KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — A car is probably the next biggest commitment a person makes after a house purchase. With costs of living going up, and inflation overtaking the rate of salary increase, we begin to see people keeping their cars longer. What used to be a five-year span now can extend up to 10 years or more.
Mechanically, car engines and drive trains are more durable than they used to be, and it makes perfect sense today to hold on to a car, but will your car still look as good?
Environmental considerations now demand that car manufacturers have to use water-based paints, which, while being environmentally safe, are prone to rapid oxidization and fading. If we are going to keep our cars longer, then shouldn’t we be looking at ways to maintain the paintwork?
There are many companies out there who profess that they have the best paint protection, starting from the friendly auto-detailers who will polish and wax your car every two months or so for a contract period, to the one-time “coating” applications that promise an eternal shine.
I would stay away from those who will polish and wax your car periodically. When you “polish” your car, it means removing a thin layer of oxidized paint to expose the new paint below so that your paintwork shines, and putting a layer of wax on top of it to “protect” the exposed layer.
The wax will wash off as your car gets exposed to rain, and every time you wash your car, some of it also gets removed.
The problem with wax is that you never know exactly when some part of your paintwork is exposed to the elements, and inevitably, you will need to polish it again, which means yet another layer of paint removed.
There will come a time when the paint wears down to the base coat, and you have to do a re-spray, which is costly.
Besides, I don’t relish the thought of being tied down to an unproductive schedule of having to visit the auto detailer every few days for a wash and wax. We all have more important things to do in life, right?
There are also many so called “high-end” coating products that promote “coatings” that are supposed to completely encase your paintwork in an invisible “plastic” cover, or other coatings that are supposed to protect your paint.
My problem with them is not that I have doubts about their product, but rather the cost.
Being a car buff myself, I also want my car to look good for as long as possible, and I think the answer is to preserve the original coat of paint for as long as possible, with as little hassle as possible, and at the most economical cost as possible.
DiamondBrite paint protection by Paintshield Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd appears to be the best option. For RM1,388, you can get full paint protection, and never have to polish or wax your car again.
I have DiamondBrite-protected four of my cars since 2006.
DiamondBrite is a product of JewelUltra, which Paintshield imports from the UK. It offers a protective layer that bonds itself to the paintwork, providing a “sacrificial” layer that will take the brunt of any acid attack (from bird droppings, acid rain, insect impact), give your car a perpetual shine, and also make it easy to wash off road grime.
Essentially, DiamondBrite is made from special rock oils, and uses a two-stage chemical process to bond itself to your car paintwork.
Applying the Diamondbrite is relatively simple, but for lifetime guarantee, it has to be done by the company.
Stage one, done after the car has been washed, is applied with a soft sponge.
Stage one goes into the paint and fills up all the tiny uneven surfaces of the paint that would trap road grime.
After 40 minute, when the first layer dry, stage two is applied on top of stage one. The second layer chemically bonds with the first layer to form a strong but microscopic layer on top of the paint.
After another 40 minutes, followed by light buffing to bring out the shine, the job is done.
There is one small catch. After the initial protection from DiamondBrite, you will be given a small bottle of “Conserver”, which is a diluted form of stage two.
This is to be applied as a rinse to the car after washing, at least once a month, to continually build up the protective layer over time.
Should you have a fender-bender moment, and have to repaint any part of the car, just send your car back to Paintshield for a re-treatment of the repainted part.
DiamondBrite comes with a lifetime waranty.
