Teflon coating for a car/automobile

This is the 3rd or 4th time this question has been asked, Rajkumar, but, sorry, I'm not personally familiar with Teflon coating a car. The only place the inquiries have come from (yet) is India, so I have no experience in it. Sorry!

Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

P.S. (added several years later) -- Readers: Enjoy this very long discussion, but you won't find brands compared. Over time it led to shills posting with fictitious names, bashing other brands while posing as satisfied customers of their own brand :-)
We had to go back and purge the brand names; for brand-to-brand comparisons look to AAA, Consumer Reports, or some other independent testing service. Sorry.

! I would like to point out that Teflon coatings are done in cars (at least that's what dealers claim) in India. I checked out the Dupont site and found 2 links who offer such services in North America:

Kindly Advise.

Regards,

! Dear Ted,

Like other people I was looking for authenticity for the people who claim to Teflon coat car paints. From your remark, there are only two possibilities
1) Either you are ill-informed or
2) Teflon coating thing is a big joke.

Well honestly I am not an expert in the field, but I came across this page car-butler.com/Teflon coating.html [Ed. note: sorry, that domain is no longer functional] thought it might enlighten you and other readers.

Do let me know if you find anything more on it because I just bought a new car and was wondering if the cost is worth it.

---

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Lane's Paint Sealant
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 2003

Hi, Drumil. I've already admitted to being uninformed on this subject :-)

I do know that the paint system on most new cars is the best finish that money can buy, and I hadn't yet heard of improving upon it with a Teflon topcoat until these letters.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi,

Seems there is a lot of ill informed people on this topic. I have just ordered a new BMW 525IA Touring 2003 model, and it's paint will be Teflon (8% PTFE) coated in Norway. This to ensure a stronger coating and of course make it easier to keep clean. Car makers only use water based paints today (environmental regulations), and thus is less resistant to impacts/wear than before.

For car owners who never travel outside inner cities, or in countries where there is no rain/snow or bad weather this should not pose a problem, as there is hardly any sand, gravel, salt or other debris in the roads/freeways. But when you use your car everywhere, high speed driving and sand in your "face" will damage the paint, hence a Teflon coating is an improvement. It will make repaint a pain, but that is a cost the insurance company will have to deal with.

Perhaps this is unknown to other car makers, but BMW does so in Norway, as well as well equipped service providers. I get it for free, but otherwise it will cost USD 500.- It will need to be checked/updated once a year. It has a 12 month guarantee too!

This is a rather new approach, and the Norwegian BMW dealer just recently invested quite a bit of money for the equipment. The second BMW dealer has chosen to use a partner for this (due to the high investment costs).

Regards,

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 Thanks, Morten. But let us know when you can quote an independent study! Car dealers here are forever ripping the customer off for window etching, undercoating, and extras of all kinds -- and the instruction we get from the independent consumer testing organizations like AAA and Consumer Reports is to "never agree to any dealer-applied extra". Teflon coating might prove to be an exception, but I wouldn't base it on a dealer claim, especially if a dealer claims that cars are water-base painted, when in fact they have an electrophoretic prime coat and a heat/radiation cured clear coat sandwiching any water-based or solvent-based paint they may have.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi, No Teflon coating is not a joke. I specialize in Teflon coating vehicles. yes it does work and yes it is an expensive process but the end result is well worth it. It protects the vehicle from tree sap, acid rain salt spray.

Andy

A. To those with the eternal question: "To Teflon Coat or Not"

To give a slight insight to my knowledge on the subject, I have owned and operated an auto detailing company for the past 15 years. Needing to be competitive in the industry (and wanting to keep my personal vehicles in immaculate condition) I have stayed on top of many different products, procedures, and processes pertaining to the upkeep of ones automobiles.

Now understand that the companies claiming protection from the "TEFLON COATING" (usually applied by the dealers) is a tactic to increase their own bottom line. Understand that the dealer is there to make Money...and as much as possible whenever the opportunity arises. Not that I have a challenge with profit.

I have had several clients purchase new vehicles over the years, and have had the "TEFLON COATING" applied to their vehicle, thinking that the process would in fact not only maintain the beauty of their automobile, but would decrease the cost of upkeep over the life of the car. With personal, long term accounts of a "TEFLON COATED" automobile, I feel I can make an educated assessment of the procedure, and if it does indeed hold up better than a vehicle without.

