Supagard

[simond64]

Has anyone had supagard applied to their new Corolla? If so, did you get a 3 year warranty certificate or sticker or a registration card?

[Cyker]

You should get a Supagard-branded bag with Supagard cleaning products in it, in addition to someone applying the coating.

The bag contains a registration card IIRC (I've literally never opened the bag except on the day I picked up the car  )

Mine was registered when I called them up, as my dealer never applied the coating. I spoke to a guy called Russell and they (Supagard) were very good about this and just agreed to send someone down to clean and coat the car without me having to fight them. Was a much better customer service experience than my dealer!

I got the impression they have to deal with this sort of thing a lot...

[simond64]

Just now, Cyker said:

You should get a bag with Supagard cleaning products in addition to someone applying the coating.

The bag contains a registration card IIRC (I've literally never opened the bag except on the day I picked up the car  )

Mine was registered when I called them up, as my dealer never applied the coating, but they (Supagard) were really good about this and just sent someone down to clean and coat the car without me having to fight them. Was a much better customer service experience than my dealer!

 

Interesting, supagard day is not registered and there is nothing in the box either, I returned the car initially as there was no sticker on the windows and no product box, washing the car the cloth doesn’t glide like previous cars with it applied and hard to remove bugs. Inside water soaks into the carpets, doesn’t sit on top. 
 

[Cyker]

Yeah, mine too, which is why I strongly suspect it was never applied by the dealer.

I filled in the contact form on the Supagard website and got an e-mail back from that guy Russell I mentioned above.

Spoke on the phone, explained the situation, and he got a local agent/mobile valet guy to come to my house and clean and apply the coating.

Make sure you tell them to do inside and outside, if what you paid for or were offered included the inside!

I was going to take my car back to the dealer and get them to rectify it, but I'd had enough of dealing with them by then. Supagard's customer service was far better by comparison so I'm glad I did!

 

[simond64]

3 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Yeah, mine too, which is why I strongly suspect it was never applied by the dealer.

I filled in the contact form on the Supagard website and got an e-mail back from that guy Russell I mentioned above.

Spoke on the phone, explained the situation, and he got a local agent/mobile valet guy to come to my house and clean and apply the coating.

Make sure you tell them to do inside and outside, if what you paid for or were offered included the inside!

I was going to take my car back to the dealer and get them to rectify it, but I'd had enough of dealing with them by then. Supagard's customer service was far better by comparison so I'm glad I did!

 

Thanks, I’m expecting a reply from supagard so I’ll see what they do. I paid a lot for inside and outside and the dealer has had it back to have a second chance to apply which is disappointing. 
 

 

[Obsidian Estate]

I got offered it with my Corolla, I tried to say no as politely as possible.

 

[Cyker]

I must admit it is pretty bad how many dealers seem to take people's money for things like this but not do the work.

I would have been more  off if I had actually paid for it rather than getting it as a deal sweetener, but fortunately was able to give Supagard the long code on the card so they just sorted it all out instead of having to go back to the dealer.

 

[simond64]

11 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I must admit it is pretty bad how many dealers seem to take people's money for things like this but not do the work.

I would have been more  off if I had actually paid for it rather than getting it as a deal sweetener, but fortunately was able to give Supagard the long code on the card so they just sorted it all out instead of having to go back to the dealer.

 

I guess I’m in a worse position than you then having paid and there is no registration card but I do have the itemised invoice, maybe supagard will honour that and I’m sure they could tell if it was applied or not, so long as it gets resolved

[Obsidian Estate]

Thing is, you pay for the treatment and then a few weeks later you scratch it. You polish it and think you've done a cracking job. 

You've just removed your £200 treatment.

You wash it with something a bit rough and ready. Maybe a cheap shampoo from Halfords. Or take it to a carwash that uses a TFR.

You've just removed your £200 treatment.

 

Chances are all they'll do is wash it, dry it and then slap the stuff on it. All over swirl marks, iron fallout, tree sap etc.

As you can tell, I'm a bit sceptical.

[simond64]

5 minutes ago, Obsidian Estate said:

Thing is, you pay for the treatment and then a few weeks later you scratch it. You polish it and think you've done a cracking job. 

You've just removed your £200 treatment.

You wash it with something a bit rough and ready. Maybe a cheap shampoo from Halfords. Or take it to a carwash that uses a TFR.

You've just removed your £200 treatment.

 

Chances are all they'll do is wash it, dry it and then slap the stuff on it. All over swirl marks, iron fallout, tree sap etc.

As you can tell, I'm a bit sceptical.

