Scratches and scrape

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by RToyo86

Lifetime coating is a pretty bold statement. They don't talk at all on their site about what actual technology they're using. Sio2 base? SIC?
Were you provided with a warranty?

I had a look and somebody on autogeek installed duraseal at one time. Seems like a reasonable ceramic. But they primarily deal with dealers probably because it's easy money.

I would expect 3-5 years. If you have harsh weather it's usually on the lower end. You can email them and ask how they suggest to maintain it. Usually it's some form of "topper" which is a Sio2 type sealant that helps fill in etching on the coating as it wears and maintain the hydrophobics.

I plan to do an annual maintenance coat with my car. The dealer detailing shop will sell me the maintenance product and I can do myself. Figure I will get about 3 years out of it with maintenance and then will probably need some paint touchup and a whole strip and reapply. Mine takes a worse beating than most though. Getting much more than 3 years out of any of them is pretty optimistic.
Mine is the CarPro Cquartz which ranked #1 or 2 in all of my research.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/the-be...-ar188655.html

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I plan to do an annual maintenance coat with my car. The dealer detailing shop will sell me the maintenance product and I can do myself. Figure I will get about 3 years out of it with maintenance and then will probably need some paint touchup and a whole strip and reapply. Mine takes a worse beating than most though. Getting much more than 3 years out of any of them is pretty optimistic.
Mine is the CarPro Cquartz which ranked #1 or 2 in all of my research.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/the-be...-ar188655.html

Cquartz is good stuff. I assume they used Cquartz UK as it's readily available to anybody.

On the off chance it is Cquartz pro[can only be installed by certified installers], they say 3-10 years. pretty broad. Cquartz UK is what I'm familiar with, and on my short list to buy/use next. Gtechniq crystal serum light is the other. Both cquartz and CSL offer a top coat you can install when you apply the base coating, but that is another can of worms.

They will likely give you carpro reload which is their topper maintenance spray. You can buy it directly from them or order it online. There is no hard rule on how often to use it. Being in canada I'd even do it biannually.
I highly recommend car pro's soap "carpro reset". It is the best soap I have used. It was impossible to find over the summer due to covid. I bought a bottle, loved it then couldn't find it anywhere.

I think 2-3 years is perfect for a daily used car. By then you'll want to give it a polish to touch up fine scratches, nicks etc. I'm going on 3 years and 75,000km and my paint still looks mostly defect free.[the PPF on the front helps]

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by RToyo86

Cquartz is good stuff. I assume they used Cquartz UK as it's readily available to anybody.

On the off chance it is Cquartz pro[can only be installed by certified installers], they say 3-10 years. pretty broad. Cquartz UK is what I'm familiar with, and on my short list to buy/use next. Gtechniq crystal serum light is the other. Both cquartz and CSL offer a top coat you can install when you apply the base coating, but that is another can of worms.

They will likely give you carpro reload which is their topper maintenance spray. You can buy it directly from them or order it online. There is no hard rule on how often to use it. Being in canada I'd even do it biannually.
I highly recommend car pro's soap "carpro reset". It is the best soap I have used. It was impossible to find over the summer due to covid. I bought a bottle, loved it then couldn't find it anywhere.

I think 2-3 years is perfect for a daily used car. By then you'll want to give it a polish to touch up fine scratches, nicks etc. I'm going on 3 years and 75,000km and my paint still looks mostly defect free.[the PPF on the front helps]

The sticker on the windshield says it is the pro. They are going to sell me the reload at their cost. They were rather embarrassed about the way the car was delivered to me so are wiling to do some extras now.
I didn't know about the soap but will see if I can find some.

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

The sticker on the windshield says it is the pro. They are going to sell me the reload at their cost. They were rather embarrassed about the way the car was delivered to me so are wiling to do some extras now.
I didn't know about the soap but will see if I can find some.

Seems like a good dealer then. Most detailers hate working for dealers as they don't let them do their jobs properly.

They are a licensed installer for carpro they should have/be able to get all carpro products. If they didn't have/use reset in house I'd be shocked.

Amazon
Carzilla
autoobsessed

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by RToyo86

Seems like a good dealer then. Most detailers hate working for dealers as they don't let them do their jobs properly.

They are a licensed installer for carpro they should have/be able to get all carpro products. If they didn't have/use reset in house I'd be shocked.

Amazon
Carzilla
autoobsessed

The detail shop is part of the dealership. They have a massive state of the art offsite shop (holds about 20 cars) where they do all their own things such as coatings, window tint, PDR etc.
I was supposed to pick up my car April 9th last year but then on March 24 the government announced the shut down effective the next day. They wanted to get all the sold cars off the lot so they pushed it through ahead of schedule. I couldn't get there until right at their closing time but they had a sales manager stay. When I got there I said I would put my own plates on and then w would do the walk around inspection. I was having an issue with one of the bolts so he went and got a self tapping screw and a drill to cut the threads better. I used it and he went to take it back while I was putting the stubborn bolt in. Just as I finished I looked up and he drove away down the road!
So I did the walkaround and was t at all happy. There was a huge doording in the driver door, the ceramic was so streaky it looked horrible, the inside of the windshield looked like it had been wiped with a used oil rag and the owner manual in the special case was missing.

OK, no problem I understand that it was a special circumstance but he dude should have stuck around for me to point these things out not just drove away without saying a word. I went in the dealership and there was only one important looking guy there (no idea what his job was) and I said I had some issues and knew they were shutting down but wanted to make sure somebody was aware. His reply was "well we are closed so what do you want me to do about them?". That did not go over well with me but I just shook my head and walked out.

