Problems with Zurich Paint Shield

[Backspin9]

When I bought my Red Rock Metallic 1LT/RS a month ago I was given a pretty hard sell on purchasing the Zurich Paint Shield. I'm normally not gullible to these kinds of things but it was a slick presentation, complete with video, and I was told the car would never need waxing. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I fell for it and forked over the $800+ for the exterior and interior protection package.

Fast forward one month. I have washed the car a few times, by hand and in a touchless car wash. It has been cold here and doing it by hand is kind if difficult. It has always been dried with a new microfiber towel. Yesterday I noticed that there were what appeared to be scratches in the finish. They were not in the paint, but rather what looked like swirl marks in the teflon coating. Imagine an oil-like finish that didn't dry. It's like the coating is just getting smeared around. Needless to say, the car looks awful and I am not happy about it.

So this morning I wrote a scathing email to Zurich. Told them their product was junk, poorly applied, and not worth what it cost. Their reply was that they are "sorry for the inconvenience" and will talk to the dealer to resolve the issue.

At this point I am ready to cut my losses and have a professional detail shop take care of this; someone I know and someone I trust. Even though Zurich has offered to fix it I am very hesitant to have it redone, especially if it's the same idiots doing it. I don't trust it would be any better.

Do I take it to my guy to get it looking like it's supposed to or go through the BS of dealing with the Zurich crap again?

[LStick]

Put "Zurich Paint Shield Complaints" in a Google search and see what appears.

Your next move will be obvious.

[charlietuna]

I doubt the marks in your paint are related to the coating. Most dealers that sell this stuff rarely clay and polish prior to applying any coating( if you could call the dealer stuff a coating). The swirls are typically masked by fillers or a glaze like product then they send it out and it looks great until you start to wash it and dry it then the paints condition is revealed. What you purchased was a warranty. That's it. Regardless any paint coating needs the proper care especially when washing and drying to minimize scratching it.

[Backspin9]

I got a call yesterday from the guy with Zurich. They want to make this right and have offered to send some new product to whoever I want and Zurich will pay them to strip the old stuff off and re-apply it.

The guy I use does a lot of high-end cars (Lambo, Ferrari, etc) and is the best guy around here, but I'm not sure he'd want to take something like this on having never worked with that product. I can't imagine, though, that it's too much different than anything else. I absolutely refused to take it back to the dealer to have them re-do the car.

While it's a nice Zurich made that offer, I'm still hesitant to take them up on it. It's hard to say if it's the product itself, they way it was applied, or both. I don't want to re-do the car and have it end up the same way it is now. I'm going to take it over the my guy and see what he says and take it from there.

[el ess A]

Why didn't you go to the guy you use in the first place? Just wondering. Most things that are too good to be true usually are. Coatings, etc., are usually not that bad in and of themselves, but the key is the prep and application of said coatings.

For example, I could screw up a perfectly good 3M clear bra pretty easy because I'm not good at applying one, so I leave things like that to the pros.

[Backspin9]

No doubt I should've used my own guy. But I fell for the dealer's sales pitch. It was a mistake and I admit it. And the thing is, I know better.

[Backspin9]

No doubt I should've used my own guy. But I fell for the dealer's sales pitch. It was a mistake and I admit it. And the thing is, I know better.

[el ess A]

Windshield Diamon-Fusion technology patent. Hmmm. So I looked it up.

6,245,387, Re. S.N. 10/449,410, May 30, 2003, Cl.
427/341, CAPPED SILICONE FILM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF, Don
Hayden, Owner of Record: Diamon-Fusion International, Inc., San
Juan Capistrano, CA, Attorney or Agent: Richard L. Myers, Ex. Gp.:
1762

Here's a link to the windshield film patent info.

https://docs.google.com/a/ktmine.com.../US6245387.pdf

It seems like a higher end silicone coating for glass that's already in use. But I didn't see anything about making glass stronger. The patent basically "caps" the hydroxyl ion that is attached to the end of the silicone string to make it more water resistant. Un-capped OH actually ATTRACTS water, so it sort of would defeat the purpose of the silicone string.

Interestingly, the "brochure" they give to dealers has some troubling words in it on why it is good for your business that screams "snake oil" to me (I highlighted in bold and red):

Improved sales fi gures –

Low cost product

with a high profi t margin.

•

Increased product penetration – High

perceived value by customers.

•

Expanded product offering – New

windshield protection product added

to your F&I portfolio.

•

Training and support – Professional F&I

training and support for service department

and sales staff.

•

Marketing support – Program specifi cally

designed for use in the F&I offi ce and

service department.

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

Originally Posted by charlietuna

I doubt the marks in your paint are related to the coating. Most dealers that sell this stuff rarely clay and polish prior to applying any coating( if you could call the dealer stuff a coating). The swirls are typically masked by fillers or a glaze like product then they send it out and it looks great until you start to wash it and dry it then the paints condition is revealed. What you purchased was a warranty. That's it. Regardless any paint coating needs the proper care especially when washing and drying to minimize scratching it.

+1 The glaze is coming off

[charlietuna]

Originally Posted by Backspin9

I got a call yesterday from the guy with Zurich. They want to make this right and have offered to send some new product to whoever I want and Zurich will pay them to strip the old stuff off and re-apply it.

The guy I use does a lot of high-end cars (Lambo, Ferrari, etc) and is the best guy around here, but I'm not sure he'd want to take something like this on having never worked with that product. I can't imagine, though, that it's too much different than anything else. I absolutely refused to take it back to the dealer to have them re-do the car.

While it's a nice Zurich made that offer, I'm still hesitant to take them up on it. It's hard to say if it's the product itself, they way it was applied, or both. I don't want to re-do the car and have it end up the same way it is now. I'm going to take it over the my guy and see what he says and take it from there.

Go get an estimate from your trusted detailer and make sure he writes it up so you can submit it to Zurich for approval. Do not begin the work until you or your detailer have a check in hand. Zurich shield like many dealer offered paint sealants can be layered with other products such as wax or polymer quick detailers. So once you have the paint properly corrected and the Zurich shield applied, learn how to properly wash and maintain the surface to that the paints condition will always look it's best to you. Remember no coating or paint sealant is bullet proof each of them need care to prevent swirls and other imperfections and Zurich, like many other companies that market paint protection, have recommendations on how to maintain their product.

If I may ask? Where did you purchase your car? Which detailer are you considering to correct and detail your car? I may be able to help.

Hang in there we all know that these cars are our passion and hate it when things don't go as planned. The good news is anything can be corrected.

Ct

[Backspin9]

Thanks. PM sent.

I'll be on vacation next week but when I get back I have an appointment with my detail guy to go over all of this, what the options are, and see what he recommends.

As for "proper" washing, in the month I've had it I've either done it by hand or used a touch-free laser wash (when it was too cold). Dried it with a new, clean microfiber towel. I'm not sure how much gentler it could have been cleaned. It's never seen an automatic wash or had anyone else lay a hand on it.

[anmol77]

At this point I am ready to cut my losses and have a professional detail shop take care of this; someone I know and someone I trust. Even though Zurich has offered to fix it I am very hesitant to have it redone, especially if it's the same idiots doing it. I don't trust it would be any better.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by anmol77

At this point I am ready to cut my losses and have a professional detail shop take care of this; someone I know and someone I trust. Even though Zurich has offered to fix it I am very hesitant to have it redone, especially if it's the same idiots doing it. I don't trust it would be any better.

There was no update before your post...One may gather the problem was solved with Zurich...let them try to make it right...the original post is over a year old