Permanon Platinum vs. Nu Finish Car Polish Part 2

Cost

I bought the DIY pack and the number of application:

• 2.5 times Permanon Platinum, with 20ml one time.
• 5 times Permanon Diamond, with 20ml one time. This is the maintenance wash and you need to wash like 2 weeks once.

To refill the Permanon Diamond 2in1, you need another RM78 for 100ml. For 52 weeks, you need 21 (exclude the 5 times come from the DIY pack) x 20ml = RM327.6.

Thus total cost: RM138 + RM327.6 = RM465.6 (assuming the 50ml of Platinum can last 1 year).



As a comparision, you can get Nu Finish products from Ace Hardware and the cost:

RM18.90, enough for 32 washes.

RM42.90, waxed 2 times and still have 3/4. I think it can really last for a year. But Nu Finish will damage your application pad, let's assume you wax 2 months once, the total cost will be 6 x RM6 = RM36.

Total cost for Nu Finish products: RM97.8 for 1 year. Compare to Platinum RM465.6.

Winner: Nu Finish.

Continue to Part 3

Permanon Platinum vs. Nu Finish Car Polish

What is Permanon Platinum? Click here to find out.


What is Nu Finish Car Polish? Click here to find out.


Both claim to have superior protection against harmful material and more durable than normal wax. Let's do a comparison between the two.

At first, I prepare the car paint surface:

1. Wash with Nu Finish Car Wash shampoo.
2. Clay with 3M clay bar with Permanon Hecta PL as lubricant.

Then apply Nu Finish (NU) on the left and Pernamon Platinum (PP) on the right of the car bonnet.


Application Effort & Time Spent
Permanon Platinum is by far the easiest coat/wax to apply, just spray wait a while and wipe dry with micro fiber cloth. You can apply to paint, plastic and vinyl without issue.

Nu Finish although it claims no rubbing and no buffing formula, you need to clean the dry up white residue, which require quite a bit of effort and it is tiring. On top of that, you need to avoid plastic and vinyl as it will turn white and hard to remove.
It will also damage your application pad (in this case, my Meguiar's pad). I also suspect it will create swirl mark since you need to use force to remove the white residue).


Winner: Permanon Platinum






Visual Effect
Due to the product nature Permanon Platinum will have a better visual effect in term of gloss and smoothness. Once the water dry up, it leave no trace.

Nu Finish on the other hand, the dry up white residue will impact the smoothness when touch, basically you can feel the particular on the paint surface. The gloss is not as good as Permanon Platinum especially under near inspection, Nu Finish "seems" to have some kind of uneven oil stain, but from far its gloss has no different from Permanon Platinum.

Look okay?

Winner: Draw.

Continue to Part 2

Permanon Platinum vs. Nu Finish Car Polish Part 3

Water Breading & Sheeting
To be continue!

Honda Jazz Hybrid 2012 Fuel Consumption

To record the fuel consumption of my Jazz Hybrid 2012. The average speed is included as well, as I believe it is a key factor in fuel consumption, lower average speed means more city traffic jam drive (higher fuel consumption); higher average speed mean more highway cruising (lower fuel consumption).

27-Jan-2013: Petronas RM54 (28.42 L) travel 455.9 KM with average speed of 31 KM/H: 6.234 L/100KM or 16.04 KM/L.

12-Feb-2013: BHP RM59.01 (31.06L) travel 557.1 KM with average speed of 29 KM/H (there was a long idling waiting time waiting for wife and also being serviced in Honda SC): 5.575 L/100KM or 17.95 KM/L.

18-Feb-2013: BHP RM46.50 (24.47L) travel 502.1 KM with average speed of 48 KM/H (include 380 KM highway travel): 4.87 L/100KM or 20.52 KM/L.

22-Feb-2013: Caltex RM52.39 (27.572L) travel 517.1 KM with average speed of 51 KM/H (include 380 KM highway travel): 5.33 L/100KM or 18.75 KM/L. Look like BHP gives better FC for a similar route (compare with 18-Feb-2013).

