I've read the other posts on the subject but haven't seen complete answer.
What specifically does the dealer try to sell a customer during the car purchase regarding the pain sealant? Is this the 3M sealant that gets applied to the entire car? or just selected parts of the car, such as the bumper and areas that rocks would potentially damage? Is it true that once this applied its impossible to get a similar Zaino shine? Can others speak more about this.
I'm about to make that dealer trip and want to get more knowledge or read about what exactly this is before discounting it. Is this a thin polymer tape that is applied, etc..?

 

I bought the "sealer" and it was applied to my vehicle. It is called "The Protector" and has a picture of a knight on the bottle (they left it in my center console). It did a fairly good job of keeping the car easy to clean, but it seemed to have worn off by September and they put it on in April. They swear it's good for five years, but for the money, skip it!

 

Don't buy the sealer from the stealer. Save your money. It's not a tape.

 

There are 2 completely different things.

1. 3M film. This is a very thin plastic film that gets applied to the body in key places. It is intended to protect against stone chips, sand blasting & scratches. Once the film is on there is nothing you can do to improve the shine. Although you will need to clean it to keep it looking nice (remove bonded contamenents).

2. Paint sealant or polymer sealant, Dupont, Simonize, etc. This is a dealer profit scam. There is nothing different about these sealants than what you can buy on line or at your local auto parts store. The dealerer is trying to get you to pay $500 for a wax job.

Although they will "guarantee" the sealant for 3 years, if you read the fine print it will usually say that the "sealant" has to be re-applied every year (just like the wax you buy at Wal-Mart for $10). I bought a car from dealer stock that had "Dupont Paint Sealant" on it with a dealer price of $800. I told the dealer forget it, I'm not buying. He knocked off the $800 and gave it to me for free, which just goes to show you what the real value of the dealer applied paint sealant is - ZERO. And BTW, for the $800 the dealer wanted, their sealant was only applied to the hood, roof and trunk. There was not a bit of it on the doors or fenders.

 

I'm not sure exactly what it is but we sell it for something like $300. It does look great, like a Zaino job. I of course just go in the back and put it on my car for free