Salt air and hard UV on cars, boats and trailers. Every legal shade is the same price, with a lifetime warranty.
5 min 30 sec
Currumbin cars live a harder life than most on the Gold Coast. Between the Alley car park, Elephant Rock and the streets off Pacific Parade, vehicles here sit in salt laden air for hours at a time, often with wet boardshorts, sandy towels and dripping boards going in and out of them.
Salt settles on paint as an invisible film, then draws moisture back out of the air overnight. That is why beachside cars so often show early clear coat dulling and water spot etching on the bonnet, roof and rear quarter well before the paint is old enough to justify it.
We are at Arundel, roughly thirty minutes north, and Currumbin makes up a steady share of our beachside work.
Carbon XP at $395, Ceramic IR at $595 and Evolve IR Ceramic at $895. All three block over 99 per cent of UV, which is what saves a beachside car dash and trim. Lifetime warranty, any legal shade, same price.
Three coatings from $995 over eight years to $1,795 over ten. On a Currumbin car the job they do is stop salt and mineral deposits bonding to the clear coat, so a hose rinse actually removes them.
Trailers launched at the Currumbin Creek ramp get the harshest salt exposure of anything you own. We coat painted frames and gelcoat so the rinse afterwards carries salt away instead of leaving a film.
For a car parked at the beach, film choice comes down to how long it sits in the sun. Carbon XP at $395 covers a car that mostly does short runs. Ceramic IR at $595 and Evolve IR Ceramic at $895 are the ones we fit to cars that spend whole days at the Alley. All three carry a lifetime warranty, every shade included. Full specifications are on our window tinting page.
On the coating side, salt is the deciding factor. Our three options run from $995 over eight years to $1,795 over ten, and the harder the finish the less salt and mineral deposit can bond to it. Correction is quoted separately from $100 for the first hour, and it comes first so nothing gets sealed in. The comparison sits on our ceramic coating page.
Both are booked through the Arundel workshop, and tint and coating together are scheduled as one job.
The most common thing through our door from Currumbin is water spotting on horizontal panels. Bonnet, roof, boot lid. It looks like the car has been rained on and never dried, and it is usually a mix of salt aerosol and hard water that has been allowed to sit and dry in the sun. Caught early it polishes out. Left a season or two and it etches into the clear coat, at which point it needs machine correction rather than a wash.
The second is interior damage that people do not connect to the beach at all. Dash tops that have gone chalky, door cards fading unevenly, leather bolsters cracking on the driver side first. That is UV, and it is worse here because a car parked at the Alley or Elephant Rock has no shade and a long exposure.
The third is grit damage. Sand gets walked into a car and then dragged across the paint during washing, and beachside cars pick up more fine scratching from that than almost anything else. It is the reason we talk about wash technique as much as products.
The things our beachside customers ask us most.
Yes, though not the way most people assume. Salt does not corrode modern clear coat directly. It is hygroscopic, meaning it pulls moisture out of the air and holds it against the paint for far longer than rain would. That prolonged damp contact accelerates oxidation and lets mineral deposits etch in. Beachside cars in Currumbin, Palm Beach and Tugun show it as a chalky haze on horizontal panels.
Every one to two weeks is the practical minimum, and a plain fresh water rinse after a beach day does more good than most people expect. If your car is coated, that rinse is usually all it needs. The whole point of a coating is that contaminants never get the chance to bond.
It is the single biggest factor. Our films block over 99 per cent of UV, and UV is what breaks down dash plastics, leather and trim dyes. Heat rejection is the comfort benefit. UV rejection is what protects the cabin long term, and for a car parked at the Alley or the Sanctuary all day that matters more than the shade you pick.
All work is done at our Arundel workshop on Kendor Street. Coatings and tint both need a controlled, dust free space and a stable temperature to cure properly, and a driveway install is where most tint bubbling and coating high spots come from. It is about a thirty minute drive up the M1.
Usually yes. Mineral etching from salt and sprinkler water sits in the top layer of clear coat, and machine paint correction levels it back out. Correction is from $100 for the first hour, then we assess. It always happens before coating, otherwise you seal the defects in for the life of the coating.