03-Mar-2013: Caltex RM57.83 (30.436L) travel 522.2 KM with average speed of 30 KM/H: 5.83 L/100KM or 17.16 KM/L. As comparison with BHP (the same route of 12-Feb-2013), Caltex looks like consume more petrol.

19-Mar-2013: Mobil RM53.62 (28.222L) travel 504.4 KM with average speed of 29 KM/H: 5.60 L/100KM or 17.87 KM/L.

12-Apr-2013: BHP RM24.51 (12.9L) travel 286.7 KM with average speed of 76 KM/H (100% highway travel from Seremban to Johor with speed between 100~110 KM/H): 4.5 L/100KM or 22.22 KM/L. Impressive, isn't it?

I managed to get an ECU and IMA firmware upgrade on one of the day (i forgot the exact date); after that my FC improved.


16-Sept-2013: Caltex 21.145L travel 451.7 KM (90% highway travel from Seremban to Parit Buntar, Perak) with speed between 100~110 KM/H): 4.68 L/100KM or 21.36 KM/L. (It is about 6.4% different from the Trip meter).

22-Sept-2013: Caltex 31.16L travel 603.8 KM (400 KM highway with moderate jam) with speed between 100~110 KM/H): 5.16 L/100KM or 19.38 KM/L.

Samsung Plasma TV: PS51F5500

Bought the Samsung Plasma TV PS551F5500 a month ago (early August 2013).

Cost ($) is the main reason for me to select plasma, the 46" Series 6 LED cost RM1K+ more. Series 4 plasma: PS51F4900 (3D) or PS51F4500 (without 3D) is a good buy too, if you don't mind the lower resolution 1024 x 768, compare to the Series 5 1920 x 1080. The SMART feature is hardly use, never buy TV for the sake of SMART feature.

To keep the long story short, the "owner review":

• Pros
1. Picture quality and the high resolution.
2. Good 3D, don't have "motion sickness" after watching.
3. Many input ports: HDMI, USB, Video In and etc.
4. Play many movie format (except RMVB) via USB.
5. Build-in analogue TV boaster (I need this).
6. 2 years manufacturer warranty.

• Cons
1. Heat. Although I anticipate it, but does not expect that hot. You can feel the heat 1 feet away. Solution is to buy a USB powered fan to cool it down. :-)
2. Reflection. Reflection on the dark zone is quite bad. But personally I'm fine with it, normally there won't be many dark zone in a movie or TV program.
3. Sound delay on USB movie playing, especially on big size MKV file.
4. 3D classes is not "glasses wearer" friendly. It will be great if Samsung can produce clip on 3D glass.

Overall I'm satisfy with this TV, it is value for money. The next is to buy a good home theater system and watch nice 1080p movie.

Maximus Auto Car Care

On 6-June-2013, I drove all the way from Seremban to Kota Damansara to give my 2005 Honda City IDSI a car spa by Maximus (FB). I'm taking the promotion package RM88 and top up RM162 for rear window water repellent + crystal cut polish & waxing.



My primary objective is to remove the front and rear windscreen watermark, yellowish headlamps and Nano Mist treatment (claim to kill bacteria in the car, YouTube).

The car was not treated nor protected by any wax or sealant since born, the water mark on the rear windscreen was terrible, you hardly can see a thing through it especially on night and raining day. The charge in Seremban is more than RM200, Maximus price is very low in fact, does it do a good job or cheap-thing-no-good? Let's find out.

The spa process started at about 11AM and finished at about 2PM and here is the end result:

Crystal clear and no more yellowish.

Like a mirror (the vinyl is not part of the package).

Before: full or watermark.

After: like a mirror.

Before: lot of swirl mark.

After: reduce swirl mark.

Before: it is similar like this (photo from another car), full or water mark and dust.

After: Full HD view. Although very close inspection can spot some stubborn watermark, I have no complain at all.

Clear reflection.

Like new. The engine bay cleaning is not part of the package, there was many customer and maybe has messed up their workflow.

After all the good comment, now let's talk about area that need improvement. The shop owners are very friendly and has asked me to inspect the car not less than 5 times, but I purposely did not inspect in full force otherwise I will have nothing to write. Here are some of the areas they missed out.