Again, remember that I have a soft spot for that beautiful word "Profit" and feel that in this Great Nation we call America, that life would no longer exist without it (profit). That being said, if I could "TEFLON COAT" a car, AND it did what they (Dealers and Teflon Coating Companies) claim it does, I would find a company, or start one myself that actually performed the procedure to have the process done to all of the hundreds of cars I have direct ties to (not to mention my own collection of automobiles). I would charge the $300, $400, or even $500 that it cost to have this procedure done, make all of my maintenance profit in one day, maintain the "TEFLON COAT" ANNUALLY (which most companies will tell you is needed, and which cost another $500) to where I would never worry about the paint for the rest of the year (with the exceptional regular washing) and be a happy camper with much more "PROFIT"

In conclusion I feel the best and most effective way to maintain the beauty and over durability of you car is to wash it regularly (weekly). Wax it frequently (monthly). Most reputable companies in the automotive protection (wax) business make several good products.

Hope this helps. And Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

A. I live in the north of CANADA WHERE A LOT OF SALT IS USED ON THE ROADS AND ALSO A LOT OF ROAD REPAIR SO MY NEW GMC CAR HAS BEEN GIVEN THE GMC Sym-Tech PAINT PROTECTION WITH TEFLON JAN FEB MARCH 2004 AND LOOKING GOOD

LET YOU KNOW IN 2009 HOW GOOD IT IS!

A. In my past research, I know several things about Teflon. One, as a product particle, it hates every other particle around it and is constantly in motion (so to speak) trying to get away. Why do you think it takes unimaginable heat and pressure to get it onto your frying pan? In a car coating, it is nearly worthless and the big firms are just cashing in on the name Teflon. Having Teflon in your coating makes it much easier to apply (the ball-bearing effect), but it won't stay on your car without baking it on at incredible heat, at temperatures that would easily melt your vehicle to a slag heap.

The real thing is almost here folks.

A. I would just like to add my experience with Teflon coatings here. First of all, I am not too sure about the kind of coatings that are provided by car makers abroad. As mentioned by someone above about the precoated Teflon on his BMW, I am sure that would be of a higher quality as is being done here in India. I have got this done on two of my cars and a bike as well and I would say that the quality of coating that we get here in India is surely not worth the price. Once you get the coating done, you still wouldn't find any difference between the look of a freshly Teflon coated or a freshly washed, waxed car.

If you have that much money to spend on something that's just the equivalent of waxing, go ahead and do it. However I personally prefer waxing my car rather than Teflon because these coatings don't last the look more than a few weeks despite the year long warranty.

Hi Jason. I don't quite understand, Jason: You didn't feel the article in Professional Carwashing was unbiased? -- or am I misunderstanding?

Regards,

I just ponied up $500 to my Ford dealer to have Teflon put on my 2004 Escape. I thought that, having a black car, I should do something to help maintain it's longevity.

Let me tell you I personally don't think Teflon is worth the money. After washing and drying the car I notice little sand-like grains on my car. This is probably from the area I live in. Lot's of sand and dust from development. Either way, I thought that having Teflon would prevent things like this.

I believe waxing the car only twice in the one year since I've had it would have given me better results. Is it a cash grab for dealers? Yup. If it were so good, you wouldn't need yearly "maintenance". (I think the only way that a Teflon coating on your car would be effective is if it was baked on the paint at the auto plant.) Don't be lazy like me. "Maintain" your car yourself. Wax it regularly. After all, you realize you're just paying $500 for wax with a fancy name, don't you? That being said. I would like to know if I could wax a car that has had Teflon applied to it? Please let me know? Thanks

A. RE: TEFLON paint coating I have a new 35 foot motor home with a gel coat surface. I had it Teflon coated last April by the dealer for $750. The warranty requires a yearly re-do (and re-pay, of course). I talked to one of the guys who applies the Teflon, and he offered to do it for me "on the side" for $150. Are the dealers making money? Do the math.

HOWEVER, I have to admit that, at this point, it is much easier to remove the bug deposits from the front than it ever was on the last RV I owned, which I waxed with one of the top line wax products. It is also easier to remove just about anything that has stuck anywhere to the surface. It wipes off with a little effort, but not a lot. It remains to be seen how long this ease of cleaning lasts. As the 4 months have passed since the coating I have noticed a slight increase in the effort to remove bug deposits, leaf stains, etc.