterparts. This is just what came to mind when seeing the $3000 price tag of the treatment.

That said, people use a lot of products on their vehicles for lots of reasons, usually because the feel it does something positive - myself included. Nothing wrong with that. The auto car product industry is a huge market, and has always been notorious for making inflated claims. I remember a product on the shelf of my local auto parts store years ago labeled: "Motor Rebuild in a Can."

Blabber mode off....

I guess, in short what I'm saying is: Caveat Emptor.

[Arch Hoagland]

Put that $3,000 into buying fuel and go on lots of trips with it.

[dmb496]

I copied this information from an on line detailer's web site. Seems your $3k investment isn't an investment.



Polymer Paint Sealants – Offering Jescar

This is the most recommended protection at our shop. The polymer paint sealant applied is heat resistant to 400 degrees, has very good UV protection and offers a very high gloss shine. Protection easily lasts nine months to one year with average washing maintenance and in some cases up to sixteen months with proper care. The benefits and cost efficiency match up well for most of our clients as many enjoy coming back to visit us annually for professional maintenance inside and out on their vehicles.

[GABob]

Originally Posted by RookieRalph

New to this forum. Buying my first RV - New Thor Tellaro 20L. Assuming I will keep this unit for 3-5 years, should I pay the dealer $3000 for a Polymer Coating? Thank You.

$3k will buy you about 6 or 7 wax jobs with ceramic wax if you have it done by a mobile detailer, possibly one or two more. May be worth taking that into consideration if you don’t want to do it yourself. Hardest part is the roof and overhead cab on a C.

[robertj1979]

A detail guy I use said he would do the vehicle for $800 using a ceramic coating which would include stripping off all the old wax first. Enough said.....Still couldn't bring myself to pay for that when I can wax it myself. Not rocket science...

$3000 for that is a TOTAL "rip off" and no control on how it is done or what product (if any) is used. NO WAY....

If you want to have it done professionally check with auto detailers in your area after you research them and get a couple of quotes.

[dons2346]

That is a cash cow for the dealer. Keep the $3K in your pocket. Next will probably be a bumper to bumper warranty which is another cash cow. Keep your bucks in your pocket, you will be much happier and wealthier

[RookieRalph]

Thanks for all the input. I did not buy the polymer coating.

[Winemaker2]

If you just want polymer protective coating and willing to DIY (several amaller sections easier for me) many here use & recommend NuFinish. It's probably the least expensive, easy to use, readily available polymer around. I've done head to head comparisons w more expensive versions and they did no better than NuFinish.
I have gotten interested in the newer ceramic coatings and tried 303 Graphene Nano Coating. https://www.walmart.com/ip/303-Graph...BoCFXQQAvD_BwE
And been very pleased. IMO it is more durable than polymer, more hydrophic, and very easy to use. As with any coating the appearance depends on the underlying surface and many vehicles benefit from even a light compound / paint correction. I've used a very mild swirl remover and light cutting pad using a random orbit polisher and can really see the difference.
These coating don't have to cost $1,000s or even $100s if you are willing to DIY.
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[dmb496]

Originally Posted by RookieRalph

Thanks for all the input. I did not buy the polymer coating.

That's your best option.

[radar]

In my opinion no. Higher someone to put a high quality wax on it. Repeat once per year.

There are some pretty good ceramic waxes out there now. Maguires etc.

Good luck.