Hey all,
i will be joining the sportivo family early next week if the car comes in, which i am stoked about! I am getting a black facelift model, and paid $28k for it, could i have got him down further or did i get a reasonable price? I was just wondering what people thought of the paint protection crap and rust protection stuff? is it really worth it, seeing as i am on quite a tight budget? because its black maybe it is worth it to minimise scratches and streaks if i ever get motivated to wax it? just after a few thoughts there.
sorry if there is another post with all this in it, i looked but couldnt find one!

any help would be much appreciated
cheers
Aidan

i got black with PP and RUST etc etc as a deal
it won't minimise any swirls, although it does give added shine to your car. its alot nicer looking when its clean if its been done with PP. and you can't be that much of a tight budget you've just spent $28k spend another $2k for the gear its cheaper in a package. good quality tint as well.

u have any idea how much paint protection costs the dealers? and how much it actually does?

IMO a very good polish every 6 months does a much better job.

Exactly...i wasnt quite sure what it was untill after i got it....$320 from MING to get a fancy polish???? HO THANK YOU MR TOYOTA SALES DUDE!!!! you can stick that where the sun dont shine

I'll go down to autobarn and get some good meguires or bowdens and do it myself

I worked for a Honda/Nissan dealership a few years back aqnd we did Ming paint protection etc. The paint protection is just along lasting polish that cost us(at the time) $28 and we charged something like $495. It's mark up at it's very best and took me 25 mins to do the whole car. After detailing out in the real world(not brand new cars!!) I can tell you to save your $300 to $500 and buy a TRD cai cause it does squat!!. It just for lazy people who think that if they put it on thier car it can go 5 years without a polish. The biggest load of crap I've heard. You can't beat a regular polish and coat of wax to keep your car looking awesome.The rust protection goop that they spray everywhere is something that I'm also suspect of. the fact that they spray it on the plastic inner guards is a joke!

Didn't know that plastic rusts

Anyhow, my 2 cents worth...

You might also here the line that the paint protection will protect against minor chips from rocks....

Well let me tell u while driving at 60km/h+ nothing short of having something like one of those ugly car bra's will stop the car from being scratched.....

Probably the only thing worth getting is the leather protection and even then you could scotch guard everything yourself

The car comes out of the factory with the paint protection standard, the dealers wont tell you this they just want some extra bucks on the side. You'll be paying a few hundred for just a cut and polish.
Rather save that few hundred towards tinted windows.

Hi Guys,

Im a newie to the scene. I've been following this forum quite closely over the last couple of months as a silent visitor whilst trying to work out if a Corolla Sportivo is for me. I've been looking at second hand pre-facelift versions but recently got slapped in the face with an insanely good offer from a toyota dealer on a brand spanker.

To cut a long story short, I find this topic about paint, scratches and associated maintenance very interesting.
You see the dealer had an ink black one which I nearly drove home last week. But one look at the slight swirls that were already in the paint turned me off straight away. I know the black probably makes the sportivo look hottest but i think I'm far too fussy to own a black car, i'd be washing and polishing it everyday.

So.....I've ordered white, should be here sometime next week.
Its one of the more boring colours I know, but i'll just have to dress it up a little.

Samrt move! Steer clear of black!!!

as soon as u wash, u bound to get swirl marks

i ALMOST bought white, but black looked too good.

black is maintanance free.. a few cut and polishes, clay bar, and wax treatments now and then make the car sweet as.. and yes BLACK IS HOT ISN'T!!!!

No arguements that Black looks the goods. The car I saw in the showroom had been washed twice it if was lucky and the bonnet was pretty swirled, that made my mind up for me.
The plan is to drop the white one on some nice 18's, run her in, then bolt on the CES system and TRD CAI, then go play in the traffic a little...

if u know how to wash it, the swirl marks shouldn't be that painful