My dealer threw in the paint protection stuff for free because we did a lease and got an alarm added in from them, but I know people that paid a decent chunk of cash, like 200?

so if you got your car paint protected by the dealer and you clay bar your car you basically just removed whatever protection you had?

 

I have never done this - but I cant believe one regular claying would remove the dealer product. Aggressive and repetitive would do it, but work out your frustrations somewhere else, not on the car's finish.

They are not applying a wax, wihich come soff much easier with clay - so I would venture you are ok to do it once in a while - and when you see you dont have the shine or water run-off anymore - put something good on it. Since it was free, no lose.