After clocking up 10,000 miles on the A500, i gave it a thorough wash, wax etc which gave me the opportunity to inspect the paintwork. I was surprised to see the the plastic areas i.e. front/rear bumpers, side skirts are showing excessive signs of paint damage on a car that is only 10 months old. The combination of small car with big wheels and thin paint on soft plastic is not ideal, especially if the local council are a fan of the kind of roads where you do most of the work i.e. they throw the chippings on the tar, and you have to press them in 

Anyway, it's a bit late now, but if i were buying new again, i would definitely consider Paintshield to prevent this from happening again, assuming that is, Paintshield can prevent this damage, which i'm sure they can! I may even have to respray certain sections before i sell the car in the future. I used tar remover to get rid of all the tar before taking these pictures (i wish it was tar  ) Here are the pics:








As you can see, the worst affected area are the side skirts where stones are thrown from the tyres and bounce along. The front bumper is ok to be fair, front stone chips tend to come from stones thrown up by cars in front and as there are hardly any cars around here, this has never been an issue (except the only time it happened to me, resulted in a replacement windscreen!) It probably won't annoy most of you, only those true perfectionists! As you can see, she still polishes up ok on the topside!

To me, Paintshield is a bit like leaving the plastic on your sofa or the protective film on your phone - why put up with the nuisance (or expense) of an extra for the next owner's benefit?

And bugger the underneath.

That's a bit nasty DF, not meaning to rub it in but I've gone to paintshield & had the work done, well worth it in my case. I go down some narrow roads where my previous car looked like I'd washed it with sand paper due to bushes & branches, & within a couple of months i'd expect the same look of my 500 (hence my dayglo tape photos as i've had the entire left hand side done).
I'd say paintshield is more like putting a screen protector on ya phone, saves it from silly scratches & means that it'll look good from day one & I'm intending on keeping this car for quite a while, so the better it looks later the better.

To me, Paintshield is a bit like leaving the plastic on your sofa or the protective film on your phone - why put up with the nuisance (or expense) of an extra for the next owner's benefit?

And bugger the underneath.

Totally agree and well said, i thought it was just me!!  I struggle to understand why anyone would bother to get this done, it's only a car..... use it and abuse it (then get rid of it  )

Quote from: Hawk on December 06, 2009, 10:21:01 PM

Quote from: needsmust on November 30, 2009, 01:44:40 AM

To me, Paintshield is a bit like leaving the plastic on your sofa or the protective film on your phone - why put up with the nuisance (or expense) of an extra for the next owner's benefit?

I struggle to understand why anyone would bother to get this done, it's only a car..... use it and abuse it (then get rid of it  )

"Plastic on sofa" - good comparison (not).
"nuisance" - why?
"use it and abuse it" - mmmm, good idea.

Calm down dear . . . . . . . .  it's only a car 

Yeah, the nuisance link to the green clad A500 - quite funny     you could say is a bit OTT and paranoid but I got one stone chip on the lower front on the way to Paintshield (100 miles, on that ratio, I'd have 30 by now but still only have the one).
Expense wise - If you've got the budget and don't mind spending it then all well and good.
And use it, Hammer the sh*t out of it (when it's safe) and then give it a nice clean and maintain it well.

I've got a CLK that I run through a car wash once a month (if it's lucky), a Golf that I clean as most cars are cleaned and my Abarth that I do the full works to 

A car is just a car but it can be a bit more. Maybe an inheritance spend, a pat on the back to yourself for success (career, saving etc), a wish to buy and care for a car from new or whatever.

i wonder what happens when a Paintshielded car has a prang (like me). Would the insurance pay for a new covering, or is the money lost?

this raises a point, i guess you will have to declare paintshield to your insurance company as its going to make a difference to the repair costs of your car