When I got home I sent a very long text explaining what had happened to my salesman (he was off already because he had just traveled). He was appalled. The next morning I got a call from the top VP from the dealership and he said to bring the car back the next day and they would fix it all. I did and they did! The detail shop manager told me that the sales manager that drove away on me had picked the car up from the shop before it had been inspected and under normal circumstances it would never be delivered that way. This is why they are so willing to work with me now.

[nikitopo]

The CarPro C-Quartz UK is considered a cheaper option. The CarPro C-Quartz Professional is stronger than UK, it’s glossier too.

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

The CarPro C-Quartz UK is considered a cheaper option. The CarPro C-Quartz Professional is stronger than UK, it’s glossier too.

It's great option like opti-coat pro.
Opti-coat and Cquartz pro isn't available to buy for the DIY consumer. Issue for me as I do everything my self ��

Gtechniq crystal cerum light + EXO, gyeon Mohs +Boost, Kamikaze ISM + overcoat are from research top tier that anyone can buy.
Probably a couple others I could throw on too.

I go back and forth on what to try next when I prep my car again this summer.

[ls1ac]

I thought that a $1000 coating was just a way to get money off of wealthy people. I usually keep my vehicles for about 10 yrs so i figured why bother. My older son who is into show cars said believe him and just do it. I got a new Dodge diesel and had it done. It looked nice and washed easily, so ok. Well i was driving through Chicago and an idiot in a blue BMW thought he could pass using an on ramp. The concrete wall came up and he slammed on the brakes and side swiped my rear quarter panel. He dove for the exit so i never got a plate. I got into Indiana and stopped for a rest stop and examined the blue paint on my truck. I figured i would have to have some work done. (not happy)
Got to Fl. and took some cleaner and all the blue came off. A thin line along the edge of the plastic wheel well extender had the paint scratched off. Plastic is black and the truck is dark red so hard to see.
I am now a believer. The shop that did the work usually works on exotics. He said to come back every 2-3 yrs to have a detail done and it will last for 10 yrs. I also like to visit to see what he is working on, like McLarens and other unobtainium cars.

[CB750F]

***** IMPORTANT INFO *****

I have & like very much Opti PRO.

***** It had a really bad reaction with sunscreen! *****

Some sunscreen fell on my car. ( I did not wash it off because I thought Opti should have protected my car/paint).
It reacts, it's a polymer.
I had, what I can only explain as small dots, all over my hood.
They said they would fix.
- Sanded.
- Went through the paint.
- Sent to body shop.
- Shop did horrible job.
- Still can see 'dots'.
- Looks like there are water spots under clearcoat. Does not wash away.
- I gave up. It's only a car.

Don't let anyone touch your car if they have sunscreen on their hands.

Washing is so much easier/quicker!

I just bought a Ranger & still on the fence about using one of these products.

I have the longer story somewhere on this site.

[RToyo86]

Yikes that's a horror story. Opti coat needs to be removed with a polisher, I wonder if they burned through the clear by mistake.

It's a misconception that coatings do not need maintenance. They are more chemically resistant than other protection but they're not magic pay $1000 and never need to wash the car or care for it again.(not suggesting you neglected it)

Water spotting/etching is somewhat common with coatings. It's common now for coating brands(especially consumer grade) to offer top coats that are applied at the same time as the base layer, which adds some hydrophobics but mainly protects against water spotting or etching of the coating.

I know opti-coat sells "MDR" mineral deposit remover, and they have a maintenance wash they supply for yearly maintenance to combat those occurences. It's something I'd probably have on hand with such a coating to clean the paint should bird crap, or something weird like sunscreen get on the paint and leave etching on the coating or water spots.

[CB750F]

Yes, they did by mistake, the paint near the windshield seems to be much thinner.
- I use Opti seal once a month to 'help' out.
- Washed weekly.
- The fender, which also has dots, sanded/re-coated but never re-painted has no
water spots.
- Only the hood, which was re-painted/re-coated has the water spots.
- No water spots on any other part of the car.

[alone1i]

But I have noticed something funny too. I did coating after a week later of my brand new buy. After I did the coating, I have noticed the shinny bright color of brand new car was tiny bit dimmed. Now thought possibly 3 scenarios:

1. May be my eyes told me lies
2. May be it always be after coating done
3. May be they did not wash/clean it properly before coating done. They did coating work under 3 hours. How it is possible :/

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by CB750F

Yes, they did by mistake, the paint near the windshield seems to be much thinner.
- I use Opti seal once a month to 'help' out.
- Washed weekly.
- The fender, which also has dots, sanded/re-coated but never re-painted has no
water spots.
- Only the hood, which was re-painted/re-coated has the water spots.
- No water spots on any other part of the car.

If the spots appeared after it was coated give opti-coat MDR a try.(if it even bothers you) You can also clay and use iron remover on your coating, kind of unique to opti-coat. You can combo Optimum ferrex with a clay mit if you ever feel the need. Generally not required but I've seen it done by a FT86 local club member who is a certified opti-coat installer.


Consider hyper-seal once you use up your opti seal. It's a newer formula designed for coatings, specially opti-coat.
I've been using it with Optimums consumer coating gloss coat. The coating isn't all that durable but with hyper-seal on-top it still seems to be holding up pretty well on its second winter.
Like opti-seal my bottle of hyper-seal lasts forever.

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by alone1i

But I have noticed something funny too. I did coating after a week later of my brand new buy. After I did the coating, I have noticed the shinny bright color of brand new car was tiny bit dimmed. Now thought possibly 3 scenarios:

1. May be my eyes told me lies
2. May be it always be after coating done
3. May be they did not wash/clean it properly before coating done. They did coating work under 3 hours. How it is possible :/

It could be you've just grown accustomed to it.

What coating did you apply?
Most of your gloss comes from polishing the paint. Coatings and sealants do add gloss, but it's more the cherry on top.