Beginning my Paint Protect 365 review (with some recap from original post)

[Don M]

I broke down and thought I'd try Meguiar's Paint Protect 365, got it at Walmart for just under $8 after tax. Since this stuff was intended for the 'non-enthusiast,' I didn't do anything special to prep my car (not that it needs any prepping anyway). I just washed it and applied the PP365 to the hood, trunk lid and roof as a test.

The stuff is real oily compared to many waxes, but I feel that helped the application because it applied real smooth and thin wasn't hard to do. I let it sit between 3 - 5 minutes and started buffing it off with a clean mf cloth ... turns out you need more than a few to wipe off the panels due to all the carrier oils ... but don't try to get them all off, it ain't gonna happen and you'll just scratch your paint. The paint will look blotchy and like there are clouds in it. Just buff it decently and let it be. The oils will evaporate quickly (they did in my case, a few hours in the sun and they were gone). Instructions and tip/tricks I've heard are more than a little vague, some say wait 12 - 24 hours before getting it wet, others say wait 1 - 10 days before washing.

I'm going to split the difference and wash it this morning after work, when it will have been 3 days. I'm also going to apply it to my wife's Explorer which NEVER gets washed, just for a real torture test.

Thursday I plan on polishing the car out, then reapplying the PP365 to see how it works as a stand-alone since I already have used Ult Quik Wax and D-115 on the Camaro several times.

I'll keep you informed.

[poyo150]

Will Wait for the update 😁

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

[Don M]

I didn't get to wash it this morning as intended, but starting tomorrow, I will be doing a 2-day detail for a Cars & Coffee this weekend and I'll be able to post some comments about 365's initial performance after 4 days of "curing" without getting wet.

[The Guz]

You will be ok with the 24 hour cure time. It won't fall off the paint. Stoops mentioned that 7-10 day thing on the forum and on video to those at the Thursday Night Garage. It's meant more for those that are on forums like these. The average consumer doesn't care.

For example the first time I used it, it rained and it was on my car for 5 days. Nothing happened to it. It performed good for 4 months before I stripped it off for another product. On my dad's camaro I let it sit for 7 days before I washed it. It did perform slightly better. An average person won't know the difference.

[Don M]

You will be ok with the 24 hour cure time. It won't fall off the paint. Stoops mentioned that 7-10 day thing on the forum and on video to those at the Thursday Night Garage. It's meant more for those that are on forums like these. The average consumer doesn't care.

For example the first time I used it, it rained and it was on my car for 5 days. Nothing happened to it. It performed good for 4 months before I stripped it off for another product. On my dad's camaro I let it sit for 7 days before I washed it. It did perform slightly better. An average person won't know the difference.

I'm sure it will be fine, I'm just doing the testing for fun. I'm going to try and not use anything as a drying agent (especially my D115 since it's very good at leaving protection on the paint). That way I get some true idea of how well the PP is doing, but I suppose I could just use my wife's Explorer for that and keep using the D115 on my car

[Don M]

Well it's been about 6 days since I applied the PP365. In that week, the cars racked up almost 600 highway miles and a ton of bug guts on the front end. I have a Cars & Coffee to attend tomorrow (Sat, 2nd) as long as it doesn't rain and I planned on using today to wash & give the car a light polishing, so 1) it would look it's best and 2) have a 'clean slate' to apply the PP365.

After how many weeks of no rain, I get up bright and early this morning to start, and you guessed it, it's raining. I did look the car over during the rain, and despite being 'filthy,' the water was beading up and running off the hood and roof like it had been freshly waxed. Not bad since my horizontal panels only have a slight downward curve near the edges. The vertical panels which have in recent weeks only had UWWA and D115 applied to them was at least equaling the performance of the PP365, BUT they had a better gravity advantage too.

After about an hour, it stopped raining long enough for me to wash & rinse the car, but not dry it. During the wash & rinse, I tested several different spray patterns, from gentle rain, to full-force stream. It didn't matter which it was the water would tighten up and bead off the surface, there was very little, if any sheeting that I could see on the horizontal panels and there was absolutely no sheeting on the verticals, just beads.

By the end of the wash, I couldn't find any clear difference between the D115 panels and the PP365 panels. So does that mean that PP365 is only as good as a spray on wash & wax, or does it mean that D115 is as good as PP365?

Looks like I'm going to have to NOT coat an area with the PP365 and only use D115 on it to see how they match up ... maybe it will be 1/2 the roof or hood.

To Be Continued ...

[Eldorado2k]

By the end of the wash, I couldn't find any clear difference between the D115 panels and the PP365 panels. So does that mean that PP365 is only as good as a spray on wash & wax, or does it mean that D115 is as good as PP365?

Nope, that doesn't mean the protection left behind by D115 is as good as the 365.. Sure it'll initially look comparable, but so will just about everything on its 1st day, but it's the ability to maintain that same protection over a longer period that will set them apart.

Take D156 for example, it's beading during the sort term is very respectable, but how durable is it on its own? Well take a look at this 50/50 and you can get a good idea how long it'll last in comparison to a full coat of sealant. I took this picture 1 day after applying to the hood.



It's like a paper champ vs. a real heavyweight.

[Don M]

I also found that when I applied the PP365 to the horizontal surfaces, I was using WAY too much. What I thought was good enough for one panel was actually enough product for TWO PANELS. This stuff spreads THIN!!!! Seeing how I have a black car, it shows every little bit of whatever's on it, so even though it doesn't LOOK like I'm applying anything, move to the right angle and you can clearly see the layer of PP365 being applied.

Since I discovered this, my removal of the residue on the side panels went much easier than on the horizontal surfaces either that or the smears just weren't as easy to see on the vertical panels.

[07gtcs]

I won some of this at a car show. used it on 1/2 the hood on my daily, rained a couple days later. I didn't see any difference in beading or sheeting. Now we'll see if I can keep my hands off it long enough to see if it lasts longer than a month.

[Don M]

It's closing on two weeks that the Paint Protect 365 has been on the car with the only wash being a rinse-less wash with D115 last Friday. It has since been sprinkled on, driven over 500 miles highway sat under a tree every night (day) and today a bird decided to leave me a present on the 'C' pillar ... it almost didn't stick, you could see where the bird #### had hit the car and started to bead up and run off, leaving a 3" trail before coming to a stop. I found this tonight after getting up for work, so it had all day to bake into the paint. Once at work, I parked under a sodium vapor light and hit the poop with some D115, gave it a few seconds to soak in and soften the mess, then wiped it off with a microfiber (that went straight into the "dirty cloth bag"). After examining the area, I could not find any traces of poo damage.

Of course now I have a clean spot and will have to wash the car in the morning to even things out.