Paint work protection systems for caravans

[James3]

Has anyone tried any of the paintwork protection systems on their vans. Can they be put on used vans or can they only be applied to new vans.
Number of systems on the market for cars such as Autoglym Life Shine; G3 systems; Willaims Formula 1 etc.
Any info would be useful

 

[forestgump]

paint seal cost about £350 for van adria offer this i just wash and wax regular and keep on top it is easy to keep up once you get it clean.

 

[readcaravans]

certainly as regards paint seal, this should only really be applied to new caravans. i cannot comment on any other products because we only deal with paint seal

 

[PaulAsserati]

Long life paint sealing is a great way to make future cleaning far easier, plus some protect against the suns UV rays which is one of the main problems in the industry.
We seal new and old caravans but the older ones are a lot more work. Each job should take around a full day to finish correctly in our opinion. When sealing an older caravan, we have to go around the full van with a UV light and mark all the paint defects like bird lime defects, scuffs and awning pad marks. These areas then have to be corrected with a machine mop and specialist compounds. We would also never seal a caravan that had any dull faded panels. These would also have to be restored again with the machine mop. Once the paint is perfect, then it's fine to fully seal the caravan. I will add the same methods are used on new caravans because they are not immune to defects in the paint finish. We always say that 80% of the working job is the prep and 20% is the sealing work. I am a big fan of these products and we ran a 12 month test before we started using them. Myself and all my guys who own caravans have all used this treatment on our own caravans and we are impressed with the results.

 

[Wayne_5133334]

Just had my new Sterling Solitaire SB, 2011 done with G Techniq. Not cheap at £500 but after looking at all at Birmingham Show felt they offered the best. It is totally differant treatment/chemicals to the rest. Worth a look Drew on 07989 417710
Wayne

 

[limecc]

Check out a forum the professionals use namely http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.php
I found an excellent review there where good old Autoglym Super Resin Polish topped off with Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection sealer outperformed the well regarded SupaGard treatment that has the 5yr claim!

Here's an excellent site extolling the virtues of the expensive sealers like G Techniq, DiamondBrite and Supagard: http://www.clean-image.co.uk/paintsealant/index.htm

For me though it's Autoglym! Autoglym's SRP is non abrasive which is important as the paint is thinner compared to that on a car. The top coat EGP is thin like water and doesn't need to be worked in. After it's cured you just dust it off.

 

[Surfer]

Total waste of money at rip off prices! This has been proved over and over again. Just look on any car forum. Best is to buy one of the polishes recommended by PC i.e. Mother's or Autoglym and do it yourself at a fraction of the price. Worked for us for about 5 years befroe we had to give it another coat. Cost less than £10 a coat with some hard labour thrown in!

 

[xtrailman]

Has anyone tried any of the paintwork protection systems on their vans. Can they be put on used vans or can they only be applied to new vans.
Number of systems on the market for cars such as Autoglym Life Shine; G3 systems; Willaims Formula 1 etc.
Any info would be useful

I have never polished a caravan, just use a wax based car wash.

At 6 years old the van looks good, and has no paint problems.
Once had the treatment on a new car, never again, the paint was permanently mark by the industrial "fall out" where i worked, and that was in the first year.

If you must just use a good polish.

 

[limecc]

Total waste of money at rip off prices! This has been proved over and over again. Just look on any car forum. Best is to buy one of the polishes recommended by PC i.e. Mother's or Autoglym and do it yourself at a fraction of the price. Worked for us for about 5 years befroe we had to give it another coat. Cost less than £10 a coat with some hard labour thrown in!

Agreed. The Detailingworld forum doesn't hold these products in very high regard, and the only people who do are those that are generating revenue from them. Bear in mind that the high prices reflect the labour going into the correction or preparation, eg claying by hand and machine polishing, and the product itself is not the major cost. You have no way of telling how much care and effort is going to go into the work on your pride and joy though. At the end of the day it's comes down to the integrity of the one doing the work, not the glitz and spiel of the company he's working for.

The best way is to get yourself a half decent polisher where the speed can slow right down, and keep on applying a decent product several times a year. You could get away with just topping up the Autoglym EGP sealer I think as this is the sacrificial layer.

I've tried Supagard myself and it's acceptable for the price you pay on Ebay. The Clean-Image website will have you believe it's all fake there, but inside every £5 sponge I've had, the product has been genuine and sealed. They are available for sale as many valeters keep one back for themselves, and make the other one go further on the customer's car. Bear this in mind if contemplating spending the £500 or more on your van.