has anyone looked into cheaper alternatives to Stongard? i've found there are other venders Protec, Starshield, and Armourfend.. they all use same thing as Stongard called 3M Scotchcal anyone heard of this stuff? i'm not sure if the other companies make custom kits for certain cars like stongard does though..

 

I think the differences are:

1) stongard is more complete... they include things like door cup, door edge, and hood that folds in not stop at the edge.

2) great service: I've never worked with any one more willing to help than David and Cory.

3) don't fall for the retail pricing on StonGards site... get a few people in your area in and i am sure you can strike a good deal.

-Shing

 

I think 3M has a lock on this market. Here's another place that sells Scotchcal:

http://www.xpel.com/paint/applications.html

 

yeah it's all the same stuff... but I went with stongard for the reasons listed above.

Plus there are two installer in houston, called them on *several* occations, couldn't get anyone to pick up the phone even.

-Shing

-Shing

 

The founder of StonGard, Tim Heikell, actually worked with the engineers at 3M on the development of the product about 10 years ago. Tim used to autocross his 911 and the weather up in Seattle made using the normal bra sort of out of the question due to the constant rainfall. He used some helicopter tape originally to protect the flat part of his hood, but that product was too stiff to cover the curved areas of his Porsche. That's when he began working with 3M to get the product flexable enough to form the complex curves that are common with most automobiles today.

As with any successful product, there are going to be others following suit. This is where StonGard has the advantage. The competition didn't help 3M develope the product, and doesn't have full grasp of what can and can't be done with the Scotchcal. If you look at some of the other's kits, you will see relief cuts, a V shaped area, that allows their installers to work around the complex curves. On their S2000 kits, there is an area below the grill that has to be "butt seamed" It makes for an easier installation, but leaves seams that look unsightly and not only collect dirt and wax, but also leave areas where a wash mitt or waxing cloth can catch the edge and pull the product up off the car. http://www.stongard.com/sgcontent/compare.asp?point=1

Another way that some of the competition can under cut our price is by chopping up the kits to fit more into a given piece of the scotchcal. Chopping up the hood for instance, and then giving you extra pieces that have to be seamed onto the car saves them money, but leaves the customer with more of the above mentioned trouble spots.
http://www.stongard.com/sgcontent/compare.asp?point=2

StonGard's main concern is the products final appearance on your car, not how easy it is for an installer to apply. If you total all the pieces that some of the others offer to cover the areas that StonGard does, I think you will find the prices to be within $20 or $30 difference. If you take in to account the cost of the kit plus an install, even at full retail, you might save a whole 1%, but you will have a kit that has more areas that show dirt and offer less coverage.

After all this, I think the most important part of of any of these products is the installer. If you plan to do this yourself, I would go with the cheap and easy ones. You probably won't be happy with the results and I don't recommend anyone without proper training to try this on an S2000, Shingles can attest to that since he saw it being applied. StonGard only authorizes installers that have completed a comprehensive training program. If there isn't an installer near you, contact me and I will see what I can do.

I checked out most of these products, plus a few more before I went with Stongard because I felt they offered the superior product in this market. If I was going to put a product like this on my S2000, I was going with the best, and I was so impressed with it I joined the team.