Hi,

I had an extended test drive in an IS 250 yesterday and have not enjoyed driving a car as much for years (currently have a plodder of an Avensis 1.8). I hope the IS is going to be mine later this month.

The salesman wants to sell me Supaguard (scotchguard surface protection) inside and out and GAP insurance, for which he's giving me a special deal (of course ). GAP insurance appears to promise to top-up my regular insurance in order to give me back the full purchase price if the car gets totalled in the next three years.

I was wondering if anyone had good or bad things to say about these two commission laden features.

Must say LOC looks great and I'm looking forward to participating more when the 250 is sitting on my drive.

Hi Monty, welcome to LOC. Re. the Supaguard, it's a fair bit of money for little return in my opinion and you can do better doing it yourself with a bit of reading and purchase of the right materials.
I had my IS200 Supaguarded by the dealer when I first purchased it and it didn't last as long as the detail I did myself on my new IS250 SE-L.
Here's some reading to get you thinking. http://articles.autopia.org/index.php

Go for the GAP insurance, but maybe not from the dealer. There are independent insurance companies that do it- just do a search of the web and you will get the same benefit at half the price.

I too had interior and exterior done when I got my 200 - never again. The exterior was ok but After about 6 months, no matter what Itried to clean my interior with, it came out like poo. Streaks and all sorts as the protective layer had sort of half worn off if you see what I mean. I never got it on my 250. Tango is right - you can do a much better job yourself and save a fortune.

Thanks Tango - Sounds like it may not be worth it after all.

Yeah, you're right - quite a bit cheaper on the web. I'll try my broker tomorrow and see what he comes up with.

Can I ask if your 200 interior was leather or cloth?

im sure my dealer superguarded all the cars in their showroom as they all looked amazingly mint...mine was certainly done and lasted well over 12 months.....see if he will include it in the deal