Just ordered a new IS200 Sport and the salesman tried to sell me "Supagard" or something similar.

Apparently this protects your paintwork and you do not need to polish the car for over a year (not sure if he said 3 years). It also protects it from things like bird droppings etc..

The inside is treated with a "scotchguard" type of stuff which stops any staines etc to the seats and carpets.
I think it was about £200.

Has anyone had any experience of this? Does it work? Is it worth £200?

Thanks

B

I had mine Teflosealed - similar deal.

The outside works ace - I pay £7.50 to my car hand cleaned with sponges (no bristles at all) and chamoised dry.

It comes out looking SPOT on - showroom shine.


can't say I noticed the difference with the inside, but then its not as obvious is it?

Supaguard is usually the very last thing a salesman will "throw in" to clinch the deal - so it can't cost anywhere near the 3 or 400 GBP they charge if you ask for it yourself.

My Opinion: No worth it!

I had mine Teflosealed - similar deal.

The outside works ace - I pay £7.50 to my car hand cleaned with sponges (no bristles at all) and chamoised dry.

It comes out looking SPOT on - showroom shine.

Mat,

where di you get that done and how much did it cost, and with your opinion is it worth it??

Gold members, look in the discounts section for a very similar product, cost £45 and works a treat. Recommend it and save some money

trying to sign-up, payments gone through, just sent an e-mail to Steve, awaiting for reply...

Anyone else got any thoughts about applying products similar to Supagard to their IS..

I know that "BRN 7Y" has used something smilar??

Sorry for replying to my own question, but......

Spoke to a friend today who had his car treated with Supagard - he agrees with Mat - The shine is great - even after a quick wash.

There are a few places on the web where you can buy a "home kit" but they reckon it takes about 5 - 8 hours to do it properly. It was about £50.

more info at..

[url="http://www.diamondautocare.co.uk/teflo.htm"]http://www.diamondautocare.co.uk/teflo.htm[/url]
[url="http://www.supagard.co.uk/"]http://www.supagard.co.uk/[/url]

Dont know if this helps any.

Thanks

B

There is so many different companies offering this type of paintwork protection..

1: Supagard, 2: Teflosealed, 3: ToughSeal..

Which one is reccomended Please?

Tefloseal and Toughseal are the same thing.

I had it done by Lexus before they handed over the car.

It was £195 - this is £55 for the kit, and best part of a day applying it (on and off - not a solid 8 hours).

Tefloseal website advertised their own team to come to your car and do it for £210 - so £195 seemed good to me.


I posted to usenet about it before making the decision myself (LOC didn't exist then ), and got some derogatory remarks about it.

They were typical smart alec usenet posts, picking to pieces the fact that it can't be applying teflon to the car as you have to superheat the metal to 10,000 degrees sort of thing.

I just ignored them.

Then the owner of the company rang me up (my standard sig included mobile number) - and explained what the deal was.

There is a tiny amount of (quite a rare type of) teflon, which is used as a catalyst to cause two chemicals to react - hence the name.

All in all - I am very happy with it.

Thanks for the info guys,

In the Gold Members section i read that Toughseal are offering discounts to Lexus Owners Club...

I have sent an e-mail to Stuart (MD) at Splash Group, who are offering to supply and fit ToughSeal to the Vehicle with the discounted price..

I think i will probably go for the ToughSeal...

Might as well pay them and get it done right...

Thanks for the info.

I pick my car up tomorrow so I decided to get it done by the dealer before picking up the car.


B

"theb"

How much did lexus say they are charging you to apply this, and which one are they using SupaGard, ToughSeal, or the Teflo-seal?

Please let us know...

Help with the Final Decision Please..


Supagard (done by Lexus interior & exterior)
ToughSeal (done SplashGroup - exterior only)

?????

OK seems to be a bit of a confused mix from what I can see....

