@Maximusbiggus; I always decline the dealer-applied paint protection, because as you’ve found previously, the dealer doesn’t have the experience - nor do they devote sufficient time - to do it properly.
Even with a new car, before any form of paint protection is applied, the car should be decontaminated to remove tar, glue and iron deposits, the paintwork then examined for defects and if there are any, remove them by polishing. Depending on the overall condition of the paintwork, it might be necessary for a single stage machine polish to be done before applying the paint protection of choice.
Will the dealer do any of the prep and defect correction? Not a chance! A professional detailer will go through all of these stages after they’ve carried out pre-wash, safe wash and safe drying stages and all in, it’ll probably take around around 1.5 - 2 days to prep the car and apply the paint treatment (including curing time). The VW dealer at most will spend 1.5 - 2 hours to single bucket wash the car (with a gritty sponge) and apply Lifeshine or GuardX on top of the paint with contaminants embedded in it. I wouldn’t ever let the dealer apply paint protection to my car, even if they did it for free. I certainly wouldn’t pay €500; you could get a professional detailer to do a much better job for less money. I also make sure the dealer doesn’t wash my car when it goes back to the dealership for servicing.
I do my own new car prep because I enjoy doing it. It probably takes me a couple of days. I’m still old school and use a wax or synthetic wax rather than a ceramic coating on the paintwork and wheels, which I then top up when it’s needed.
