How long is Opticoat supposed to realistically last
 

My detailer was very honest and told me about 2 years. Is this true? Im asking because I eventually want to polish swirlmarks up but dont want to do it while the OC is still lasting

How is there swirl marks when you have opticoat on the car? The means the clear coat has swirls so the opticoat is gone?

Or he didn't get the swirl marks out before it was opticoated.

I think he meant eventually there will be swirl marks on the car which he would want to polish out later. Opticoat is essentially just another layer of clear coat which is 2 microns thick. If you decide to polish, you will remove the coating. Realistically, if you wash the car the ideal way to minimise swirls I dont see why the coating wont last a good 5-6 years before the swirls eventually accumulate to the point of requiring a polish

Exo lasts as long and is easier to apply. Personally optic coat is a fair bit of hype.

Amen to that. It is really worth it if you do couple of coats. That even won't stop the swirls.

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It makes me laugh that so many put so much faith in opticoat. It's another gimmick! Your car will get swirls.....get over it! :thumbsup:

When I read that it can waterspot like regular clear-coat, that was enough for me. It may be harder than many clear-coats (so they say) but it ain't no diamond.

Looks like there are a lot of misconceptions about Opti-Coat 2.0 and Opti-Pro in this thread. First these two coatings are basically a sacraficial layer that will eventually get swirls or defects depening on treatment and your wash methods. It will remain on the surface until abraded off. Think of it as a tear-off on a helmet visor or race car windshield. When the coating gets scratched you can abrade it off and replace without removing any original clearcoat numerous times.OEM clearcoat is extremely thin and why remove any when not necessary.For the record I install Optimum plus numerous other coatings. Optimum is my most requested coating but I do explain the pros and cons to customers as I do with all the coatings I offer.Is OC 2.0 a gimmick ? Not in my opinion and thousand of other customers and detailers that are happy with it's performance.Will it outlast EXO ? yep and thats a proven fact. Ask the manufacturer of EXO. :) . If a installer claims that Optimum coating will be gone in two yrs then he is incorrect. Will it be swirled up by then ? Yes if not properly cared for. So if ease of maintaining and being clean is you goal , a coating is a good choice. And Optimum is a leader in this field at this time but other companies are coming out of the wood work and this could change at any time. IMO.

BS! Exo lasts months at best. It is a short lived hybrid coating that has no chemical resistance what so ever.

This is exactly my thinking. Cool idea, and I totally get that it's harder than traditional clear, but it suffers all the SAME problems that clear does. Not worth it to me. Sorry. I'll stick with just the paint and some good wax. Then go spend that money I saved on suspension mods :burnrubber:

I got my car opti-coated by James at Sunset Detailing... since then I've adopted a pretty refined 2 bucket wash system with foam gun for pre rinse... No swirls.

You can still get swirls/water spots/bird shit/rock chips on your paint with or without opti-coat. IMO opti-coat simply makes the cleaning process easier and helps significantly reduce the chance for swirls to appear on your paint.

How do swirls happen? Poor washing and drying techiques, as well as QD techniques. Its not all that hard to reduce the chance of marring/swirls. Do some searching online about DI water systems, 2 bucket methods, foam guns or cannons....

What is the durability of OC 2. I had it for 33 months on my car. Think about how much it costs to wax a car twice a year at min vs. coating the car for almost 3 years!

Is this coating hype, if you haven't used it you won't know either way. You can look online for documented cases of people testing it for themselves.

Will the coating water spot? It will as will any other coating out there, its not because of the coating its because of the minerals that are left behind when the water evaporates off. The KEY POINT is that the minerals won't etch into the paint. If minerals are left behind you can use vinegar, CLR, or water spot remover and THE OC 2 WILL NOT COME OFF. When you get iron filings in your paint you can use and Ironizer to remove them and THE OC 2 WILL NOT COME OFF.

Is OC hard to apply? Its one of the easier to apply, other need curing lamps, or sunlight and most want two coats applied. Like most things the time is in the prep of the surface.

Can OC/OP get swirls? Duh yes by you putting them in there, is the coating harder than the clear coat yep, but its not a coating of diamonds. LIke paul stated you can use a fine polishing in most cases and remove towel swirls and the coating stays put, is it reduced.... yes but still does the job.


Right now OC is the easiest, high durabiltiy, and economical of all the coatings out there. I do lots of and lots of testing. So if you like waxing your car every 4-6 weeks, and swirls don't bother you....then don't change your habits.

I hope this helped answer or put to bed many of the misconceptions about Opti coat or Opti Pro.

Cheers,
GREG

And for those that park outside and dd with optician same can be said....touche'
I've asked more then a few professional shops nearby which they suggest as they apply both and they themselves have said they have seen easily as good results with exo vs opticoat and they're not back yard shops either...

Not much matter to me I park in garage anyhow so either would last long, I just get amused at how many folks think opticoat is the holy grail and misconceptions on its durability etc...

A man proven against his will is the man of the same opinion still.

Cheers,
GREG

I had my car opticoated in March and I got keyed recently but that's on the opticoat. It made drying a lot quicker since water just slides right off. Yes it does get dry circles on the car since I didn't wipe them off fast enough. I live in California and I was doing it in the Sun. I'm a rookie to washing cars. Each time I do it, I learn from the mistakes and improve upon it. So far I have no swirls and I've been washing each week or twice week. I believe it's a great product. Leaves a nice clean slick look to the car. Each wash, it looks like the car just came off the lot brand spanking new. Put's less time but same amount of effort into washing and drying the car. Protects the paints. Keyed too and thats on the opticoat itself. I'm just giving off my personal experience.


Anthony

What kind of products do you guys use to keep the opti coat in good condition?

I just use a no-rinse spray diluted for quick detailing.

After lots and lots of research (here and few other detailing forums) and experience (I am detail amateur and do my own cars) I can say that there is no super product that protect the car from swirls/scratches, etc.
A car with Opticoat will get swirls (talking from experience), it will be slightly harder but it will! In terms of durability yes, Opticoat will last very long time BUT after two years or so, you will want to re-cut and polish the car and re apply as it will have heaps of swirls by than! Or maybe not, it all depends on the care you take when washing the car.
It is a very good product, but there are many others out there that will be probably as good or even better in certain areas.
The secret of the look of a car that has been opticoated is not in the Opticoat itself, but in the preparations of the paint! Some detailers spend up to 10-15 hours (depending on the quality, level, tools used, type of car, type of the clear coat, etc) on the paint to bring it to a very nice level of shine.

I will redo my car with a different paint protection product.

The ONLY way swirls get into the paint are by washing, drying, or QD the paint. You can change your washing techniques and you will greatly minimize or eliminate the swirls. You are correct there is no product out there to stop people from putting swirls into their paint!

You shouldn't need to "cut" the paint again to get rid of swirls, and most polishes of can handle the job.

I agree some people like to wax the car often and so OC is not for them.

Cheers,
GREG

I agree with you 100% I also got my car opti-coated by James from Sunset Detailing, I've used the 2 bucket system wash and so far it has been pretty steady. And yes you will get chips and bird shit, etc. But nothing a little clay bar cant remove. LOL.