2013 Asphalt Scion FRS CQuartz FINEST - TLC Auto Detail
 

Hi everyone! We were lucky enough to have another Scion FRS come through the shop today. This one is a 2013 in Asphalt that was booked for a New Car Correction and Cquartz FINEST. This customer drove a couple hours to get to us, so we didn't take too many before pictures so he didn't have to sit around waiting for too long.

We started with the wheels, tires, and wells. The wheels were just cleaned with the car wash soap since they weren't in bad shape at all. The tires and wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC. The wheels were coated with FINEST, the tires dressed with CarPro PERL, and the wells dressed with Meguiars Hyperdressing.

We started the wash by foaming the exterior of the vehicle with Meguiars Hyperwash.

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The foam was left to dwell for about 5 minutes and then it was pressure washed off. While it was dwelling we used a soft brush to agitate the emblems, trim, and body seams to make sure all of the dirt and grime was removed.

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This was followed by a traditional 2 bucket wash, and then the vehicle was dried with some waffle weave drying towels.

The paint was in pretty good shape, but it did need a little bit of work before being coated. Unfortunately the swirls could not be captured on camera, one because the color did a great job hiding them, and two because the sun decided to hide for the first couple hours of this job.

Anyway, we ended up correcting the paint with Menzerna 106fa on a light blue LC Hybrid pad with the Rupes 21LHR. Here is how it looked in the sun after being corrected.

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After the correction we used CarPro Eraser to wipe down the glass, trim, wheels, and paint to prepare the surface to be coated with Cquartz FINEST. It is very important to have a squeaky clean surface to apply the FINEST to.

Here is how the car turned out after having all exterior surfaces (minus the tires) coated with Cquartz FINEST. Notice how wet and glossy the paint looks. FINEST really is the best looking coating we have ever seen or used.

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Here are a couple more where I was just playing with a new wide angle lens while the customer was on his way back

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We were very happy with the way this car turned out, as was the customer. Now this car is protected and looking it's best for it's new life. Thanks for checking out our write up, and we appreciate your feedback!

opti coat next

Are you saying to Opti-Coat over the Finest? If you are, that won't work very well.

Maybe he is saying Finest is "Opti Coat Next". :D Hah. Either way, nice work Dave.

In what ways is FINEST different the Opti-Coating?

C'mon, this is black box stuff. No manufacturer is going to tell you what's in the product. They are just going to snow you with psuedo-scientific jargon. E.g: "Sapphire level hardness micro-activated nanospheres combined with buffered elemental carbon fiber pica-tubules in a clostridium/toluene matrix".

I'm not so much concerned with what chemicals and solutions are inside the stuff. My question was posed to know if FINEST is a competitor to opti-coat and in what ways does it differ from an end-user perspective. I thought that TLC Auto might be able to provide some insight here.

LOL, that must be it! Thank you!

I understand what you are asking. There is some argument about which coating is "harder" but I can't really say that I have seen a dramatic difference in scratch resistance between the two. That said, I can confidently say that Finest sheets and repels dirt better than Opti Coat. I can also say in my opinion, that Finest gives a noticeably better look to cars, especially cars that are a darker color.

Finest does only last for a little more than 2 years, unlike opti, but in all reality, most vehicles will need a touch up here and there in terms of polishing after a couple years. I prefer Finest, but Opti-Coat is still a great product.

Doesn't give that "plastic" shine opti-coat has, nice job!

Hey Dave-

Wanted to say thank you again for the amazing job you did on my FR-S!

I had originally looked into a new car paint correction and going with Opti-Guard but after some discussion and finally asking for Dave's recommendation (who took the time to answer all my questions and laying out pros/cons for each) decided to go with Cquartz Finest.

Looking at some of the other examples of the incredible work Dave has done with vehicles especially on darker paint jobs- Finest just seems to add an extra touch of depth.

I'm convinced that even on rough paint jobs, Dave has that magic touch to make them shine and sparkle regardless- so can't go wrong either way.