Engine bay cleaning is not part of the package, so no complain at all.

Engine bay cleaning is not part of the package, so no complain at all.

Need to improve.

Need to improve.

Despite there are areas for improvement, I'm very pleased with their service and the reasonable price. The owner is very friendly and take complaint with open mind and fix immediately without question ask. I will go back again if the timing is right and will also recommend to my friend. It will be best if they offer shuttle service to 1U :)

Air Asia: Everyone Can Fly

Maximus Every Car Can Shine.

Torrent Download Speed: Maxis vs. U Mobile vs. StreamyX

In Malaysia, we pay world class price to get 3rd world broadband speed. Oops, sorry, maybe some 3rd world is faster nowadays.

In early days (i think 10+ years ago), there is only 1 broadband service provider, Telekom, one and only one fixed line telephony provider. The broadband product is called StreamyX. Malaysian has no other option.

Later when mobile phone and high speed mobile network penetrate the market, we start to have more option to select: Maxis, P1 4G, Celcom, Digi, Yes 4G and U Mobile. Why do you pay for higher speed broadband? To watch news, online banking transaction, stock trading?

Frankly speaking, there is only 1 reason worth the payment for higher speed broadband, to download files, big size files, such as movies, software, songs and watch streaming video like YouTube.

Let's carry out the download speed test for broadband I have

• Maxis (mobile 3G): RM98 (Voice + Data), data quota is 1.5G.
• U Mobile (mobile 3G): RM88 (Voice + Data), data quota is 3G.
• StreamyX (fixed line): RM60 for 384kbps without data quota.

How well these 3 broadband providers performance in Torrent download?

The testing setup is pretty straight forward: on the broadband services and enable tethering & portable hotspot, connect the laptop to broadband via WIFI and start the same torrent download and monitor the speed.

Samsung S3 using Maxis 3G vs. Sony Xperia Arc using U Mobile 3G

Here are the results:
Maxis


StreamyX


U Mobile


There is no affordable unlimited data quota package from U Mobile and thus still need to pay for StreamyX, will look for alternative when my Maxis contract end.

As a comparison, below is the Singapore broadband speed and torrent download speed.

Car Paint Protection: Coating

Don't know since when, wax and polish are no longer DIY favored due to the huge effort needed and short effective duration. Although wax and polish are still common in detailing shop where you pay hundreds or thousands of RM, I believe eventually it will be phased out and be replaced by coating! Why is coating necessary? Read here.

Let's do some survey to find out the technology and package offered by various detailer.
Declaimer: as of 17-February-2013, I haven't done coating and is still doing research. The primary objective is to find an easy way to maintain the whiteness and shininess of my white Honda Jazz Hybrid, it gets dirt easily and I need to wash it every week!

1. Sierra Glow (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Glassglow is glass coating material which makes a layer of 100% inorganic on the surface of automobiles. As percentage of polysiloxan component in the product is more than 95% and due to Siloxan bondage (- Si - O – Si -) using non-solvent fluorine resin as a binder, Glassglow forms a layer of very hard and solvent free high polymer silica glass on the surface, which is extremely hard and durable. The detail can be found here.

• Cost: RM550 for Honda Jazz Hybrid, there is no price list published.
• Coverage: Exterior painted surface, headlights, tail lights and rims.
• Warranty: 5 years (Singapore give 3 years, I'm not sure why)
• Maintenance: Regular wash with normal car shampoo. If maintain the car well, after 1.5 to 2 years, may have bit and pieces where area cosmetically does not look nice. Then need to do grooming program to beautify back affected areas. There will be a service charge and depend on the amount of work require.

• Customer Satisfaction: Good, from what I read from Facebook. But I can't find photo with very shinning car that each detailer would published.