I am getting the Supa Guard fro free but have to apply it myself, I was wondering more whether I should or shouldn't but from reading it's not going to harm the shine on the car already so will give it a go and see what effect it has, I guess ifit makes no difference the only thing I lose out on is some elbow grease and effort.....

Bought my car brand new 6 weeks ago with Supaguard treatment - I was sold on the idea of not having to wax / polish the bugger for 3 years!

Washed the car yesterday for the first time, and here's my verdict...

1. Still had to scrub hard to remove the dead bugs from the bumper/bonnet, not really surpising as they had been dried on for a few weeks!!

2. After I rinsed off the shampoo, it was no effort at all wiping the car down without leaving water marks (even when the sun had evaporated most of it).

3. Showroom finish at the end... but that's what I expected after spending the extra money on it ?!!!

If you're a lazy @ss like me... it does save some time and effort in washing the car - especially if you're used to waxing it.

Another top tip.... Platinum Ice is excellent hiding the dirt on the car... it's just the black brake dust covered wheels that give it away!

getting my free supaguard this week, reading this makes me all the happier thanks guys

Jan did you get the Supaguard on the wheels as well? If not it's worth considering as they wash real clean with a sponge & soapy water.

I had the Supaguard treatment inside & out on my current IS. My verdict:

1) The car is no easier to wash outside than my previous (silver) IS which didn't have the treatment.

2) The inside is a complete nightmare - it's turned the dash into a dust magnet! Never had that problem on the previous car.

Never again.... mutter mutter!

I went for the exterior and interior treatment... so I'm pretty sure it covered the wheels too. Yep... the wheels were easy to clean, the hardest bit was bending down on my knees to reach them!

My last car (VW Polo ) that I had for 6 years, never once treated the alloys.... and it was never a problem cleaning then! So I very much doubt Supaguard made much (if any) difference. I'm just hoping the 16" alloys aren't a prone to corrosion as the 17" are.

Again with my old car (that I owned from new), the paint work was never treated and it still looked nice and shiny after several years. Just required a decent coat of wax every 4-6 months. (Highly recommend Auto Glym products esp. the Shampoo and Wax).

Would I have the Supaguard treatment again on a new car? It depends, if I had a garage / driveway so that I could clean it regularly then no, a bit of wax and elbow grease is far cheaper!

Since where I'm living at the moment it's impractical to wash the car (and I can't be @rsed to go to the local jet wash) it's well worth it because...

1) Don't have to wax it for 3 years (watch this space)!
2) It definitely makes a difference when wiping down the car after a rinse! (A mate said the same thing with his treated MR2 and regrets not doing the same to his IS200..... and he religiously washes his car every week )!!!!

Have any of you heard of a product called Crystal Guard? It's been getting some good reviews on other auto forums. I guess it's better than Teflon and you actually put a layer of crystal over the paint so it reflects and protects really well. I tried it and it is simply amazing stuff. Any one else tried this stuff?

Well certainly sounds interesting, and there's some bold claims made on their [url="http://www.crystalguard.com/index.html"]website[/url].

If I hadn't had the Supaguard treatment done by the dealer (although it doesn't seem that effective), I'd be tempted to give it a go. My worry is that this would somehow react with the Supaguard either short term & reduce the effectiveness (of both), or long term and screw up the paint finish ...or maybe I'm just paranoid

I had mine done at the dealers. I am pleased with the outside, but the inside has become a dust magnet. (Supaguard)

It's unbelievable. It's a nice finish but the dust a bits really cling to it. I don't know were it all comes from. I know a few people who are complaining of the same thing.

I've not long got some foam cleaner and really rubbed it into the dash to try and break it down a bit. Seems to have done the trick and it isn't as half as bad now, but still has the good look to it.

Personally, I wouldn't get the inside done again.

Interesting diamond 2216, new member, first and only post and introduces a new product to the forum

[quote name='Steve ( West Mids )' date='Jul 30 2003, 11:15 AM']Interesting diamond 2216, new member, first and only post and introduces a new product to the forum [/quote]
My thoughts exactly. Strange that isn't it ?

