Nelson

Firstly, I would like to point out that I am not sponsored nor affiliated with 5 Star Shine; it’s owners, employees, or subsidiaries.

This review is solely based on my personal experience with 5 Star Shine Paint Protection Kit. The product tested is the same as ones available at www.5starshine.com.

I received my sample pack shortly within days of being notified of my confirmed order placement/request. Chad from 5 Star was a pleasure to deal with. He was professional and patient



It was weeks before I could try the product due to rainy weather every weekend, I was very limited as to when I could try out the product. Both Chad and I were anxious about my test, as Chad so kindly reminded me daily with e-mails and PM’s… :squint: I was anxious to test the product because I wanted to know if it would be as good as it said it would be. After weeks of rain, I finally decided to apply the product on June 4th, 2004. I took the day off from work and started to work on the wash early.


The product:
5 Star stands by it’s claim “Never Wax Your Car Again”. They claim their product does not contain any wax at all… “5 STAR SHINE is not a car wax. In fact, it contains no waxes of any kind. Our patented PPS formula protects your paint with PTFE (the same substance that makes nonstick cookware so slippery) for unbeatable shine and protection guaranteed to last for years!”

So if it’s not wax, wtf is it? Well 5 Star claims it’s made of mainly “PTFE”. Now wtf is “PTFE”?

“5 STAR SHINE's main ingredient, PTFE, is one of the slipperiest substances known to man. It's this slick substance that repels dirt like crazy and keeps your car incredibly clean. If you have a fast Internet connection, make sure you check out Video #2 (on their site), that shows how our PTFE protection is so slick that not even water can stick to it! When washing is needed you can simply rinse dirt away with a hose! Nothing is easier! Nothing protects as well! Nothing compares!”

--- Nothing? Yea, sure, I’d like to be the judge of that. A little background on the products I use religiously on my own car: Meguiars NXT wax, Grand One Blitz Wax and Omega Glaze polish. I use those waxes and polishes because they go on and off easily and provide a DEEP glossy and slick shine."

Nelson

The test vehicle:
2004 Honda Odyssey... –“That’s not his car!” you might ask, well, hey, I’ve never heard of this “5 Star Shine” product, I’m not going to risk it on MY car . The car belongs to my family and is daily driven by my mother. I see this car at least once a week so I know how often (or more like UN-often) my family takes care of the car’s paint. The car is brand new and I’ve never waxed it, just soap and water each time I saw it if I had time. I realized that if I didn’t wash it, no one really had the time to. I wanted a product that would keep the car clean and shiny because this van is pretty big and takes me a while to fully wash.

The Wash:
Firstly, I washed the car entirely with Kit’s Carnauba Car Wash (which I HIGHLY recommend) then I clay bar’ed the entire vehicle. The surface was pretty good since it was less than 4-5 months old, but I was told that it may be a good idea to get the most clean surface as possible. After the LONG process and the car was dried. It was time to start with 5 Star Shine. By the way, this was all done under a shaded canopy.

The Paint Protection System consists of a two-step process.
Step 1: Use the “Polarizing Wash Solution” . I was thinking, ok, sounds “nifty”. It instructed to pour entire contents of this solution into a gallon of lukewarm water. I crack open the bottle and take a wiff, it smells like bleach, mixed with some paint thinner or something, in other words, didn’t smell pleasant. I poured it in and mixed it with a brand new sponge (to ensure no contaminants).


It then instructs to wash the entire car with this solution and let it DRY on the car… ok?


As I began washing the car with this solution, I realize that the solution did give off a strong chemical smell. I’d suggest people to be in a well-ventilated area, of course. Then shortly after, I start feeling burning sensations in my hands, it was because I worked on my car the night before and I had a lot of tiny nicks and cuts. And boy I felt every one of them now. (Note: AFTER mentioning this to Chad upon competition, he happily suggested that I wear gloves as he does when applying it, yeah thanks for the heads up Chad

So the entire car is covered with this solution, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get it on the glass, so I avoided it as much as I could. After it was covered, it said to let it completely dry out. So it took about 15-20 min, while it was drying, I went to go hose down my hands with some clean water and grab a cold one.

