As a fellow detailer, I can say you got it done right glad to see your eyes have been opened to the true potential of a cars paint.

As we say "you loved your cars finish to death" its all about techniques and reducing the chance of marring it when you touch it. A black car is a part time job to keep looking nice, I'm sure they will teach you properly to care for it.

Cheers,
GREG

Raven Opti Coat 2.0
 

I wanted to share my experience with opti-coat and Windows and Wheels. I am not affiliated with them in any way except being a happy customer.

They had their work cut out for them. I gave them a very filthy car (i was too scared to get it washed for fear of swirls) this was early february when we were having a lot of rain. I did not know the rain could hurt your car. It causes etched in water spots.

Then the dreaded swirls. Most were straight line scratches going lengthwise with the body of the car. I'm thinking its pretty safe to assume that this was mostly from the dealership wash.

The AFTER shots only begin to do justice to how pretty my raven is - look at the reflection and then the final reveal Ta-Da!

Here is complete breakdown of what it took to clean up my fr-s. It was about an 8 hour job. Just like the OP, they had to -

Prep washes (removing old wax/glaze/dirt etc.)
-Decontaminated (clay bar) to remove bonded contaminants (tree sap, rail dust/iron deposits, bird droppings, industrial fall out etc.)
-Paint inspection
-Machine Compounding to remove heavy swirls,scratches,holograms and other defects
-Machine Fine Polishing to remove light hazing/marring from compounding step
-Paint sanitized to remove polishing oils and re-washed to prep for Opti-Coat Pro
-Opti-Coat Pro applied to paint, wheel faces and hard trim pieces

Never been happier! The car is beautiful and the opti-coat really showcases how gorgeous the Raven color really is. I can't thank Wills and Dani enough, they are amazing at what they do and am very pleased with my experience.

Here is a full album that details the work http://s1232.beta.photobucket.com/us...%20Black%20FRS

Wow, did the hand washing place dry your car with 220 grit sandpaper? :confused0068:

I really have to get this done. I have swirls in mine from the dealer wash. Looks amazing!

Let me know if you want help with that. I'm certified by Optimum for Opti-Coat Pro, and am the exclusive CQuartz Finest installer in the area. You can't go wrong with either coating.

theres a cquartz thread onthis site somewhere & theres reviews by some of the members that have gotten it done.
this guy got it done
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21286

Prolly be awhile but if you have a shop PM me a quote, I planned on paying somebody to do it all and not attempting it myself.

Well I can't really quote a car sight unseen months in advance, but when you're ready let me know and I'd be happy to handle it for you.

I wouldn't trust anyone that would give you an estimate withought looking at the car. The price truly depends on the condition. Parts I thought were good were horrible in the eyes of tge expert. Once he was done then I saw what amazing was.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Jeez. I thought my car's condition was bad.... then I saw the two pic compilations in this thread. I'm here at the UofA in Tucson living in an apartment... And I've got to say Arizona really takes a toll on darker colored cars.

I've been doing the two-bucket wash method at a local spray down station(no idea what else to call those) and it seems to be keeping my car in OK shape. there's some very light swirling here and there but nothing serious. Did some detailing when I drove back home for spring break last month and I guess that helped.

I'm ready to get a paint correction an opti-coat done this summer though :).

Oh and more on topic, these guys look like they did a badass job.. I might be in contact with them soon ^_^

Yruyur, Have you had the chance to wash your car since having the coating done? Do you notice any swirling occuring even though you have the Opticoat applied?

I'm curious why you would think there would be swirls after coating?

the kind of marring in the photos above are caused by drying and washing techniques.

I assume, correct me if I'm wrong that your line of thinking is that OC will prevent swirls?

Cheers,
GREG

Hey Greg,

I just washed my car for the first time last weekend. It didn't have any special coating or finishes. Even using the two bucket method, car shampoo, in the shade w. cool paint, micro fiber towels and wash mitt, I still found some marring of the paint in the sun the next day.

My understanding was that opticoat was a slightly harder coating than the standard clear coat and would help prevent swirls in the paint in addition to its water sheeting properties, and increased fortitude against bird bombs and bug bullets.

Do you know differently?

That marring was either caused by the washing/drying or previously there and was covered up by fillers in the 'waxes' or polishes.


It will make it slightly harder yes, how much is not quantifiable as of yet IME. I was just questioning the statement as some think its super hard and can't be hurt. yes bird crap, and bugs come off much easier and without huge damage.

Cheers,
GREg