What's Protecting a Brand New Car's Finish?

[cfd135]

I'm in my fourth year detailing for hire part time, and have been doing my own for over 15 years. This year for the first time I have had a brand new vehicle come into the shop, as a matter of fact three of them. All 2010's, none with more than 3,000 miles on the clock. While certainly not needing any correction work, they were all in need of some light polishing and claying.
My question is - what type of protection is on a new car? I'm thinking if anything it would be whatever the dealership applies. This would vary from dealer to dealer, again if they do anything at all. None of the jobs I did appeared to have anything on the surface.

[mswerb]

I worked as a detailer at dealerships for close to 7 years, and there is nothing applied to a new car. Although it does vary by dealership, but in my area there is nothing applied to a new car. Some dealerships may apply a quick and cheap coat of wax at the time of delivery. Most cars arrive at the dealeship with some type of plastic covering on the vehicle which is usually left on until the vehicle is sold.

[ScottB]

Clearcoat .... all waxes and sealants are a very small layer of additional protection.

[HiDefDetailer]

That's a great question! I had three clients come to my shop this week, all with 2010 cars that they just rolled off the dealer lot. And they all assumed that their cars came with some type of super protection from the factory or the dealership. They were shocked when I explained to them that their cars were protected by nothing more than Glaze.

I have some experience in this area because I worked in the Paint Section of the GM Plant years back and we never put anything on the cars other than polish and glaze after they rolled off the line which were used only for scratch correction or to fill scratches that occurred during the assembly process.

Years later, I worked for a major advertising agency for GM and I regularly visited the dealerships to promote and educate the sales staff on the new car releases. I would stop by their detail shops as they did make readys, and the only thing they did was wash, dress tires and vacuum interiors. That's it.

I tell all my new car customers that story and 9 out of 10 end up going with our premium paint sealant applications. Did three new cars and one older car last week.

The first stop the new car customer should make after leaving the dealership is to your detail shop to get both Interior and Exterior protection for their investment.

[Larry A]

Dealers dont wax many new cars . I work for a Toyota dealership, and only black cars get waxed. It depends on how they look, if they need it they get it , if not they dont. Cars put in the showroom do get waxed.