"Showroom New" Trim Restorer- info & experience

[mike nomy]

Although your cladding looks much better in the after pics, i still really think mine look better with the Gatorback finish. i don't know y everyone is so skeptical about it... it's been on my truck for like 6 months now n survived this past nasty new york winter.... and it lookd like i did it yesterday. actually, it looks like i never did anything to the cladding, it looks like 1999! the stuf u used shows streaks, but the gatorback dries to a completely smooth, even finish... and it doesn't chip peel or fade. or at least, it hasn't, and believe me when i say i'm not easy on my vx. hardly ever wash her, dirt, mud and road salt covered the cladding ALL winter, n when i finally washed it all off, the cladding looked as good as it did the day i sprayed it with gatorback. and also, it only took about 1 1/2 hours to do, start to finish....
i don't know, i'm just really happy with it and wish more of u guys would try it

[VX KAT]

Although your cladding looks much better in the after pics, i still really think mine look better with the Gatorback finish. i don't know y everyone is so skeptical about it... it's been on my truck for like 6 months now n survived this past nasty new york winter.... and it lookd like i did it yesterday. actually, it looks like i never did anything to the cladding, it looks like 1999! the stuf u used shows streaks, but the gatorback dries to a completely smooth, even finish... and it doesn't chip peel or fade. or at least, it hasn't, and believe me when i say i'm not easy on my vx. hardly ever wash her, dirt, mud and road salt covered the cladding ALL winter, n when i finally washed it all off, the cladding looked as good as it did the day i sprayed it with gatorback. and also, it only took about 1 1/2 hours to do, start to finish....
i don't know, i'm just really happy with it and wish more of u guys would try it

Glad to hear the GB is looking good and holding up so well for you. I agree, GB looks smoother and totally uniform, and SN left a few streaks. BUT, after reading tons of posts on the Chevy Avalanche and another forum (can't recall name right now), I read many accounts of GB scratching off, peeling/chipping when abraded. Already went through it with the Restore/Refinish.

I live in one of the prickliest/pokey/sharp/stickers/abrasion capital of the U.S.....the desert SouthWest AND I go off-roading, AND I live on a dirt road so EVERY day is like an off road adventure...so ABRASION is GOING to happen to my VX, no doubt about it.

He!! I got all kinds of trail rash last week when we went on an outing in the hills around here visiting 3 old mines....everything was overgrown on the trail and lots of rocky areas too, so I actually used 4Lo for a while. The stuff that grows around here is called "catsclaw"...wanna guess why? And my other friend is the ever present prickly pear cacti, but let's not forget my very BEST friend....the Manzanita bushes. Manzanita grows about 3-5 ft tall ....conveniently the same height as the side of a car, and has extremely stiff branches...and for some damn reason it lines just about every trail I've been on.....and that's what left all those purdy scratches on my paint and cladding.

The difference is, GB would scratch, chip and then start to peel in my setting. This dye product just leaves the scratch in the plastic cladding...just like it was native cladding....with no chipping or further deterioration. So for ME, this is the better choice of product. But GB may well be best for you and most others. It's just an individual choice and what meets your needs. All I wanted was darker cladding with no maintenance....and I think I've achieved that.

How long it took ME to apply it, or how many coats I chose to apply is irrelevant. And since I'm the first to try this product, I now know using the sponge covered in terry cloth is the best applicator...but unfortunately, I didn't discover that until coating #3. So folks that try it from here out should have far less streaking, if any at all, based on what I learned. Price I paid for being the guinea pig I guess.
And as an additional benny, it's way cheaper than GB. How'd I get that lucky?

It ain't perfect, but neither am I , so look at it this way, we're BOTH happy with our cladding!