They are charging for it. I think the guy said it was $845.00

 

I think it's viable for the auto makers to tag something like this in to the mix but, they're going to have to really market it and convince the end user (us, as customers) that it's value-added.

Knowing what I know about this type of thing, I'd bawk at another $850 on my sticker... many may not, I suppose. Hard to say. It seems a bit steep but, again, if they can convince that it's value-added; they'll sell it, IMO.

Again, I may be totally wrong... I'm still thinking that it's a dealer markup item. I went through and tinkered at saturn.com on each of their models and didn't see it as an 'accessory' on any of them and, seemingly, the 'exterior accessory' category is all encompassing when it comes to 'options'.

 

Remember guys, the big thing that has changed in the last ten years or so is the quality and longevity of the paint that is applied to almost any vehicle. Even the metal underneath is vastly improved. The net result is veicles that last much longer - even if you do absolutely nothing to them. This is great for snake oil salesmen because they can claim that their product was responsible for something that the manufacturer actually built right in.

A friend of mine just paid over $400.00 for a Ziebardt "Diamond Gloss" paint sealant. They guaranteed him that he'd never have to wash his vehicle again. "But Jim, you never wash your vehicles anyway" was my reply. "Uh, yea, but they say this will help even more" he said. See how this works? P.T. Barnum was right!

Another wonderful example was those "electronic rust evader" systems that came out a few years ago. They (by themselves) did absolutely nothing, but they came out at the same time the manufacturers dramatically improved the corrosion resistance of their vehicles. So who was responsible for those vehicles not rusting as fast? Kinda depends which salesman you were talking to.

 

When we got my wife's 07 Accord we got a PermaPlate package that included protectant for the paint, leather, and carpet, applied at the dealership. Now personally I don't think the chemicals are anything revolutionary, but I do like the peace of mind of the warranty. IIRC it was pretty cheap too, like $200ish. Now on the other hand if it were something crazy like $800 just for paint, no way!

I agree with others on the quality of modern paint, body panels, etc. I'm sure you could do a great deal of abuse on a new vehicle before the paint actually failed.