2. Waxson (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Permanon is a leading-edge High-tech development in terms of surface-protection and cleaning on the basis of pure mono-molecular Silicium.
• Cost: It is having promotion at the time of writing 17-February-2013.
• Classic Exterior: RM350/400/480/580
• Ultimate Exterior (with Meguiar's 4 step polish): RM500/600/760/960

• Coverage: Pain body, free interior dashboard & door panels and vinyl (promotion package) 
• Warranty: No.
• Maintenance: Permanon require periodic maintenance which is either weekly or monthly.
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook. Does it look ........ amazing?

3. Dirt Away (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Permanon is a leading-edge High-tech development in terms of surface-protection and cleaning on the basis of pure mono-molecular Silicium.
• Cost: It is having promotion at the time of writing 17-February-20. But add up the maintenance cost, it will be RM199 + RM80X12/5 = RM391. Personally I think Waxson will require the similar maintenance cost as it uses Permanon too.
  
• Coverage: External paint panel.
• Warranty: 1 year.
• Maintenance: Must wash the car using Diamond 2 in1 shampoo at least once in a month 100ml cost around RM80 add 20ml with 500ml of water mix and spray throughout the car and wash it.
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook.
  
  

4. Shine Guard (Website; Facebook) / Shine N Shield (Website)

• Technology: Polarized Paint Protection System (PPS) uses PTFE (Teflon) coating (the same substance that makes non-stick cookwares so slippery and tough that nothing will stick to it and will not crack or melt under extreme temperature) that will fuse and bond to the paint with U.S. patented PPS technology to create a dazzling, wet and deep shine and will stay and remain there to protect the paint against the damaging UV sun ray and all other harmful elements for years.

• Cost: RM1500 (Penang); RM880 (Sunway, 15% discount if 2 cars)
• Coverage: External paint panels.
• Warranty: 5 years (If you washed your car regularly especially after the rain and removed all bird droppings, tree saps and other hard to remove and acidic contaminants within 24 hours, PPS will last up to approximately 5 years on a new car) :-)
• Maintenance: Recommended PPS chemical cleaning every 6 month cost RM245.
  
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook.
  
  

5. Nano Brite (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Main ingredient consists of Titanium. That's it, that is the only information you can get, it does not explain further on the product! But surprisingly it provides up to 12H hardness.
• Cost:
  
• Coverage: Refer to the packages detail here.
• Warranty: Refer to Price section.
• Maintenance: It is recommended that weekly washing of the treated surfaces be done with NANO Shampoo. But I can't find the pricing of it.
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook.

6. Detailien (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Opti-Coat (Opti-Guard) is a hard wearing, aftermarket, ceramic clear coat for superior resistance to scratching (9H) and chemical etching from environmental impacts. It provides permanent protection for all factory paints, and can also be applied to exterior glass, metal and hard plastic surfaces.Optimum Coating bonds chemically to the clear coat.
  
  
• Cost & Coverage 
• From SuperDetailer:
• Opti Coat 2.0 price = RM1000 to RM1300 (Only Body panel).
• Opti Guard price = RM1800 to RM2700 (Body, Windscreen + windows and wheels rims.).
• From Detailien:
• Opti Guard price = RM2200 + RM200 (for rims)
• Warranty:  ULTIMATE warranty with term and conditions, recommend to wash car weekly with ONR (RM80 for 32 times wash)
• Maintenance: Annual - Hand wash and dry. Surface inspection. Paint decontamination if required. But personally I believe it needs periodic wash, listed here.
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook. But I'm truly impressed with their work and passion. Check out the Blogspot here.
  
  
  

7. Tribos (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Polymer designed specifically for painted surfaces protection. It acts like a car protective coating that ensures a water and oil-repellent surface that ‘locks out’ damaging water and salt and is very easy to clean. It contains amino functional silicones and silicone resins that chemically bond to the paint surface. They then cross-link together, chemically.
• Cost: The price of our Car Paint Protection varies according to size, type and condition of your automobile. You will need to contact them for a quote. For Honda Jazz Hybrid, it will cost RM1688.
• Coverage: Car paint, glass, wheels and fabric.
• Warranty: Car paint 3 years; Glass 6 months; Wheels 3 years; Fabric 1 year.
• Maintenance: Recommend to wash regularly with TRIBOS® Shampoo or an equivalent LOW ALKALINE shampoo and a clean sponge. Allow to air dry or use a clean chamois to remove any watermarks.
• Customer Satisfaction: Every Mazda car is treated with Tribos, from CX-5 owners feedback, the application and effectiveness are below bar. There is owner that satisfy with the product too. So, I guess the application process and detailer's skill play an important roles and it is not very consistent across the board. But the customer service is a top notch!
  
