Newb with questions about Subaru paint.

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clydeTEN

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New to the forum and detailing.

We purchased a new Subaru Ascent for my wife. The Dealer talked her into getting Ziebart undercarriage rust protection. We just returned from dropping off the vehicle and of course the Ziebart Rep tried to upsell us to a ceramic sealant for a little over $1300. He told us that this type of protection is even more important on Subaru and Toyota vehicles because they have the softest paint and thinnest clearcoat of any makes. Can anyone confirm that this is true?

I am planning to do something to protect the paint but didn't want to feel pressured into making a snap decision. My plan is to "practice" on a couple of our older vehicles and then move on to the Subaru. For the Ascent, from what I have gleaned from the Forum so far, I am thinking something to strip any wax applied at the dealer followed by something like Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant topped by a carnuba wax. In general is my thinking sound? If indeed the Subaru paint is soft and under protected by the thin clear coat are there other options I should consider?

Thanks in advance for your input!
 
Typical dealer/provider BS!

Treat it like any other new car.
 
Run forest.....What a Load of dealer crap, Subaru paint is fine, just like any other paint, do all the detailing yourself and forget about buying any dealer sealants… They’re all polymer crap anyway, I used to be a dealer and sell this stuff… I stopped selling it after a few years… After convincing my partner that it was more trouble than it was worth And we were being deceptive.

Regarding your plan, I would just put on the Wolfgang, no need for the carnuba.
 
Agree with the above posts - just another dealer way to get unsuspecting customers to open their wallets a little deeper. I have had 2 Subarus - one a 2006 Outback which we traded for a 2021 Crosstrek a few months ago. That car was outside 24/7 and I did coat it and the paint was in superb condition. Rust - well that was another issue, but maybe to be expected after 15 years. When your dealer mentioned that the Subarus had such soft paint and thin clearcoat, you should have asked for a reduction in the price of that Ascent!;)

Curious, what did they charge for the Ziebart, did they also do the doors also?

If not a coating, I would go with a sealant. Check the forum, there are plenty to choose from, that are easy to apply and give months of solid coverage.
 
bob m said:
Agree with the above posts - just another dealer way to get unsuspecting customers to open their wallets a little deeper. I have had 2 Subarus - one a 2006 Outback which we traded for a 2021 Crosstrek a few months ago. That car was outside 24/7 and I did coat it and the paint was in superb condition. Rust - well that was another issue, but maybe to be expected after 15 years. When your dealer mentioned that the Subarus had such soft paint and thin clearcoat, you should have asked for a reduction in the price of that Ascent!;)

Curious, what did they charge for the Ziebart, did they also do the doors also?

If not a coating, I would go with a sealant. Check the forum, there are plenty to choose from, that are easy to apply and give months of solid coverage.
Click to expand...

The charge was $699 for undercarriage and upper body panels. This was sold to us by the Dealer and is supposedly a "two for the price of one" deal.
The Ziebart Rep told us about the soft, under-protected Subaru/Toyota paint and offered the $1300 ceramic sealant as critical given the paint situation.
 
clydeTEN said:
The charge was $699 for undercarriage and upper body panels. This was sold to us by the Dealer and is supposedly a "two for the price of one" deal.
The Ziebart Rep told us about the soft, under-protected Subaru/Toyota paint and offered the $1300 ceramic sealant as critical given the paint situation.
Click to expand...

Coating the undercarriage might not be something for a DIY. However, with a little practice and Youtube viewing, prep and coating paint is not rocket science.
 
clydeTEN said:
The charge was $699 for undercarriage and upper body panels. This was sold to us by the Dealer and is supposedly a "two for the price of one" deal.
The Ziebart Rep told us about the soft, under-protected Subaru/Toyota paint and offered the $1300 ceramic sealant as critical given the paint situation.
Click to expand...

Of course he told you that. I have come to expect nothing less at dealerships.....
 
