Trailer Coating Protection

[Sherwolfe]

A friend of mine is buying a new Cougar TT, the dealership is trying to talk him into buying "Duratain" coating to protect the trailer. The trailer has the gel coat siding so can anyone tell me if this is truly a good protective coating or just something the dealer is trying to sell.

Here in the state of Oregon, on the West side of the Cascade mountains we don't have extreme weather conditions, yes it get hot at time, and maybe a little snow, but mostly rain. I could understand the Durataine protector if we were in really hot or extreme cold, but if you keep it clean and use some mild soap and wax to keep it clean does this Duratain really seem necessary?

Thanks for any advice.

[jsmith948]

Opinions on this will vary - but for me, I think this is just a way for the dealer to add a little "after-the-deal-is-made" profit. FWIW, I think your friend would be better off spending his money on a gallon of Aerospace 303 protectant which will probably treat the sides 3 or 4 times at about $65 from Amazon.
These dealer applied coatings are supposed to last "5 years". Sorry - I don't think so. JMHO

[chuckster57]

Read the fine print. Some require periodic maintance. When I bought mine in '12 I used a whole can of Nu finish. My work gave me an after market product warrantied for 5 yrs. since I did the application myself it wasn't, but now 5 yrs later I can say it did what it said it would do. I didn't use duratain.

[Sherwolfe]

Opinions on this will vary - but for me, I think this is just a way for the dealer to add a little "after-the-deal-is-made" profit. FWIW, I think your friend would be better off spending his money on a gallon of Aerospace 303 protectant which will probably treat the sides 3 or 4 times at about $65 from Amazon.
These dealer applied coatings are supposed to last "5 years". Sorry - I don't think so. JMHO

You are correct on opinions, looking at some other forums who discuss this topic, well lets just say there are many opinions. However, I tend to still side with those who say for the cost one could do better by just doing some cleaning and waxing.

Appreciate your HO, Thanks.

[Sherwolfe]

Read the fine print. Some require periodic maintance. When I bought mine in '12 I used a whole can of Nu finish. My work gave me an after market product warrantied for 5 yrs. since I did the application myself it wasn't, but now 5 yrs later I can say it did what it said it would do. I didn't use duratain.

Thank you for the input, I have heard some concerns with the duratain application is that should you need to stick anything to the side of application that it will not allow tape or other materials to stick. This then makes me wonder if one had to have repairs, hopefully not, but if the did would this cause problems?

Still seems like a lot of money for something one can do by waxing and washing, not that I'm a big fan of doing this all the time, but a couple of times a year seems reasonable, then just spend the money on some other worthwhile items, right?

[LarrySharon]

I did have it put on my new TT in July. So long term I can't speak of. But the cleaning is so easy. Just use Dawn soap and water a light brushing and it is so clean, so easy. As a fellow Oregonian mentioned earlier we get lot of rain, so why would I want to spend the relatively few days of sunny weather waxing. And nothing sticks to it. not even dried spattered blackberries and their juices. Normally I don't go for the extra stuff because it is over priced but I am happy about this purchased. So it was worth it for me but maybe not to someone else. I dislike physical labor. LOL :D

[Sherwolfe]

I did have it put on my new TT in July. So long term I can't speak of. But the cleaning is so easy. Just use Dawn soap and water a light brushing and it is so clean, so easy. As a fellow Oregonian mentioned earlier we get lot of rain, so why would I want to spend the relatively few days of sunny weather waxing. And nothing sticks to it. not even dried spattered blackberries and their juices. Normally I don't go for the extra stuff because it is over priced but I am happy about this purchased. So it was worth it for me but maybe not to someone else. I dislike physical labor. LOL :D

Thanks for the info, it really helps when someone that has actually used it provides their input. I will pass this along to my friend.