It’s a lot more than £200, did u get a quote when buying from your dealer. I don’t use Halfords products, I wash it with supagard products and never use a car wash. Odd thing too, it’s got leather seats but the product pack has no leather cleaning items in it which I find unusual, why would they supply cloth upholstery cleaner when I don’t have those seats

[TonyHSD]

Two major things in similar situations: 

1. Have you seen the guys valeters working at the dealer ? Have you noticed the amount of work they has to do for a minimum wage? Drive around the forecourt and look at the car wash area and you will be amazed and most likely you will never agree to any additional car care products or application prior to new car delivery plus most likely to refuse any free car wash with your regular service. 
2. Exactly the reason why it is better not to take any supaguard or similar products applied to your car - very likely in later ownership either by mistake, or otherwise the car only needs one wrong wash and all the products applied are gone and in some cases a damage may occur. 
Take delivery of your new cars, any additional products or accessories happy to be put in the boot and then apply by yourself or book a proper valeter to do it for you on your driveway. Although a simple car wax once or twice a year will do the same job , cheaper and easier. 👌

[simond64]

1 minute ago, TonyHSD said:

Two major things in similar situations: 

1. Have you seen the guys valeters working at the dealer ? Have you noticed the amount of work they has to do for a minimum wage? Drive around the forecourt and look at the car wash area and you will be amazed and most likely you will never agree to any additional car care products or application prior to new car delivery plus most likely to refuse any free car wash with your regular service. 
2. Exactly the reason why it is better not to take any supaguard or similar products applied to your car - very likely in later ownership either by mistake, or otherwise the car only needs one wrong wash and all the products applied are gone and in some cases a damage may occur. 
Take delivery of your new cars, any additional products or accessories happy to be put in the boot and then apply by yourself or book a proper valeter to do it for you on your driveway. Although a simple car wax once or twice a year will do the same job , cheaper and easier. 👌

The dealer use an external valeter, so impossible to view the work, not even on site, yes staff likely on minimum wage and with hindsight your suggestion of having done when I’m present is a good idea, sadly I expected a product I overpaid for to be supplied so now I’m in a situation of having to rectify it. Some dealers take pride in their quality control and customer service, some don’t. 

[Talking Hoarse]

OK ... here goes my plug.

I have never used Supaguard.  Only wax I buy is Bullet Polish & Protect Carnauba Wax Spray Kit | eBay - although I do now get the concentrate for about 2x price and dilute myself.  

I use it each time I wash my car, as part of the drying process, it actually assists and speeds the dry off process, with one or preferably two microfibre cloths.  It is, by the way, used in several of the car museums in UK.

It is also useful sometimes for cleaning your glasses, and adding a protective layer to all sorts of household things like door handles, uPVC frames etc.

And no - I have no connection with Bullet Polish or its UK supplier.   

 

[Basil-BarryC]

34 minutes ago, Talking Houbik said:

OK ... here goes my plug.

I have never used Supaguard.  Only wax I buy is Bullet Polish & Protect Carnauba Wax Spray Kit | eBay - although I do now get the concentrate for about 2x price and dilute myself.  

I use it each time I wash my car, as part of the drying process, it actually assists and speeds the dry off process, with one or preferably two microfibre cloths.  It is, by the way, used in several of the car museums in UK.

It is also useful sometimes for cleaning your glasses, and adding a protective layer to all sorts of household things like door handles, uPVC frames etc.

And no - I have no connection with Bullet Polish or its UK supplier.   

 

I too have never been persuaded to purchase Supaguard or any other treatment on a new car so can’t comment on its application or treatment. I think it’s much better to wash regularly with a mitt, two buckets ( wash & rinse ) with grit guards and a good quality car shampoo and every 3-4 months or so wax with a good quality carnuba wax. If I’m in a hurry sometimes I’ll use Autoglym rapid Aqua wax

[simond64]

16 hours ago, Cyker said:

You should get a Supagard-branded bag with Supagard cleaning products in it, in addition to someone applying the coating.

The bag contains a registration card IIRC (I've literally never opened the bag except on the day I picked up the car  )

Mine was registered when I called them up, as my dealer never applied the coating. I spoke to a guy called Russell and they (Supagard) were very good about this and just agreed to send someone down to clean and coat the car without me having to fight them. Was a much better customer service experience than my dealer!

I got the impression they have to deal with this sort of thing a lot...

Thanks for posting your experience, supagard have agreed to reapply to my car, as you said, very good consumer service

[Swanthecat]

Unless these dealers/agents are washing the car, decontaminating the paint chemically and then by clay barring followed by machine polishing to remove marring and scratching before degreasing/panel wiping and applying the LSP then they are not doing it correctly. You may as well wash your car using the £200 pound notes and throw them away with the suds

 

[simond64]

37 minutes ago, Swanthecat said:

Unless these dealers/agents are washing the car, decontaminating the paint chemically and then by clay barring followed by machine polishing to remove marring and scratching before degreasing/panel wiping and applying the LSP then they are not doing it correctly. You may as well wash your car using the £200 pound notes and throw them away with the suds

 

For info, dealers do charge £400-£500 for supagard, that together with gap insurance and smart insurance for small scratches and dents which has lots of exclusions, some also push alloy wheel cover, so you can easily pay £2000 for these add ons

[Cyker]

Holy  that's a lot - That's nearly double what it was listed for in the brochure when I ordered mine!  