  
  

8. Prestige (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: CQuartz, Ceremic Nano Particles.
  
• Cost, Coverage and Warranty:
• Diamond Premium (RM1288, buy 2 free 1)
  1 YEAR MEMBERSHIP/Warranty
  1 x Prestige Exterior Coating
  1 x Windscreen Coating (1 year warranty)
  1 x Prestige 3 Layer Detailing( no interior detailing)
  12 Month Coating Warranty
• Titanium (RM2088, buy 2 free 1)
  2 YEARS MEMBERSHIP/Warranty
  1 x Prestige Premium Exterior Coating
  1 x Windscreen Coating (1 year warranty)
  1 x Prestige 3 Layer Detailing
  1 x Prestige Interior Detailing
  24 Month Coating Warranty
• Maintenance: Every 3 month waxing cost RM38 to removed some stain.
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook.
  
  
  

9. G'Zox (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Various type ranging from low end Fluorine Coating to high end Quartz 7 and to super high end Hi-MOHS.
• Cost: For a compact sized sedan, it ranges from RM480 (Fluorine Coating) to RM2200 (Quartz 7) and RM4500 (Hi-MOHS).
• Warranty: Ranges from 3 months (Fluorine Coating), 36 months (Quartz 7) and 60 months (Hi-MOHS).
• Maintenance: It is quite tedious as listed here. I believe alternatively, can send back to the shop for wash and maintenance: cost for 2nd and 3rd years will be RM100 X 8 Quarters= RM800.
  .
• Customer Satisfaction: Not available, as there is no customer feedback in Facebook.
  
  
  

10. RainAway (Website; Facebook)

• Technology:
• Silcoat - Based on a complex formula link and bond onto your car’s clear coat lacquer.
• Nano Diamond Coat Series is an Ionized Nano Resin that adheres strongly to the paint surface ensuring unprecedented performance. The coating protects all body paint from acid rain, salt damages, UV ray, prevents paint color fading and has an extreme water repellency and beading effect.
• Cost & Warranty & Coverage:
• Solcoat - Yet to confirm, but from Seremban dealer it is like RM1800 and must do in KL headquarter.
• Nano Diamond Coat. This is the interesting one, I asked 3 shops in Seremban and I get all different pricing and warranty. I immediately lost faith as there is no consistency affecting people perception on the product reputation and doubt its quality.
• Shop A: RM1388 (car paint, windows and interior) with 1 year warranty; RM550 (car paint and windows) but no warranty. 
• Shop B: RM625 (car paint and windows) with 1 year warranty for both.
• Shop C RM498 (car paint and windows) with 1 year warranty on windows.
• Maintenance: Need to wax every 3 months, cost RM40 to RM60 depends on shop. Again, there is no consistency.
• Customer Satisfaction: Quite good feedback on the windows coating, but there is no feedback on the car paint coating.
  
  
  

11. Bonson Diamondbrite (Website)

• Technology: Diamondbrite is made from refined rock oils that are formulated into a 2 stage process so that each product compliments the next and builds up to create a tough durable glaze. The detail can be found here.
• Cost & Coverage: RM1388 for exterior paint surface.
• Warranty: 10 years, require year inspection/re-coat, free for the first 6 years, subsequent need to pay RM160-RM190.
• Maintenance: Monthly apply Conserver after car wash. Conserver (250ml) cost RM149.00, last for 1 year.
• Customer Satisfaction: Can't find much information, but in U.K. it has many automotive customers such as Ferrari, Bentley and etc.
  
  
  
  I'm a bit worry on the environment, it does not look like a professional car detailier shop.

12. Bling Detailing Haus (Website; Facebook)

• Technology: Nano Ceramic Coating.
  
