[AntBabeee]

Is it too late to OptiCoat? What are the exact benefits of it? Does it ruin the paint years from now? Pros? Cons? How does CNR work?

Any good places in Bay Area, California?

Average Price?

Thanks!

[Tsuyoi]

It's never too late to OptiCoat, provided the shop PREPS your car properly beforehand. OptiCoat is essentially a permanent clear coat, so it'll "seal" your paint in whatever condition it's currently in, and preserve it for the next 2-3 years with proper care.

If your car's 2 months old, and you haven't used any other protective film/coatings, chances are there's some scratches/swirls/chips in your paint job now. Make sure to have the shop buff/patch/clear all of this up, then apply the OptiCoat.

OptiCoat has several advantages:

a) Makes car easier to clean. Water beads right off, and typically a quick rinse will get rid of any dirt/muck on the car

b) Prevents further damage to your car. When Cured, OptiCoat has a Mohr hardness of 9 (most metals are hardness 6, cubic zirconia is 7, diamond is 10). You'll be covered from road debris, dirt scratches, etc.

c) Keeps your paint pristine for as long as the coat is on. Just re-apply every 2-3 years and by the time you want to sell your car, the paint'll look factory new still.

d) Makes your car look AMAZING. I just had mine done yesterday, and it's never looked better. I love that shine/sheen OptiCoat gives the car.

Price-wise, again, it depends on how much work the shop puts into prepairing the car and fixing any paint blemishes. Remember, any chips, swirls, or imperfections will be locked UNDER the coat and will be there permanently! I'm sure you can find some place that'll offer to do it for under 200 or 300, but how much would you trust those places to put on a permanent coating?

In your area, for a 2 month old car, I'd say be ready for something approaching or slightly over 4 figures.

[newbmwuser]

as the salesman above said , just prep well, and you should be fine. if you dont prep properly, any blemish, swirls etc etc will be sealed inside opticoat for many years.

[Handozizle]

Do you work for Opti lol? But yea, it's never too late as long as you get rid of the blemishes before you apply it. I'm actually thinking about doing 22PLE within a few months to my car. My car is only sealed with wax on top right now.

[jamesems]

Okay, which one or are they basically the same but different. Opti or 22

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoi

b) Prevents further damage to your car. When Cured, OptiCoat has a Mohr hardness of 9 (most metals are hardness 6, cubic zirconia is 7, diamond is 10). You'll be covered from road debris, dirt scratches, etc.

I would be interested in seeing some scientific data to backup these claims. First thing I'm thinking of is if you attached something with a MOHR value of 9 to something of a lower MOHR value (metal/paint), can it really provide a benefit against road debris? Things are only as good as their foundation...

[bananachipz]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoi

It's never too late to OptiCoat, provided the shop PREPS your car properly beforehand. OptiCoat is essentially a permanent clear coat, so it'll "seal" your paint in whatever condition it's currently in, and preserve it for the next 2-3 years with proper care.

If your car's 2 months old, and you haven't used any other protective film/coatings, chances are there's some scratches/swirls/chips in your paint job now. Make sure to have the shop buff/patch/clear all of this up, then apply the OptiCoat.

OptiCoat has several advantages:

a) Makes car easier to clean. Water beads right off, and typically a quick rinse will get rid of any dirt/muck on the car

b) Prevents further damage to your car. When Cured, OptiCoat has a Mohr hardness of 9 (most metals are hardness 6, cubic zirconia is 7, diamond is 10). You'll be covered from road debris, dirt scratches, etc.

c) Keeps your paint pristine for as long as the coat is on. Just re-apply every 2-3 years and by the time you want to sell your car, the paint'll look factory new still.

d) Makes your car look AMAZING. I just had mine done yesterday, and it's never looked better. I love that shine/sheen OptiCoat gives the car.

Price-wise, again, it depends on how much work the shop puts into prepairing the car and fixing any paint blemishes. Remember, any chips, swirls, or imperfections will be locked UNDER the coat and will be there permanently! I'm sure you can find some place that'll offer to do it for under 200 or 300, but how much would you trust those places to put on a permanent coating?

In your area, for a 2 month old car, I'd say be ready for something approaching or slightly over 4 figures.

+1

[Tsuyoi]

Originally Posted by claykin

I would be interested in seeing some scientific data to backup these claims. First thing I'm thinking of is if you attached something with a MOHR value of 9 to something of a lower MOHR value (metal/paint), can it really provide a benefit against road debris? Things are only as good as their foundation...

Well think of it this way, if you throw a rock at someone's face, vs if you throw a rock at someone that had a metal plate glued to their face, which one will hurt that guy more?

Since the Opticoat covers the entire car and bonds to itself, it'll create essentially a shell around the paint. It's not gonna do any good if someone hits you with their car or w/e, but it'll help vs road debris and scratches from sand/dirt/crappy car washes.

Plus, if the opticoat layer is scratched up, it's $60 to get a tube and just fill in any scratches, vs the insane prices to get your car's paint done again.

And LOL no I'm not a salesman for OptiCoat, but I've done a few weeks of research and such on diff coats/ways to protect my car, and chose OptiCoat, and so far LOVE it.

[AntBabeee]

Ok thanks for the information guys. I'll look around my area and see if i find any place to get an estimate.

[BMWforLife]

ordered my opticoat last week for my car to be delivered in march.

plan on doing it myself, probably will do a write up on it.

