Review: CarPro PERL

S

srpurdy

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
127
Reaction score
0
General Thoughts:
Recently picked up a 1L bottle. The product came in at $36 CAD. Not cheap or is it? The fact you can dilute this product up to 1:5 for interior, 1:1 for tires and 1:3 to exterior plastic. You will find that 1 Liter of product is quite reasonable in terms of price. If you use it only for tires than 2 Liters of product. Some dressings can go as much as $50 CAD per gallon. (3.7L) So it can be more expensive, but it can also be around the same price.

First Time Use
I diluted PERL into a spray bottle at 1:5 to apply in my interior. I don't personally like anything too shiny. Mostly because of the reflection you can get in the windshield which is dangerous. However PERL adds no noticeable reflection when applied at the suggested 1:5 ratio. It adds a very small amount of blackness to your interior panels (assuming they are in reasonable condition) A fine light sheen. (Satan) type finish as seen below. (Even with the sun glaring into the windows, it looks nice)

Interior
View attachment 51468
View attachment 51467

Second Time Use:
Time to apply the product to my tires. After washing off all old dressing. I applied PERL at 1:1 ratio. I used a tire foam applicator to apply the dressing, spraying it directly into the applicator. 2 to 3 sprays to do half a tire as I work the product in. Other 2 sprays to do the other half of the tire. I let the product dry for a couple hours, and below is the result.

1 Layer of PERL
View attachment 51469

I decided to see if adding a second layer would make any difference. So again using the same method above I applied a second layer of PERL at 1:1 ratio. Interestingly the tire did get slightly darker. I don't know if this will make it last longer or not, but it does look better.

2 Layers of PERL
View attachment 51470

Final Thoughts:
The application is fairly easy. I have used other products that are a bit easier to apply, however I love the look that PERL provides. It's much more realistic looking to me. The only real question now is how well it will hold up. Overall I would recommend the product.
 
Nice review, I really like PERL at 1:5 on the interior panels just for the reasons you've found. To experiment and save some money I'll also do two coats on tires at 1:1 and then maintain with a 1:3 mix after washing tires. I've seen savings layering PERL this way, also maintains that deep black look.
 
Nice review! Can't believe how nice the tires look at 1:1 dilution. I have been using it straight LOL!
 
vobro said:
Nice review, I really like PERL at 1:5 on the interior panels just for the reasons you've found. To experiment and save some money I'll also do two coats on tires at 1:1 and then maintain with a 1:3 mix after washing tires. I've seen savings layering PERL this way, also maintains that deep black look.
Click to expand...

hehe Thanks. I didn't want to sound too biased, but I love it in the interior also! I used others that added such a reflection it would blind me in certain lighting. PERL doesn't do that, and it just looks great. I will try that on tires after a wash. I'm curiose to see how well it holds up to rain. As my other dressings don't hold up too well in rain.

It's funny cause I have my winters sitting here that I put dressing on 4 months ago. Still looks the same. So all that wear of the dressing clearly comes from dirt and water.

Marc08EX said:
Nice review! Can't believe how nice the tires look at 1:1 dilution. I have been using it straight LOL!
Click to expand...

I decided to use the least aggressive method first, and since I like the result I'm not going to try undiluted haha. Hey if you like it. Go with it. :)
 
View attachment 51473

PERL is a good product, I have it and like it, but for everyday drivers exposed to sun, rain, and time, PERL is not a long lasting product.

You cannot expect any of these "dressing" type products to hold up like a Tire, or Trim Coating would.

Not necessarily a fault-flaw, understand that, but they are what they are.

Here's what PERL looks like on some new Nitto 421Q 22's. But a week later, the tires looked like I applied nothing. And there was no washing to wash off the product. Just the exposure to the arid outdoors here made it look absent.
 
Great review, I assume PERL is water based product as it can be diluted ?
 
After much disappointment with the longevity of Perl on tires I stopped using it and started using the BF AIO tire & trim. For me it holds up much longer and still has the nice matte finish I prefer. For interior I use the WG Interior Trim sealant now.
 
I add to my review. Since I have used it quite a bit now. I find the durability to be reasonable. It does last through several washes, and I find I can boost it with a 5:1 ratio that I use in my interior, and it works really well to boost it every couple washes. It holds up much better in rain than VRP or Silkshine does on tires, actually by far. Silkshine loses most of it's black/shinyness after 1 rain fall. VRP holds up a tiny bit better, but PERL can take 2-3 really good rain falls and several washes before it becomes very faded.

It has the same problem that those two products have for the exterior plastic. (The mirriors for example) where when it rains it leaks all over the side of the paint. This shows much more on a black car I guess than it would on a different color. So I don't use it for this purpose. My door handles are unpainted plastic. So I use megs UQW or you can use the detailer version for exterior plastics. I just never had any good results with any exterior plastic dressings. They all leak onto the side of the paint in the rain, but megs wax doesn't have this problem at all! Even though they seem to stay on the plastic surface for quite a few rain falls, it makes the rest of the car look like crap after 1 rain fall. Which is strange. Anyway overall I'm pretty happy with the durability of PERL. It's a much better product for this than either of thE CG ones I have tried.

My interior is still looking like the day I applied it. So it hasn't changed much at all since the review. So 1 month and it is still looking like the day I put it on. I can't complain about that. :)
 
Marc08EX said:
Nice review! Can't believe how nice the tires look at 1:1 dilution. I have been using it straight LOL!
Click to expand...

I love Perl 1:1 on tires. It seems to last a good while also. I thought using it straight would be a bit much. Glad to see it works for you.
 
Durability isn't really an issue for me as I tend to go over wheels & tires weekly.

What's important is ease of application, and better yet - how well it cleans up & ready for a fresh application. In this case, PERL ace the requirements.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top