This subject can be worse than discussing politics or religion.
Others will disagree and jump up and down, but the simple fact is marketing is a very powerful tool and many people believe what they read and take it as gospel. If you were to take some time and find out factual information from a paint expert you will find that there is no such thing as a magic coating for your exterior clear coat paint. If you want it to appear polished, wax it a couple times a year. There's just no such thing. Remember a few years ago all the rage was to use products on your car that replenish the natural oils in the paint? That's laughable. If these oils (there aren't any) can dissipate and be replenished then the clear coat is no good. Now everyone wants to "seal" a clear coat that is already sealed. If it isn't sealed, then the clearcoat is bad.
There is already corrosion protection on your vehicle body panels, no need to Ziebart. Once the Ziebart undercoating gets old it cracks. Stuff gets in the cracks, and exacerbates any corrosion. These products just make people feel good and placebo takes over. That's my thoughts, you can do your own research and find out for yourself.
You can buy some scotch guard and leather conditioner for your seats at walmart and save a bunch of money.
I'll agree with this for the most part. Marketing is indeed a huge tool. I wrote the following on a prior thread regarding ceramic coatings:
One thing to keep in mind is what it isn't. It will not save you from hard dings or more serious scratches. Even the pros version normally offers around 9H scratch resistance, which is the same as a glass tempered screen protector on my phone. I'm easy on my phone, but it has scratches on that protector. Chemical etching can still occur. It'll definitely add a layer of protection to your clear coat and a sacrificial coat sort to speak (same reason I have the glass on my phone). So it is definitely nice, but beware of some marketing hype out there.
It will certainly allow for your car to sheet rain more easily, but you will still have to care for it properly to ensure longevity. Again, you will have a little more leeway here with a professional version compared to consumer grade ceramics or plain sealants. You might not need to be a two bucket grit guards and boar brush fanatic like myself, but you can't just let the salt and crud sit for months on end. It's a fine product, but not a miracle.
The nice thing about a properly prepped and sealed vehicle (commercial or consumer grade) is it makes keeping it that way so much easier. You can see from the pictures posted in this thread how beautiful a properly corrected and detailed truck looks. Once the hard work has been done, you can start to finish wash and dry in less than 30 minutes. That includes the two bucket wash, dryer (I use a leaf blower that only is used on my cars), and a booster gloss/sealant/wax depending on what my base layers are.
If you want to obsess over products to keep your truck looking better than it looked on the lot, check out some detailing forums like Auto geek. I've spent an incredible amount of money there since I bought my Camry five years ago. Lol, sexy family sedan, coming through!
I'm personally going to add a Cquart UK 3.0 coating to me truck when it arrives. But since I'm doing it, it will cost me about 100 dollars total. It will last 2 years and I'll do it again. I'll add to that one small comment on the scotchguard. I personally think there are better consumer level productions available. Check out 303 Fabric Guard for example. I just purchased 303 Leather cleaner and conditioner as well, but there are plenty of good brands on that front.
Very handy.