My car is alpine white and I specifically told the dealer not to touch the outside at all, I plan on washing/claying/ipa the car, then doing opti coat 2.0.

Shouldnt be an issue with a brand new car. "shouldn't"

[DetailersDomain]

I would also say it's never too late, we have customers with 2-3 year old cars.

As long as you prep correctly you should be okay.

Opti Coat in my opinion is more durable.

Phil

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoi

Well think of it this way, if you throw a rock at someone's face, vs if you throw a rock at someone that had a metal plate glued to their face, which one will hurt that guy more?

I suspect you're not implying that Opticoat is in any way like the analogy you used above. Please clarify.

Do you have scientific evidence or just manufacturer and dealer claims?

[Tsuyoi]

Originally Posted by claykin

I suspect you're not implying that Opticoat is in any way like the analogy you used above. Please clarify.

Do you have scientific evidence or just manufacturer and dealer claims?

Wow I feel like I'm doing my dissertation in front of a panel again!

No, I didn't conduct a full series of controlled and replicable experiments and then extrapolate a factual and quantifiable result taking into account allowable degrees of variance.

My previous analogy was that if you put a layer of something hard over something soft, the something hard will protect the something soft. This is the basis for all safety gear, armor, protective clothing, etc. So if you have a layer of hard coating over soft paint, then the hard coating will protect the soft paint from harm.

I DID read several product reviews by other people who have used the product, and from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of chemistry and physics, the principals upon which the product is founded are also sound.

I'm happy to put the product on the car for the price I paid based on the analogous results of other users. If nothing else I'm quite pleased with the "just waxed" sheen it gives the car after every wash, and how water beads right off.

If you really are that concerned with the "scientific evidence" of how effective this product is, please feel free to go buy a tube, put some on a painted metallic surface, throw a bunch of gravel at it, and report back to us with the results

[fotios335i]

Any Massachusetts members have this done to their car.? I want to have it done just don't know any shops.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoi

Wow I feel like I'm doing my dissertation in front of a panel again!

No, I didn't conduct a full series of controlled and replicable experiments and then extrapolate a factual and quantifiable result taking into account allowable degrees of variance.

My previous analogy was that if you put a layer of something hard over something soft, the something hard will protect the something soft. This is the basis for all safety gear, armor, protective clothing, etc. So if you have a layer of hard coating over soft paint, then the hard coating will protect the soft paint from harm.

I DID read several product reviews by other people who have used the product, and from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of chemistry and physics, the principals upon which the product is founded are also sound.

I'm happy to put the product on the car for the price I paid based on the analogous results of other users. If nothing else I'm quite pleased with the "just waxed" sheen it gives the car after every wash, and how water beads right off.

If you really are that concerned with the "scientific evidence" of how effective this product is, please feel free to go buy a tube, put some on a painted metallic surface, throw a bunch of gravel at it, and report back to us with the results

So where did you come with the MOHR scale data? Surely someone has done testing to determine its classification?

I'm not expecting that you performed scientific analysis, just point us to where we can read more on what this product is capable of (such as the MOHR rating).

I'm genuinely interested, but would only consider spending hundreds of $ if this is more than another overhyped paint coating.

[Tsuyoi]

Originally Posted by claykin

So where did you come with the MOHR scale data? Surely someone has done testing to determine its classification?

I'm not expecting that you performed scientific analysis, just point us to where we can read more on what this product is capable of (such as the MOHR rating).

I'm genuinely interested, but would only consider spending hundreds of $ if this is more than another overhyped paint coating.

The article/review I really found useful, and ultimately influenced me to go for it:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/201...r-2-years.html


Another review:

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...opti-coat-2-0/



Interestingly enough, when I do a Google for the hardness, there's a lot of debate over whether the 9H hardness rating referrs to the Moh scale, or to the pencil hardness scale.

At this point I'm really tempted to just order a tube on Amazon for $70 and put it on something and test it myself.

Ultimately, I just love the sheen it gives my car, how it beads water, and how I don't have to worry about it again for another 2-3 years. I feel a few hundred is an acceptable price to pay for this, considering a good tint will cost just as much.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoi

The article/review I really found useful, and ultimately influenced me to go for it:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/201...r-2-years.html


Another review:

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...opti-coat-2-0/



Interestingly enough, when I do a Google for the hardness, there's a lot of debate over whether the 9H hardness rating referrs to the Moh scale, or to the pencil hardness scale.

At this point I'm really tempted to just order a tube on Amazon for $70 and put it on something and test it myself.

Ultimately, I just love the sheen it gives my car, how it beads water, and how I don't have to worry about it again for another 2-3 years. I feel a few hundred is an acceptable price to pay for this, considering a good tint will cost just as much.

Thanks. If you are happy with the end result then that's all that matters. Sounds like you had a good detailer handle your car. I haven't found anyone other than trunk slammers in So. FL to deal with. Garry Dean in Tampa seems to be the closest who knows what to do with this stuff.

[Tsuyoi]

Check autopia, they have a few threads i think about detailers in Florida.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoi

Check autopia, they have a few threads i think about detailers in Florida.

Thanks. Will check it out.

[jamesems]

Check out the David Fermani review of Opti. I think i'm sold

http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...st-review.html

[Gray_Panther]

+1 for that review....It's what got me into opti-coating!

[AntBabeee]

Originally Posted by jamesems

Check out the David Fermani review of Opti. I think i'm sold

http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...st-review.html

+1 thanks