Permaguard, yay or nay...

[quik5i1ver]

Guys,

My car is permaguarded, thanks to Duffer987 and I continued this trend last year with the annual top up.

I'm now unsure as to whether or not to continue.. I went to the local Lotus specialist today , seeking a quote to tidy up the bodywork and remedy the result of my front bumper meeting a lump of concrete yesterday evening The guy there said that, in his opinion, he believes that you can't beat a good bit of elbow grease with good quality wax. Now I'm aware that some people on here are very pro detailing and others pro PG/SG. I'm wondering if anyone could actually highlight the pro's of either method?

If I go over to the dark side and get my car annually detailed (I assume an annual treatment would suffice), how often should I realisically wax the car subsequently. Also, am I correct to think that annual detailing is actually going to slowly cut away at layers of the paint? - if so, how does PG compare in this respect?

 

[hoolio]

I had mine Sg'd from new and as i think it had been applied well on a brand new car was pretty good but about a year ago when is was looking a bit tired had some dinks done decided that i wanted to be a bit more invoved so i now spend many many hours that could be much better spent down the pub working on the car, the wheels are getting done later.
It does take a lot of time but i look on it as a way to de-stress and 307 does look pretty good as well.

PS it will probably end up more expensive than the annual top up if you get really hooked

 

[Cue]

All I can say about this is I've spent hundreds on detailing products, services and treatments.... I used to be in the wax, clay bar clan until I had #274 Permagarded. It's different to Supagaurd - so I wouldn't put that in the same category.

PG (as I'll refer to it) lasts imo 6 months longer than even the best wax treatments, it's not effected by heat or frost so doesn't absorb contaminants like wax does.

Biggest thumbs up that convinced me to get it done in the first place was that Airline and Maritime companies use PG - Virgin knocked £100k off their fuel bill over using wax based polishes using PG as it helped airflow around the planes. And there's no way even on the worst winter roads you could replicate what the sea throws at a boat!

If wax and polish was better at withstanding the elements, i'm positive that Roman would be using them on his sea fairing yachts not PG.

 

[FunkyMunky]

i had it on my first Trophy.... wasn't overly impressed with it 3 months later... needless to say i didn't get the second one done... i'm in the camp that says you can achieve better results using a range of car cleaning products and getting yourself more involved with cleaning it

 

[SpaceMonkey]

i'm in the camp that says you can achieve better results using a range of car cleaning products and getting yourself more involved with cleaning it

What Gareth said ^^^

 

[Destined for Victory]

i'm in the camp that says you can achieve better results using a range of car cleaning products and getting yourself more involved with cleaning it

What Gareth said ^^^

seconded^

 

[Gazza]

Im all for PG, funny how it was quicksilver who convinced me to get it done lol. Just had my second coat applied and to be honest didnt really think it needed it but its so much easier to clean now and water beads of the car a treat. Great finish and quick to achieve, no contest in my opinion.

 

[reboot]

I reckon what Gazza says sums it up and Permaguard seems to be fantastic as Cue says. However, I decided to go for my own detailing because:

1) It's cheaper.
2) It's a whole lot more convenient (nearest place to me is City of London and would have to be on a Saturday).
3) The Trophy is the first car I have actually enjoyed detailing myself (and I've had a fair few cars).
4) I found the service, advice and products from i4detailing (7Mat on here) to be excellent.
5) I never thought I'd say this, but with present petrol situation I even find it attractive 'attending to' the tomato on the drive instead of driving it all the time as I have done up until quite recently - oh, dear, I must be getting sad....

 

[quik5i1ver]

I think it's interesting to have this discussion!

Ultimately, the time aspect is a big plus for me. I would happily spend many hours on the car but if I did, I wouldn't have as much time to pursue other interests too.. plus my gf might go mental

I have been exceptionally pleased with the permaguard finish. My only reservation is that they were a little clumsy in applying it and therefore I have some white marks on a couple of the plastics, but this can be remedied as one of the other forum members found recently. Other than that, I must admit that I have waxed the wheels again this year which was a must in order to make the brake dust easier to remove.. I came away from speaking to the garage feeling quite sceptical about this, but am now certain I shall get it reapplied again.

 

[Gordon]

I'm all for PG. I was never a believer in 'treatments' but having done a lot of research on PG and hearing so much good stuff about them I thought I'd go for it. Very pleased with the results. There was some white residue on some of the plastics but they removed it no hassles and gave the T a bit of a buff up too.

Talking of expensive items they treat like Roman's yachts. I was shown photos of some rather famous cars owned by a quite famous drummer who has a passion for Ferrari's. Wow, what a collection and the London PG boys went down to his pad and treated some of the cars. Did his planes too. Also some other owners real exotic cars that are unique and pretty priceless, Zonda, F40, F50 and some strange racing Ferrari I'd never seen before.

I see the huge advantage of PG as the time saving (although the washing takes as long, if not longer, but no polishing) and the protection to the paint. I have a black car which was regularly polished with Auto Glym products which I thought excellent and still do. Sadly after 13 yrs of sun exposure, freeze thaw, washing and polishing the clear coat came off and now the roof has base grey primer only. Total re-spray job. This is just age and and don't blame AG products at all, but is proof how much of a beating car paint gets.

The great thing about PG is sun protection. The Virgin Airways fleet in Oz that decided to use PG had problems with their very red planes going pink due to the Aussie sun, sand and atmospheric polutants. Having treated the fleet they stayed red and saved $$$$ in upkeep cost, as Cue said, fuel savings were huge too. Also much less time spent on the ground and much more time in the air.

Seeing red cars oxodise in the British sun is a crying shame and red cars always do it more than others. The T being red surely puts it in the high risk category and if PG can stop this it's got to be a good thing. I'm sure other polishes will give good protection too but my black roof on the 106 Rallye didn't seem to stand the test of time too well.

 

[fazedesign]

Biggest thumbs up that convinced me to get it done in the first place was that Airline and Maritime companies use PG - Virgin knocked £100k off their fuel bill over using wax based polishes using PG as it helped airflow around the planes. And there's no way even on the worst winter roads you could replicate what the sea throws at a boat!

Do you have any links about this Cue? I have a bit of interesting in this kind of thing through work so any tech info about this would make interesting reading.

 

[Cue]

sadly no, i think there's something somewhere but not sure where.... it's just one of those facts that i saw once that stuck in my mind.

 

[Gordon]

Biggest thumbs up that convinced me to get it done in the first place was that Airline and Maritime companies use PG - Virgin knocked £100k off their fuel bill over using wax based polishes using PG as it helped airflow around the planes. And there's no way even on the worst winter roads you could replicate what the sea throws at a boat!

Do you have any links about this Cue? I have a bit of interesting in this kind of thing through work so any tech info about this would make interesting reading.

http://www.permagard.com.au/index.php?o ... &Itemid=65

About halfway down the page the Virgin job is quoted. It doesn't list the cost savings but validates the quantity of aircraft and yachts they coat. If you explore the Oz and London websites they discuss cost savings somewhere. Adi who runs London quoted to me the cost savings and they are happy to talk about it.