Opti-Guard in Socal?
 

I'm looking for an Opti-Guard detailer in Southern California local to LA/OC area. SGV would be preferred but I wouldn't mind making the drive down to OC. I ran a search (Google and FT86) and didn't really find any 'official' Opti-Guard detailers or any recommendations for this area. I've considered buying some Opti-Coat 2.0 and doing the job myself, but being both an amateur and a bit of a perfectionist I thought I'd save myself some sanity by having a professional detail the car and using the professional product. I'm also planning on tinting the windows and I assume that should be done prior to the Opti-Guarding. That said, a recommendation to a shop that'll handle both would be ideal. And for the sake of curiosity, does anyone know how adding a tint after applying Opti-Coat/Guard would work? Any and all recommendations are welcome and thanks for looking!

PM me for the Southbay area guy that did my BRZ.

Call James (Jamie) at Sunset Detailing OC. My brother and I had our cars done through him, and were very happy. He will travel to you. We were set to go with another opti-coat installer in the SD area, but he decided to change his terms and pricing the day before we were scheduled to have it done.

We ended up going off a recommendation from this forum, and contacted Jamie. He was straight forward...didn't try to screw us on pricing...and did a fantastic job.

Hit up mike, he did alot of fr-s on here and mine as well! Greet price too, on me and I'll give you his number

Contact Kaisernaut. He's better than Mike ;)

https://www.facebook.com/Glosswork?fref=ts

Hey thanks for the replies everyone. I've sent some PMs, checked out some websites, made some calls-- pretty much just shopping around now. Glad I have plenty of options! Since most of the suggestions have been for just detailers, do you guys have some recommendations for tint shops? I've seen some groupon links around the fora and some mentions in a few threads (although I can't remember which threads specially :bonk:) but I think I would prefer personal recommendations.

I googled "opti guard installer" and found this, looks like there are quite a few authorized installers around the so cal region.

http://optimumforums.org/index.php?showtopic=2022

Edit: For tint, California Tint in SGV is real good. Just make sure you show up early, they get packed during the day.

How much would it cost to Opti-Coat the entire car yourself vs at a dealer?

Is there any negatives to opti-coating? aside from cost.

Awesome, thanks BRGREEN8! I google'd "Opti-Coat Socal" or "Opti-Guard Socal" or "Opti-Guard detailers Socal" and just found threads on various car fora like FT86Club, but no real plethora of information at any one place.

l0aded, some concerns I foresee using Opti-Coat or Opti-Guard is that it's a permanent application. With that in mind, if you ever wanted to repaint your car, I imagine you'd have to either strip the coating via sanding before repainting or paint over the Opti-Coat (which actually doesn't sound too bad). Likewise, if you wanted to alter your car in some way (e.g. add shark fin antenna) you'd be inclined to Opti-Coat whatever you added (again, now that I'm typing it out, it doesn't sound too bad). Lastly (that I can think of), I've been informed that Opti-Coat/Guard requires unique attention when it comes to maintenance. Depending on your car-care habits, this may or may not be a huge issue. Ultimately, the drawbacks of Opti-Coating seem pretty negligible aside from the price (which is relatively low if you're planning on buying and applying Opti-Coat yourself).

Something else worth considering is the fact that Opti-Coat is relatively new. I think it was released circa 2008 (or maybe I'm completely misinformed)? If that's the case, I think the permanence and long-term reliability of Opti-Coat can still be considered unknown. On the other hand, there is supposed to be a lifetime warranty on the product.

Another +1 for Jamie from sunset detailing. He'll travel to you and prep and opticoat your car. Did a great job with mine and very willing to give me tips on care and maintenance, even after the job when I called or texted.
@sc0urge, while opticoat is durable I wouldn't say it's completely permanent. I was told that I would get 5-10 years out of mine depending on how I cared for it. I also read and hear that you can take it off pretty quick if you run your car through car washes. Guess you can keep doing that if you ever want to repaint your car :)