Diamond 2216 - care to tell us more about yourself ?

Geoffers - what foam cleaner did you use? My Supaguard'ed interior is awful, I vacuum it and a week later it's covered in dust again

Steve/smw - good point, you guys are on the ball !

I used a foam cleaner sold by CPC. It's the same as the electrolube type, just rebadged.

Works great as a bug remover on the bonnet too. It's only £1.50 a tin.

[url="http://custom1.farnell.com/cpc/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=cpc+catalogue&category%5Fname=&product%5Fid=SA0109366"]Here[/url]

fixed the price Geoff - you had £150 per tin - that was why I followed the link!

Cheers.

Probably get a new dash for that...........

i find AutoGlym motor cycle cleaner is great for removing bugs/tar/oil/ and any other stains

just spray on and wipe off.......

SMW and Steve (west mids)

I'm not trying to say go buy it or anything, just check it out. I belong to the my350z.com site and it is talked about constantly. I met the guy who runs the Crystal Guard company and went to his shop. I thought it was good stuff. I scan through many detail forums and try to find what people use. I'm just passing along some info... that's about it...I own a Lexus IS 300 and a 350Z and use that product now for those cars. What else would you like to know?

If there any GOLD members interested in this sort of stuff, check out the GOLD discount section for my post on the AutoGlym version.

I've looked at all the car paint and fabric protections available and I have to say that by far the best one to use is UltraShield - www.ultrashield.co.uk It is probably the most environmentally friendly (the fabric shield is almost odourless and some of the others are extremely harmful!!) and is guaranteed for 7 years. As regards bird droppings...nothing on this earth can protect against that if you do not wipe it off within 24 hours, but UltraShield supplies a top-up Speed Glaze that you can apply to areas that have received bird droppings and brings the original shine back immediately.

I know this may sound awful but if something keeps my car clean the last thing that springs to my mind is how environmentally friendly it is

I've had Supaguard on the car for a month now and couldn't rate it highly enough, Sunday my car was dusty and looking horrible (didn't have time for water & chamois), the rain on Monday was very heavy and washed it clean for me, now looks as if it's just been waxed. You can't complain when the rain cleans the car to a superb finish now can you...

i got my car a week ago and its 2 years old and it had a supagaurd treatment when first bought by the previous owner and the dealership still tried to sell me the treatment and handed over the leaflet which says its protected for three years,so i declined ,i have a berry tree next door to my house and the birds are always ****ting on the car and the washing and its no easier to get of than it was on the merc i previousley owned,so i went back to my previous cleaner AUTOGLYM wash and wax and super resin polish and there own polish cloths,takes a couple of hours but still comes up a treat

[quote name='lapat' date='Aug 23 2003, 05:54 PM']i got my car a week ago and its 2 years old and it had a supagaurd treatment when first bought by the previous owner and the dealership still tried to sell me the treatment and handed over the leaflet which says its protected for three years,so i declined ,i have a berry tree next door to my house and the birds are always ****ting on the car and the washing and its no easier to get of than it was on the merc i previousley owned,so i went back to my previous cleaner AUTOGLYM wash and wax and super resin polish and there own polish cloths,takes a couple of hours but still comes up a treat[/quote]
You don't really want to be putting polish over top Paint Sealant as you're creating an unknown chemical combination. The ideal thing would have been to remove all the contaminants and fall-out etc with a body prep such as Ultrasol which is a mild solvent mixed with an odourless mineral spirit or any other suitable product to reach the original paint finish, then a polish can be used in safety on the virgin paint surface. However I would still go for the paint sealant but use the UltraShield Paint Shield. It's made from long chain polymers with Teflon additives and is the biz! If you still want to polish your car after applying this you can use their Speed to bring up the shine without creating a build up of product on the surface.

Happy polishing...

