[MercNut]

Anyone here familiar with Diamond Kote?: https://www.diamondkote.com/auto/appearance-protection-products/paint-protection

My 2018 GLC 43 Coupe will be arriving at the dealer in about a week. On all the vehicles they sell, they apply the Diamond Kote paint and leather protection at the time of PDI.

I'm debating whether or not to tell them not to apply it on mine, as I am not familiar with the product. I also wonder if it would prevent wax from adhering and/or being able to get a nice, glossy look with wax. Mine is Selenite Grey and I want it to have a deep, glossy look.

 

[Toobad]

Congratulations on the arrival of your new baby! If an application of Diamond Kote is applied to all new cars sold by your dealer as standard practice then you may as well go ahead and accept it. Here in the UK, Mercedes offer a similar product called StarGard. It is used as an upsell (MB charge £400) or it ends up being thrown in as a sweetener to close the deal. The actual product is readily available on eBay under other brand names for not much more than £30. I see Diamond Kote comes with a 10 year warranty but I suspect this would be conditional on the regular application of further maintenance products. The application is supposed to be done by "trained technicians" but here in the UK the reality is it will get applied by the workshop monkey in probably less than an hour.

Wax will have no trouble adhering to this paint sealant. What you cannot do is apply this sealant over an existing wax coating, it would need to be completely stripped off first so I guess this is why the process is offered to new cars with virgin paint. Selenite Grey is a colour that will really benefit from the application of a carnauba wax as your LSP (last stage protection). Darker colours are perceived to look best with a warm, oily gloss finish that looks a mile deep. Lighter colours, on the other hand, are harder to make super glossy so the sterile retina-searing shine achieved with paint sealants is the preferred route. For ridiculous flake pop and that mile-deep gloss you seek, I'd steer you to Blackfire's Wet Ice Over Fire kit:

Wet Ice Over Fire kit with 25% Discount Code