  

• Cost & Warranty:
• For Honda Jazz or similar size
• Stage 1 (1 year warranty): RM499 promotional price; normal price is RM1199
• Stage 2 (2 year warranty): RM799 promotional price; normal price is RM1899
• Stage 3 (5 year warranty): RM1999 promotional price; normal price is RM3419
• For Honda Civic or similar size
• Stage 1 (1 year warranty): RM599 promotional price; normal price is RM1399
• Stage 2 (2 year warranty): RM999 promotional price; normal price is RM2299
• Stage 3 (5 year warranty): RM1999 promotional price; normal price is RM4299
• Coverage: Exterior paint surface
• Maintenance: Normal weekly wash with PH neutral shampoo.
• Customer Satisfaction: Can't find much information.

13. ProTech (Website, Facebook)

• Technology: Proprietary self developed solution. The only one has Test weather-o-meter ISO (11341-2813) testing.
  
  
  
• Cost:
• Honda Jazz or similar size: RM2390
• Honda Civic or similar size: RM2690
• Warranty: 5 years for new car (less than 5000KM and less than 3 months), 3 years for old car.
• Maintenance: Free with 1 ProCase maintenance kit, but there is no mentioning on the price if need to purchase a new one.
• Customer Satisfaction: International brand, check out their websites and Facebook, a lot of high class car is their customer.
  
  
  

Final Verdict:
Regardless the technology they use, in order to prolong the lifespan almost all coating requires regular car wash using either normal shampoo or their proprietary shampoo. Moreover some require yearly inspection and maintenance.

	Cost*	Warranty (year)	Special Shampoo	Maintenance  Effort	Require Touch Up
Sierra Glow	550	5	Yes (SierraWash)	Wash + SierraBead	Yes, Chargeable
Shine Guard Shine N Shield	880	5	Yes (Paint Maint Kit)	Wash	Half yearly, Chargeable (RM145)
Nano Brite	1380	5	Yes (Nano Shampoo)	Wash	Yes, FOC
Detailien	2200	Ultimate	Yes (ONR)	Wash	Yes, Unknown
Tribos	1688	3	Yes (TRIBOS)	Wash	Unknown
Prestige	2088	2	No	Wash	Quarterly, Chargeable (RM38)
G’Zox	2200	3	Yes	Wash	Quarterly, 2nd year onward Chargeable (RM100)
Bonson	1388	10	Yes (Conserver)	Wash + Conserver	Yearly, FOC for 6 years, RM160 to RM190 after that.
Bling	799**	2	No	Wash	Yes (as long as water does not bead anymore), FOC
ProTech	2390	5	Yes (ProCase)	ProCase (5 steps)	Yes, FOC

*Cost is based on Honda Jazz.
**Promotion price.

Firstly, what is the purpose for coating? My purpose is to reduce the time and frequency for washing/take care the car (I buy car, not car buy me). At the same time, I can't afford to frequently send back for preventive maintenance such as quarterly. It wastes time, although no doubts it provides better protection and more shine, but that is not my purpose of coating.

The next factor to consider is budget:

• If money is not a problem at all, go for ProTech followed by Detailien and then Nano Brite. 
• If budget is limited, I would consider Bling (promotional price) followed by Sierra Glow. Total cost of ownership of Sierra Glow factor in the SierraWash, SierraBead (for best effect) and touch up cost is comparable with Bling. Bling benefits for less maintenance effort, FOC touch up whenever the surface is no longer bead water and 9H pencil hardness (Sierra Glow is 5H); but Sierra Glow provide 5 years warranty.

Disclaimer, this is purely my personal opinions, as of 9-March-2013 I haven't decided which coat to go for.
Feel free to share your and let me know if any of the above information is inaccurate.

Wet Shine does have a nice write up on coat comparison here, but unfortunately he does not finish up the durability testing.




Sharing: Permanon Platinum vs. Nu Finish One Year Polish (here).

Special: To share my bad experience on Groupon Deal: London Weight Management Slimming Package, where is the Consumer Right?