I will say Supagard is akin to a very resilient wax; Waxes generally need to be reapplied very regularly as they abrade off very easily, but Supagard and most of the 'ceramic coatings' in that bracket will last longer - Whether that's worth the extra money or not is up to the punter.

For me it's been good because I never wash the car, so it's probably still got some on it  The hydrophobic properties were long gone by the end of the first year, but it does seem to have made the car slightly more scratch resistant than my previous Yarisusesiees were, and it's noticeably (albeit not hugely) easier to e.g. remove bird poop.

I think if you was the car regularly, esp. if you use a mitt or sponge etc., the benefits are less clear cut unless the Supagard cleaning kit renews the coating (I think one of the sprays does, but as I said I've never opened the bag  )

It's not a serious ceramic coating, like those ones that are guaranteed for 5-10 years, cost £400-1400, and require you to leave the car with them for 3 days so they can deep clean the car, apply multiple coats, and give it time to cure.

(I must admit my laziness makes me tempted to try one of them to see if they're as good as they advertise, but then I think... "You idiot, it's a Toyota smegging Yaris, not a Lamborghini flipping Aventador!"   )

 

I will say, for future reference and anyone reading this in the future - DON'T get Supagard (Or any of these coatings) from a dealer; As the OP found, half the time they don't even apply it, and you can usually find a local mobile valetter to do it for considerably less than what the dealers ask for it. The guy that came down to reapply mine said if I ever want it done again, call him direct and he'd do it for £120!  

If you can get them to throw it in for free tho' then it's okay  

 

[Gray86]

On 9/14/2023 at 7:46 AM, TonyHSD said:

Two major things in similar situations: 

1. Have you seen the guys valeters working at the dealer ? Have you noticed the amount of work they has to do for a minimum wage? Drive around the forecourt and look at the car wash area and you will be amazed and most likely you will never agree to any additional car care products or application prior to new car delivery plus most likely to refuse any free car wash with your regular service. 
2. Exactly the reason why it is better not to take any supaguard or similar products applied to your car - very likely in later ownership either by mistake, or otherwise the car only needs one wrong wash and all the products applied are gone and in some cases a damage may occur. 
Take delivery of your new cars, any additional products or accessories happy to be put in the boot and then apply by yourself or book a proper valeter to do it for you on your driveway. Although a simple car wax once or twice a year will do the same job , cheaper and easier. 👌

This ^^
 

but a detailer rather than a valeter. A quality  ceramic coating is a much better solution than Supaguard, if you want a low maintenance, but durable finish. Failing that a quality wax (like Colinite. 476S) will have 6 months of durability at a fraction of the cost

[bigblock]

Supaguard from a dealer is a big no no as far as I am concerned. There are much better and cheaper ways to protect the paint these days. Good waxes do a great job and make it shine better than Supaguard anyway. Colinite is exceptional stuff and have used it in the past. My last Corolla was Tyrol Silver and I waxed it regularly. It went back to the dealer after 3 1/2 years in near showroom condition.

[twintopp]

mine came with diamond bright ceramic , seems ok, i use angel wax enigma ceramic shampoo which leaves a great hydrophobic effect. 

[Dylanfan]

I had my 2019 done and was not impressed with the contents being supplied in a cardboard box, also what was in the box.

I’d had my last Citroen Supagard’d and all the bits came in a proper case that held all the sprays upright by being clipped into the back with a plastic clip, it also had the Citroen logo on the front. The Toyota pack had less contents (no bird dropping treatment) and it cast almost £100 more.

[simond64]

17 hours ago, Dylanfan said:

I had my 2019 done and was not impressed with the contents being supplied in a cardboard box, also what was in the box.

I’d had my last Citroen Supagard’d and all the bits came in a proper case that held all the sprays upright by being clipped into the back with a plastic clip, it also had the Citroen logo on the front. The Toyota pack had less contents (no bird dropping treatment) and it cast almost £100 more.

Only one chain of dealers has the cardboard box and yes it’s poor, if you have leather seats you get no leather. 
Application done by third party, after my experience I would hire a mobile valeter to do it so you can watch it being applied and probably cheaper too

[Dylanfan]

On 10/19/2023 at 12:18 PM, simond64 said:

Only one chain of dealers has the cardboard box and yes it’s poor, if you have leather seats you get no leather. 
Application done by third party, after my experience I would hire a mobile valeter to do it so you can watch it being applied and probably cheaper too

I bought the the car from Steven Eagell Peterborough who I still use for servicing. I’m still using some of the Citroen kit 7 years on, that was a much more comprehensive kit.