For anyone reading this thread someday about "Vantage Protection Systems", or other types of ceramic coatings offered on your new boat from your dealer... from personal experience I would NOT recommend it. I thought I was prepared for everything when I negotiated the sale of our boat, all the extras we would need, etc - but this was never on my radar. When we went to sign, we were taken into the dealership's managers office, and he then the upsell started to happen; warranties, etc. He REALLY went out of his way to sell us on "Vantage" and did a pretty fantastic job because somehow I ended up adding $1,300 to the financing of our boat to get it - the warranty on the interior really pushed us over the edge. At the time.
But now 1 year later, here's my feedback on how the stuff worked on our 2020 AR210...
1. The cost was around $1,300 for 3 years protection/warranty. After 3 years I can have them apply it again for like $800 and extend protection for another couple years.
2. Did it help with the interior protection? Absolutely 100% NOT. Whatever they put on the cushions I don't think works any better or longer than ArmorAll. Literally everything that hits the white part of our cushions immediately stains and is hard to get out! Especially little bugs, like gnats. I have gotten very good at getting the stains out, but only via some heavy duty methods (I use a bristlebrush and Meguilars degreaser). I'm never able to just use a regular cleaner and cloth to wipe out stains, and I've never seen a fabric that stains quicker. But this is really more due to Yamaha's white vinyl they use, and maybe lots of other white boat seats are that way too... but I'm confident there's absolutely no way that the Vantage stuff helped in anyway, cause MAN my boat's seats are tough to clean!
3. Is the interior warranty worth it? Sounds good because unlike the exterior warranty, the interior warranty basically covers any kind of conceivable rip, burn, or stain. But paying $1,300, to warranty your seat cushions for 3 years? Save your money and use it to replace them worst case scenario. If I accidentally burned or cut one of my seat cushions over the next 3 years.. I could buy a new one from the dealer (or 2 or 3) for less than $1,300. After 1 year my seats are still immaculate - but only because I take care of them (and are constantly cleaning them because they stain so easily lol).
4. Did it help with exterior protection? No - at least I don't think so more than any other ceramic coating. My boat gets water spots everytime I come out of the lake, it doesn't resist waterspots any better than my 05 grand cherokee that I haven't waxed in half a decade. I'm constantly cleaning waterspots by hand off my hull, I've found the "Hot Sauce" product works best for it. So if it's not helping prevent water spots (despite their claims to do so), I doubt it's doing much else. And I should mention that in just 1 year I've gotten scratches/rash from anytime I've bumped ANYTHING. Granted, Vantage doesn't claim that it will help with any kind of dock rash/scratches, and it definitely does NOT, nor is that warrantied.
5. So what does it really do or warranty for your exterior then, if it doesn't help protect against water spots or scratches? Basically "weather induced fading" would be covered. Which... how many brand new boat hulls would really ever have a problem with the paint fading within 3 years??
So basically, the product hasn't demonstrated anything of value to me. I feel like whatever they put on the seats did nothing, and would have worn off quickly. I don't feel like what they put on the hull did anything either, since water spots easily stick to it and don't come off without handbuffing with a good cleaner. Yes the boat still looks good otherwise and glossy, but come on - it's a brand new boat, and I'm constantly cleaning it with Hot Sauce anyway due to the aforementioned water spots. I think the company sells something no better than the ceramic stuff you can buy yourself, and they are banking their business model on the fact that the things they cover on the warranty are extremely unlikely to happen or be issues on brand new boats. The only cool thing was that they tell you don't need to/shouldn't wax your boat for the 3 years. That sounded great to me at the time, but I don't know if that's actually a good thing... how do I even know their product is still even on there at this point after many boat rides, car washes, and hand cleaning? At least if you did your own ceramic coating once a year you'd know it's good... So in the end, I regret paying $1,300 and even worse - putting it on my financing and paying for this over the life of the loan. Dealers will push this so hard, not because it really works, but because it's an upsell that's almost all profit for them.