We work on marine and towed vehicles as well as cars. Trailers that get dunked at the Currumbin Creek ramp cop the worst salt exposure of anything you own, and coating the painted and gelcoat surfaces makes the rinse afterwards far more effective.
Only after the spotting is corrected. A coating is transparent and it seals whatever is underneath it, so coating over etched paint locks the marks in for the life of the coating. We assess the paint first, correct what needs correcting from $100 for the first hour, then coat. If the etching is too deep to level safely we will tell you rather than take your money.
Same day if you can, and plain fresh water is enough. Salt is hygroscopic, so it keeps pulling moisture out of the air and holding it against the paint overnight. A two minute hose down after a beach trip removes most of what would otherwise sit there working on the clear coat until the next wash.
Yes, that is one of the more common jobs we do. Automatic washes and poor hand technique drag grit across the paint and leave fine circular scratches that show up badly in Gold Coast sun. Machine correction removes them. We do not do general car detailing, but repairing wash damage and swirl marks is squarely what we do.
"Had my windows tinted at Prestige Protection, and I couldn’t be happier with the result! The team was professional, friendly, and really knew their stuff. The tint looks flawless, with no bubbles or imperfections, and it’s made a huge difference in keeping my car cooler. Highly recommend them for top-quality workmanship and great service!"
"Wonderful work from both Shannon and Aiden! Had my car tinted with Evolve IR, ceramic coating and interior protection and am very happy with the results. The boys were very easy to deal with and delivered everything they had promised. Fantastic attention to detail and the results look brilliant."
"Had my Lamborghini Gallardo done at Prestige Protection recently – paint correction and ceramic coating. To be honest, I'm so pleased with the outcome. The paint was showing its age, some swirl marks, the usual. They took care of it. The finish is noticeably improved. Deeper color, cleaner look, and the water beads right off."
"I chose Prestige Protection for a new car protection package on my Audi, and I am very pleased with the outcome. I chose the ceramic coating, window tint, and interior protection services. The result is better than I expected car has a noticeably enhanced shine and the window tint is flawless. Highly recommend."
"I took my brand new truck in to have the windows tinted. Alan took the time show the different products he offers and explained the features of each. I went with his recommendation and couldn't be happier with the result. They completed the work perfectly, on time and worked out far better value than the dealer product."
"I had my S3 tinted and ceramic coated by Prestige Protection, and I’m beyond impressed with how it looks! The tint gives it a sleek, modern appearance while reducing glare, and the ceramic coating has left the paint with an amazing shine. Water beads right off, making it look like it’s always freshly cleaned, it really enhanced the car's overall look."
"Had my windows tinted at Prestige Protection, and I couldn’t be happier with the result! The team was professional, friendly, and really knew their stuff. The tint looks flawless, with no bubbles or imperfections, and it’s made a huge difference in keeping my car cooler. Highly recommend them for top-quality workmanship and great service!"
"Wonderful work from both Shannon and Aiden! Had my car tinted with Evolve IR, ceramic coating and interior protection and am very happy with the results. The boys were very easy to deal with and delivered everything they had promised. Fantastic attention to detail and the results look brilliant."
"Had my Lamborghini Gallardo done at Prestige Protection recently – paint correction and ceramic coating. To be honest, I'm so pleased with the outcome. The paint was showing its age, some swirl marks, the usual. They took care of it. The finish is noticeably improved. Deeper color, cleaner look, and the water beads right off."
"I chose Prestige Protection for a new car protection package on my Audi, and I am very pleased with the outcome. I chose the ceramic coating, window tint, and interior protection services. The result is better than I expected car has a noticeably enhanced shine and the window tint is flawless. Highly recommend."
"I took my brand new truck in to have the windows tinted. Alan took the time show the different products he offers and explained the features of each. I went with his recommendation and couldn't be happier with the result. They completed the work perfectly, on time and worked out far better value than the dealer product."
"I had my S3 tinted and ceramic coated by Prestige Protection, and I’m beyond impressed with how it looks! The tint gives it a sleek, modern appearance while reducing glare, and the ceramic coating has left the paint with an amazing shine. Water beads right off, making it look like it’s always freshly cleaned, it really enhanced the car's overall look."