After it dried, it looked as if the car was covered in semi white/clear dried up goo… as if it were the back drop of an adult film :exnbp: :ugh: Anyways… After it dried, it was instructed to hose it off completely and dry again. I did so again and the car looked pretty clean and sparkly.






Step 2: Unscrew the cap of Step 2: Paint Protection Coating. It was a white thickish paste, but spreads out softly. Me, forgetting that Chad had advised to use as little as possible, gobbed on a decent amount (about the size of a penny). Using the enclosed “free” foam applicator, I began the elbow grease. I didn’t like it at ALL. It was pretty tough to get it to spread evenly but with patience, I did the entire hood. The foam applicator that came with it was not as good as I thought, I'd suggest using one of those waxing pads made of cotton. The hood is relatively small because it’s a minivan. Once I covered the whole hood I then went to buff it off with a detailer’s polishing cloth, 100% cotton and soft.

Bought these at Wal-Mart for like $7 for 12. They worked great with the other waxes and polishes. Boy did I regret putting that much on the hood as it was a pain in the neck to buff it all out. After the buffing/removing the polish, the shine was pretty nice, I have to admit, not quite as deep as the waxes I use, but it was shiny. As far as slickness, I did not find it to be as slick as the waxes as well.

After I was done with the hood, I moved on to the driver side door, rear door, rear quarter panel and around to the other side. I also went and did the roof, which was quite a task because it was pretty high and pretty wide.

Nelson

Finished:
Upon completion, I pulled up a chair and sat and checked out my work. I started at around 11am, finished about 5:30PM, no breakfast, lunch or dinner yet… btw.

The shine did seem pretty good, but then the products claim is its longevity without having to wax or really wash. There is no way of me knowing how great or un-great this product was unless time goes on.

A week goes by, and I see the car after my family used it to drive about 200 or so miles everywhere, parked in the city, in the suburbs, everywhere. The car was still SPOTLESS and virtually dust-free. Boy was I pretty impressed. Next week goes by, same thing, very little dust and pollen (still Spring season here). Mind you, it had rained on and off a few days so water spots would have been imminent- but Charlie, no spots!

The next week it was a bit dusty so I just used my California Car duster and just brushed off the slight dust. No biggie, everything was back to shine. My family had also commented that the car has been staying significantly cleaner and asked what I did, I told them I used a $67 valued product and they were a bit taken by the price, but they said it works well! After a month, (July 5th) I still have not even washed the van, as it was pretty clean, I was very surprised. I finally hosed down the car with water to remove some dirt/mud from the rain splashing onto the side and the dirt came right off without effort. The car was sparkling and shining as if I had washed it with soap, WOW!

On July 8th, while driving on the parkway, the city decided to paint the overpasses and I had no way of knowing this until after I drove under as they were rolling on the paint. Needless to say, the van was splattered slightly, very tiny drops of paint had landed on the hood, windshield, and roof. I wanted to pull over and clean it, but being on the parkway, it was virtually impossible, after 15min of driving, I finally parked and frantically took towels to remove the paint splatter, amazingly, it came off without rubbing too hard! COOL!

Now it being almost 2 months and just one rinse, the car is pretty dusty but I just rinsed it again and boy it’s still clean. Again, I’d point out the surface is not AS shiny/slick, but it is still better than if nothing was used. So as you can read, I am a bit surprised and satisfied with the product—for now. I do know only after a year or so, it’s claims can be valid or not, as I will post updates.

Bottom Line:
It works! Not as shiny and smooth, but it really helps keep the car clean. I plan on getting another kit in the future for my family’s other cars, but only when I have the time. I don’t want to apply it to my car… not because I don’t trust it, but I actually like waxing and washing my car


Again, thanks to Chad for the test sample :goodjob:

I would suggest those who wish to purchase this product, go to www.5starshine.com and be sure to use promotion code: VIPDISCOUNTS for a BIG discount!

Nelson

I will post new pictures asap!
Thanks for reading.

BlackAcc02D

Hope you DO update this every other month.....

redgoober4life

Is it worth $67 though?

chadster

MaxBoosT, thanks for doing the review.

Just so people are aware, with the "VIPDISCOUNTS" customer code it is only $47.

-Chad

dom93hatch

Thanks for the review, I might try this on my parents' cars.

Nelson

:thumbup: Dom!

wedley2

nice write up, should consider to my friend who has a black car.