I've had Supagard on loads of cars previously and I have just had it done on my new (1st) Lexus which I am delighted with. If you look in the showrooms now, you will see that Lexus actually recommend the use of Supagard on their cars and shy away from any other similar product

I have just taken delivery of my new RX300 SE . I had a valeter apply Ultrashield car paint and Leather protection. I was so pleased with my last car that I had it on, I had to have it on my new RX as well. I have also got a Land Rover Defender with it on as well, that is in the mud most weekends it is so easy to clean and looks the nuts all the time. It’s also got a seven-year guarantee. Don’t take my word for it have a look yourself [url="http://www.ultrashield.co.uk"]Ultrashield[/url]

I've been following this thread with great interest 'cos I'm not sure I want the car on order to be Supaguarded. I had our black Astra sxi done in 2001 and that looks like a dust bowl inside, while the exterior looks worse than the IS200 (same age) which wasn't treated.
I have both cars washed and valeted by Autogleam in Taunton who, exclusively, use Auto-glym products and have kept both cars looking great for not very much money. As they offer their own post-delivery treatment for less than the £299 Lexus, Exeter want I think I'll use them. And I dont think I want Supaguard on the all leather seats of the LE, if it is such a dust magnet.

Perhaps the fact your Astra is like a dust magnet inside is because you don't clean the interior of the car. People expect that because I have a product on their car that they don't have to clean it, get real. You could buy a Bentley but if you don't service it properly it will eventually break down. These products are the same, they will assist you to clean and maintain your vehcile but they still need to be cleaned and you still need to wash your car.
As for Ultrashield.....as I have posted previously Lexus ONLY approve the use of Supagard on their vehicles and I believe that any other product applied will invalidate your Lexus paintwork warranty so please be extremely careful what you do and don't apply to your vehicle.

Jozwoz, it's funny that you seem to be pushing UltraShield, a product no-one else seems to have hever eard of, don't suppose you own the company do you? I'm sure Merc-Benz would be interested to see that you have taken it upon yourself to use a pic of a Merc on your own website without, I'm sure, their permission let alone super-impose your name as the reg plate. Still I'm sure you will see the error of your ways and stop using this forum as an opportunity to plug your own crappy products.
By the way, if your Paint Sealant is so good, why, according to the website are you required to "top-up" twice a year? What's the point in paying for it in the first place then have to effectively re-apply it every 6 months? You would be as well buying a cheap sealant from halfords for £5 and use that every 6 months, you will get the same results! It is hardly a 7 year gurantee if you are required to re-apply 14 times during that period?
I also cannot believe that you recommend a product to be applied onto brand ney leather. If you ask any company who knows anyhting about leather they will tell you in no uncertain terms nevert to apply a "protection" to leather as when leather is tanned and dyed it is already treated and preserved. At the end of the day leather is a skin and must be treated with respect not some cheap "protector" which you can also apply onto man-made vinyl (plastic)!!!!!! You can hardly pick two more different products that natural leather and man-made vinyl yet, your company deems is OK to apply the same products onto both!!!! You are sadly mistaken with this advice I can assure you.
"CHOSEN BY PROFESSIONALS - VALUED BY COMPETITORS"....I don't think so!!!!

Apologies for such a lengthy message however, I feel strongly about these two-bob companies who claim all sorts of world beating promises yet in actual fact are no more than a one man band trying to capitalise on the vulnerable car owners market.....stick to the manufacturer of your car's guidelines and do not be sucked in by these shonky sales people.

I have been very pleased with the supaguard treatment. If you live in a hard water area you must still dry the car properly after washing it, but it really does keep its shine.

Does it also protect the paint from minor chips etc? I have had none in over 6,000 miles on all kinds of roads. Perhaps that is just luck, but I wonder...

I think that has just been a bit fortunate! Nothing can stop stonechips other than not driving your car!If your on a motorway at 70mph and the car in front , which is also doing 70mph, flicks a stone of your bonnet then it hits you at a combined speed of 140mph....so you will see the problem!