How do I know if my car's had Star Guard?

[C43AMG]

When i bought the W 220 which was new i had the Starguard put on £300 i think,a complete waist of time.

 

[evdok]

My uncle bought an RS6 from new, when he went to pick it up he ran his hand along the wing & noticed it wasn't as smooth as it should have been lets just say it went straight back to the cleaning bay for a re polish.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

I had my last car (a Renault) done with the official treatment, G3 Glasscoat, same sort of stuff as the one Mercedes offers. Cost me £300! I am a disabled driver (Motability) and this seemed a good idea at the time to keep it looking good.

A couple of months later I took it down to southern Spain and back.
It was very noticeable all the bug splats on the hot bodywork, and they were there for life too, well engrained into the paint finish. I gave it a couple of washes during the trip to remove the bugs and the dust using those spray wands. When I got back and had it washed properly the whole of the front was damaged and the wing mirrors etc. covered in splats. I took it back to the dealer to complain, and their cleaning bloke took it round the back for a while. It was maybe 50% better, but it never really recovered.

Then later that summer the other half went to a garden centre and bought a lot of pots of stuff. As the boot was full of sacks of compost, the plant pots, wrapped in newspaper, ended up on the back seat. Some water must have leaked because the seat was damp. A quick wipe down and it all looked good again until the winter and freezing temperatures overnight. The two of the rear seats now have very noticeable white marks. I suspect that the treatment (G3 Glasscoat) has lifted on whatever leathery stuff Renault put on the seats.

I'm not greatly concerned - I have a new 2012 B Class (W245), with most of the toys, coming in 2 -3 weeks and I will be glad to get rid of that Renault. A total rattle trap...

Meanwhile my warning to you is do NOT apply any coatings of any sort. Use the traditional cleaning and waxing techniques as detailed on other pages of this Forum.

P.

Hi Peter,
Welcome to the forum.
I know very well that returning a Motability car can be a worrying time, what did they have to say about the damage?.

 

[ace571]

This is Pete - buy some Collinite 476s. Long lasting, easy to apply and costs less than 20 quid a tin which will last you years!

 

[evdok]

Most wax's will give you the same affect, the key is to find one that will bead water off quicker and last a lot longer, i use Autoglym high definition wax which i find ticks all boxes...but thats me, each one to there own.

 

[Peter Hill]

Hi, WOODYTHEWISE

Motability are quite laid back about their cars.
I've had two, a C Max 2.0 mk1 which was rather good (Got 198 kph out of it, according to the satnav, if I'd realised I'd have gone for the full 200! This was in a quiet bit of Spain)

And this more recent Renault, which frankly is awful.

Both have had minor 'parking damage' from other people scraping the corners. Seems to be normal now here in SE London to ignore minor scrapes, and even older 'people' opening passenger doors and damaging my paintwork. Unbelievable.

Motability will pay the 'returned in good shape' bonus (£200 I think) despite minor rattles all round. It seems to have to be a serious ding to cause any problems.

BTW Mercedes Benz have got round the only £2000 over your Mobility allowance limit (new rules) by invoicing the 'extras' separately. The B Class 200 SE diesel costs nearly £2000 over the Motability allowance. I also have a string of the extras, coming to nearly £6000 (I particularly like the clever lights, 'see round the corners') All of which I will be paying for separately.

I'm rather hoping this will be my last car, I'm getting older, so I hope to buy this vehicle when the lease runs out in 3 years time.

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porches I must make amends...

It's taken a while - but I'm there at last !

Sweet Janis RIP.

P.

 

[Wing Co]

You should accept a new car with the minimum of treatment from the dealer, as even once through their car wash will begin the marking process. If anything for around 200 pounds you can get a professional detailer to detail the car before they even touch the body work. They should be instructed to leave on all the protective materials from the factory and the detailer will do the rest. Of course you then need to follow the proper care for cars as spealt here and on Detailing World. However, if you are going to use car washes, sponges or the guys at the supermarket, I think that you are not particularly bothered about your paintwork, as long as from a distance it looks clean - there is nothing wrong with this either - it is personal choice, but either way which you go these dealer protection packages are simply a complete waste of money.

 

[rascalmaster]

my 211 came with star guard star protect etc; and when i opened the rear doors; the foot mats were still dirty... and the headliner had dirty hand marks near the front pillar (they'd just sprayed over the filth)...
When i made a fuss; the sales rep called over the eastern european gentleman tasked with applying said treatment, who when asked to explain his actions... promptly said "MAYBE YOU DIRTY IT NOW!"

i dont trust stealers as far as i can throw them!

MB make the best car in the world, and in my humble opinion, stealers try their damnest to **** it up thereafter...

 

[mightymouse]

I recently got my c220cdi from Norwich MB and star guard was thrown in without the kit. When it rains you can see beats of water and during the handover I was particularly pleased with the shine. Coming up to two weeks now and needing a good clean. Only time will tell when the sun is out and whether or not the grime to come off easy.

 

[kamalpatel12448]

Mine has Stargard and it has held up well, been using the products to clean the car and they work well too. The winter grime came of the car very easily . I think it is like other products similar to it and I'm sure they are all good, but only as good as how they are applied to begin with and the after care.

Kamal

 

[vintageaxeman]

After 3 years, Starboard is keeping my Merc looking good.

I have just bought an ultra-low mileage Diamond White E350 Cabriolet, 40 months old, which had Starguard applied when new. The paintwork feels odd to the touch (slightly rough like badly sprayed paint) but the paintwork looks very bright. I washed it for the first time yesterday and it ended up looking really good with very little effort and without using a chamois to get rid of drying marks. I'm very impressed, so much so that I have just bought a kit on the internet so that I can reapply it to keep the car looking good.
It may be very expensive when new but it appears to have been worth it. (for me!)

 

[johns E350]

Get the clay bar on it it won't feel rough then.

 

[lordlee]

You can buy the stickers from ebay so I'm sure some dealers dont bother with the treatment. To be honest you could buy something like Jetseal 109 sealant or Wolfs Nanobody which would do a far better job.