Simoniz GlassCoat

seaduk

I just bought a 2011 Outback Wagon. I am trying to decide whether to get the Simoniz GlassCoat paint, carpet, fabric & leather protection plan. Are these necessary, and do they protect the car? Thanks, Charlie

Triedaq

I would bet that a Simoniz GlassCoat is nothing more than a wax job. You can buy a can of auto wax at WalMart for under $10, but this price doesn't include installation. You can "install" a wax job with an afternoon's worth of work. You can also purchase fabric sprays for about $10 bucks that probably do the same thing as what the dealer wants to sell you. These are real profit makers for the dealer. I would take a pass.

texases

Yep, if this is something offered by the dealer it's worth about 10% of the asking price. How much do they want to charge you?

VDCdriver

Yup!
This is just massively overpriced car wax and fabric protectant, both of which you can apply to the appropriate areas of the car for a small fraction of what the dealer wants to charge you.

A good general rule of thumb is to reject ALL extras that the dealer offers you after you have negotiated the purchase price of the car. This is their way of making the good deal that you have negotiated into a really good deal for them.

Don't be a sucker!

ok4450

Agreed with everyone these products are profit generators and are not needed. Ask the salesman why a 2011 Subaru is manufactured with inferior paint, carpet, fabric, and leather and listen to him stumble through the answer.

Back when I worked for Nissan, on several occasions on a late Friday afternoon sometimes the sales dept. had some cars to be delivered to customers on Saturday and the detail guy was swamped. They paid us mechanics to "install" paint protectant and this job was a voluntary deal. We did not even have to do it at all but it was a snap to do; a.k.a. easy money with no brain power involved.

This paint protectant was nothing more than a very thin wax that was easily rubbed on and wiped off. I could do an entire car by myself in 20 minutes tops.
What was unsaid was that after one trip through a high pressure car wash the paint protectant, assuming that it had not been washed off by rain already, was going down the drain at the car wash.

lion9car

It's worth about $20. Are they charging you more than that?

seaduk

They charge $500. I'll pass. Looks like I'll pass. Thanks for the comments.

bscar

When I bought my Mazda they handed me a sheet of paper that showed all the various items they offered for $995 on up. About the only thing that looked worth while on ANY of their "packages" was LoJack, but I know of atleast one place here in town that installs it(or used to anyways) and it'd be cheaper than letting the dealership install it.
Thankfully they asked only once, then put it away when I said no.

10sub54

Reading through the replies below it's quite obvious there are some pretty ignorant people offering you advice. IF they knew anything about paint these days they would know that the chemical properties have changed considerably to be more 'earth friendly' and the downfall is the paint durability is terrible. To say that Glasscoat is nothing more than "wax" is proof of stupidity. Do some research on your part. God knows that over the years there have been glorified waxes pushed off on consumers as paint protection, but I think you'll find this is a product that is actually worth it's cost (assuming the dealer isn't ripping your eyeballs out, I'd say somewhere in the $600 area sounds reasonable for the WARRANTY that Simoniz is giving you). This isn't a fly by night company selling hype. Check it out. After my research I will definitely protect my next new vehicle (my wife buys the Sub's and I buy the Ford's). You guys should be ashamed for shooting from the hip when someone is asking for GOOD advice.

texases

All the above advice, except yours, is excellent. Modern paints are quite durable, I don't see any evidence to the contrary. We're not saying it's worthless, just worth no more than any wax job you can get. $600 is OUTRAGEOUS.

We will eagerly await links to any independent tests that support your claims.

AL5000

Whether it is worth $600 is a value judgement. The product does work, it is NOT a wax but a permanent glass resin. It leaves a beautiful shine, which does not wear off, and is unaffected by some of the bigger offenders such as bird droppings. Comparison to a typical wax job is just silly.