If I'm not mistaken, I believe Sandro from Car Craft Auto Detailing just did a video featuring a WRX and mentioned the thickness was indeed...not so thick. But that being said, it's a new car and should be fine for now.

Lots of tutorials out there on how to apply a coating, so I think anyone can do it. First time is always a little nerve racking, but don't overthink it too much. If I have any piece of advice for you it would be to make sure you have good lighting for when you wipe it off. A few days after I did my car I came back from the store on an overcast day and saw a big streak that I somehow missed. *facepalm!*
 
Mazda,Subaru and Honda have pretty thin paint. Best way to preserve it is to learn how to take care of the paint while washing and practice safe as possible methods. If you don’t instill scratches you don’t have to worry about it, bring it to a tunnel wash weekly then you’re just asking for trouble.
 
clydeTEN said:
The charge was $699 for undercarriage and upper body panels. This was sold to us by the Dealer and is supposedly a "two for the price of one" deal.
The Ziebart Rep told us about the soft, under-protected Subaru/Toyota paint and offered the $1300 ceramic sealant as critical given the paint situation.
Click to expand...

Of course he told you that. I have come to expect nothing less at dealerships.....
 
I have a 2020 crosstrek and a Outback prior to that. Both were a tick under 85 microns or 3.3 mil. That's pretty thin.

Like many had said....Best course of action is prevention.
 
Thank you for the replies.
With a couple posts that the Subaru paint may indeed be on the thin side should I have any concern with using something to remove the wax put on by the Dealer before using the WGDGS? I was thinking I would use the Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer.
 
When they say thin they don’t mean dangerous paperthin , any Subaru will take a mild finishing polish once a year no problem and any type of sealant you want to put on it. Don’t get nervous, you have plenty of paint on the car.
 
I've been watching YT videos on this subject. I have a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek and Impreza. From what I understand all Japanese cars have softer paint. There is a cool video of Apex Detail's where he is doing a Red WRX and he explains how to treat a softer paint.

I'm guessing I don't need to get the BEAST or SupaBEAST for my Subarus? I've got a pre XP Porter Cable that shines them up well but I haven't found the perfect combo of AIO and pad to put a mirror finish on it.. but it does come out looking great. And it is silver so it is hard to see, IMO, any swirls. I can tell you that tree sap and bug guts will eat through the clear and paint pretty quickly.
 
I am a retired Bmw corporate person, also having been with Porsche and Honda. Trust me (one more time)...they are all thin.

You are beginning to read and overthink too much.
 
glen e said:
I am a retired Bmw corporate person, also having been with Porsche and Honda. Trust me (one more time)...they are all thin.

You are beginning to read and overthink too much.
Click to expand...

Glen is absolutely right... The paint on cars these are much thinner than their predecessors. Repeated polishing will remove materials but its not anywhere like compounding repeatedly. Its very little. Once you get your vehicle to how you wanted then the best approach is to focus on prevention so you wont have to do it again. I measured the paint thickness with a paint gauge before and after each job and the most material removal I ever saw from polishing is around 3-4 microns. 26 microns is around 1 mil and most Japanese branded vehicles total paint thickness is around 2.8 to 3 mils (the clear coat portion is probably around a third of that as a rule of thumb).
 
To follow on with glen e. Yes the Mazda paint is especially thin but they’re all thin. I tell you I’ve been looking and I really haven’t seen the Mazda paints fail on cars like I have Hondas and Toyotas but then again, I don’t notice older Mazdas as much but the new ones have nice paint, especially that dark red color just pops.

But even with thin paint, even a strong polishing/compounding removes MINUTE amounts of clearcoat. So little that even when Mike Phillips and others have taken before and after paint thickness measurements, they’re isn’t any statistical difference. Meaning, they’d need a scientific instrument much more accurate than a nice $2,500 meter to measure the clear coat removed.

If you apply a coating or sealant regularly and take care of your paint, you shouldn’t have any issues with the thinness.
 
Subaru paint is super soft in my experience. SoftEST...no. Thinnest? Doubt it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
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