We ordered a black GX470 that's coming in a few weeks, and the dealer is doing a (polite) full-court press to have us pay extra for what they call Simonizing -- coating the inside and out with a protectiuve finish. We had this done on an old LS400 and the interior and exterior held up really well, but there's a nagging feeling that this is just a guy with a plastic spray can, and isn't worth it. On the other hand, our roads are heavily salted in winter, and we think this may be helpful. The dealer came down in price and claims we're getting it at cost. Are we crazy to go ahead with this?

Absolute, complete and total waste of money. Dealer scam. Simonize it a brand name. A LONG time ago, when waxing was new, everyone called it Simonizing. Save your money and have your car detailed at least twice a year. What the dealer is doing is ripping you off.

Agreed, total waste. The reason they're pushing it so hard is that its pure profit. The reason your LS400 held up so well is thats how Lexuses are.

Check out www.lexuscarcare.com and learn how to protect the paint yourself

If they wont let up say "Hey, you can quit with the Simonizing or you're going to loose this sale" they'll shut up immediately.

I once walked out on a computer purchase because they wouldn't quit about the warranty. All these add ons are wastes of money. I had it on a dolly right next to the checkout and the guy had been working on me for 15 minutes. I told him "If you want to sell this computer you really need to drop the warrany pushing" he actually got really nasty, so I just took my hands off the cart and said "You can explain to your manager why this needs to be restocked" and walked out.

No reason to deal with people like that. Plenty other people to sell you stuff that will do it on your terms.

Out here in Northern California, they call the protective coating Magna Shield. I have had it done on my GS, ES and now the GX. The thing here is, you don't have to pay what they want. Negotiate the price down to something reasonable. Magna Shield protection is guaranteed for five years by the dealer. They have been very good about doing "touchup" applications for no charge.

If you pay more than $30 for it its a waste of money. All they do is apply some sort of Polymer sealant to the paint. You can do that at home with Zaino, Klasse, Platinum UPP, Blackfire, Poorboys EX, Meguiars NXT, Meguiars #20, and a host of others. Something NXT you can buy at Pep Boys. All of these will offer better protection at less cost, and if you dont care about how it looks no propwork is needed (NXT actually looks great with no prepwork).

They re-apply it every year but in reality its only going to last a couple of months, so you're going 10 months without protection which you just dont want to do.

If you really want to care for the car pay a detailer $60 twice a year (really should be 4 times a year) to do a good quality wax job with a high quality product.

If you want to spend that money on something the dealer offers that is REALLY worthwhile, get Lojack.