STiLtd

I bought a black 4-month-old-but-essentially-new STi Limited last September. Absolutely LOVE the car - understated but "purposeful"! The dealer "did" the Diamondbrite treatment for me. In fact, they did it twice as I wasn't too impressed with the first application.

I was under the impression (wrongly?) that it should have helped prevent swirls and light scratches.

Now, some 6 months on - and having followed the instructions to the letter - the car looks so similar to.......

https://www.scoobynet.com/car-care-3...ship-prep.html

Has anyone else had any experience with the Diamondbrite process? Am I missing a trick to the treatment or am I looking at a long detailing job to "take it all off" and start again?

I'd LOVE to get up to Polished Bliss, but being down near London, they're not exactly local! Fantastic company! Maybe they need to start an outlet down south!

I've been reading LOTS of posts in here with regard detailing, and I don't mind spending a couple of days every 6 months along with the weekly (or fortnightly) wash if that's what it's going to take to get things "right"!

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Rich @ PB

iTrader: (3)

Okay, starting from the top, Diamond Brite (and all other so called long-life treatments) are simply good quality synthetic sealants that coat the paint in a polymerised layer of protection. This protects against UV degradation and the effects of contaminants like birds crap and insect remains, but offers no protection against physical abrasion. Swirls, scratches, marring, etc, are all forms of physical damage that penetrate down into the paint. The only way to protect paint against physial damage is to have paint films applied from the outset (seen the ads for Venture Shield in Evo?), but these have their downsides too, mainly in the form of making paint look awful and costing an arm and a leg. So, where does this leave us?

Two things make for awesome car care results. Good products, and good techniques. Your have an okay product, but clearly the initial prep and/or your routine is letting everything down. If the car looks like the one we tackled in the above link, then it is going to need to be corrected in order to restore a perfect finish. A day or two spent carefully machine polishing the paint will remove sub-surface defects and leave a perfect finish ready for protection. If Diamond Brite is applied well it would sit over the top and look fine enough, but in all honesty you could do just as well with products that will deliver nearly as much protection and a far superior finish for as little as 10% of the cost. I forked out for a long-life treatment when I bought my Leon from new six years ago, and so disappointed was I that it set in motion the chain of events that led to Polished Bliss being formed. Such treatments are merely a way of dealers making more profit - nothing more.

If you are based down south, there are numerous decent detailers around who would be able to restore your paint to a high standard, ready for you to then take over and care for it. If you want to run over a recommended care plan then please drop me an e-mail via our website and I'll fire you back a set of ideas, plus a few ideas for detailers to consider.

STiLtd

Yup...I'll agree with the protection side of things! *sigh* So many birds, so much poo! Maybe if we get a summer this year, I'll be able to see how good it is at protecting against the insects! I'll stick with it (the Diamondbrite) a few more months, simply because at the moment I'll struggle to find the 2 or 3 days needed to "do a proper job". However, I'll take lots of photos showing what it's like now, and what a bit of hard work (and fantastic advice from Polished Bliss) can achieve!

As you've proven many times on this site, your answers are great and extremely helpful. Many many thanks!

I'll mail you soon with some questions as soon as work settles down a little. Not that you guys are exactly quiet it seems by reading the news on your website!

Congratulations on doing so well, and if you think that you need a "Polished Bliss - Southern Division", I could always think about a career change!

Rich @ PB

iTrader: (3)

You never know...