Car Wax / Ceramic coating

[Canuck]

I had a new 1999 Tahoe that I think had rough paint, nothing I did would keep a shine. After 18 months I had my restoration guy wet sand and polish. It made a big difference.

[Unreal]

Bought the car 2 years old with 7,000 miles. It's black with matt black stripes, so it shows everything. I think it was left outside in the Ft. Lauderdale heat when driven by the Sixt CEO, and had lots of microscratches, I suspect because he ran it through the Sixt car wash frequently.

Cost $7K including paint correction, PPF, and two ceramic coats, baked with heat lamps in between coats. The PPF is "self healing" and they have a sample which they scratch up with a wire brush, and put it in the sun. The scratches disappear within just a few minutes. The PPF has a 10 year warranty, and they recommend re-coating the ceramic every 3-5 years.

They removed the vinyl hood/deck lid stripes, applied the gloss PPF, over everything, and then applied matt PPF for the stripes. They left the lower side stripes, and "Shelby GT-S" graphics, and terminated the PPF at the edge of the stripes.

They removed all badges to apply the PPF, and it was carried around all edges. The material is pretty pliable, but hey made relief cuts in the corners, and used heat guns in some areas. In a couple of places, the edge has lifted, but they have willingly fixed them. I don't know how they did it, but the ones they fixed have not re-lifted. All in all, I'm happy with the results.

Expensive, yes, but since I drive the car, (albeit, only 1000 miles per year) I like the protection it provides, and the ease of keeping it clean and pretty. (If you ever dare to call a 760HP muscle car "Pretty.")

[Salvatore]

Love the Chemical Guys products and always have Turtle Wax products on hand also. Alot of good products out there these days. I am lazy so I like the easiest, most efficient stuff to use.

[Unreal]

On the insurance issue, I had a problem getting proper insurance on my Shelby. My regular insurance (State Farm) would only insure it as a Mustang GT, based on its VIN. My agent knew it was a Shelby, and went to bat, but their underwriters didn't care.

I ended up contacting Haggerty, as I had my Camaro insured with them for 30 years. It took a little effort, because they don't normally insure late model cars, but they finally agreed to insure it at it's full value. When I added the PPF, I called and they upped the agreed value. Not sure that would work with regular insurance. Plus, they depreciate it.