coatings useless or fantastic? what do you think??

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Klasse Act said:
This thread is great because there's some "non regulars" coming in and making points, points that are well sorted and posted so one can follow and really understand where they're coming from, thank you guys, you know who you are and don't be a stranger here, ok;)

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i agree. apparently i was getting some heat within the depths of the web for making this thread...or something, but i'm glad people are taking the time to contribute and make yet another clearing house for info on this tech.
 
The over-selling of the products is not restricted to coatings. Some, not all, companies have almost made a living from over-hyping their wares. It annoys me immensely when I see this going on.
 
Even the most respected companies over step the marketing line with claims of permanent products, near effortless results, and so easy your grandma could do it...all of which are crossing ethical lines all in an effort to sell products or services. We all pride ourselves in thinking we are good consumers. That too is also not true much of the time.
 
My first coating was Opticoat,2.0 and my second was EXO. I applied them 1 weekend apart to have a durability race. The cars both sit out 24x7. Mine get more mileage but they both lasted about 2 years. Would I like more durability, Sure. But 2 years after waxing every 3 weeks or sealing every 2-3 months is a pleasure. It just it makes washing so easy.

I would not steer you to or away from either. They are similar in application and remember the key is the prep. Wash-clay-decon (iron x)-wash again, dry, Polish until your happy with the paint, wipe with IPA and apply in a well lit, dust free setting.

Work in small areas so that you can get all the high spots buffed off before it sets up and is too laste.



What was your "gateway" coating? If I was to go that route, I'm thinking DP's as it seems the lowest cost and fairly forgiving to apply.



If I go this route, I'll do similar. My wife and daughter's cars don't get a lot of attention since they are driven heavily and I don't have access to them as much as I'd like. The wife's car is also an SUV, so the fewer times I have to touch it the better. I'll leave the waxes and sealants for my car as it's small and I enjoy working on it.[/QUOTE]
 
What do you see from C1 different from EXO alone?

DaveT435 said:
I've used EXO and Opti Coat 2.0 similar feelings about the products. I've recently started using C1 EXO combo. I've used C2v3 mixed 20:1 with distiller water as a drying aid to bring back the gloss and slickness on the EXO. Works great and very inexpensive. I'm going to try it on Opticoat as well.
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Coatings are great but you have to educate your customer since there is no such thing as a permanent coating not even your clear coat is permanent. Anyone sell it as such is a flat out liar and should be selling them. I'm very honest and up front with my customers about the coating I sell. You have to take care of the coating just like a clear coat and they are not bullet proof.
 
JSFM35x said:
What do you see from C1 different from EXO alone?
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I did it mainly for more scratch resistance. It seems to give the paint a little more depth, hard to tell on Pearl white. Both the cars I've done so far have been Pearl white.It did seem to have a glassier look, or more of the candy coated look. I will be doing a couple dark metallic cars soon provided the weather cooperates. One is my Camaro that currently just has EXO so that will give me a comparison.
Application in 70 degree weather is much easier than 90 degrees. Hopefully I'll get to do my Camaro in a couple weeks.
 
If I can get the correction done on my wife's dark green Honda DD tonight after work or tomorrow before I trudge in, I'll be doing the C1/EXO. I expect it to be a smooth experience, as it's about 62° in the garage after a couple hours with the doors closed.
 
Im curious to know how some of you feel who have used the higher end coatings, like Modesta or Cquartz finest. Are the extra $$$ worth the money? How about durability? Ease of maintenance?
 
Auto Concierge said:
Coatings capabilities have been oversold,

Many ethically challenged folks have used these products to upsell on jobs, while at the same time not even get close to high level correction................. slamming on the product in some cases (Outside in the elements during the initial application) or even delivering the car less than a half hour after the product was wiped off.

The bubble will burst...............when the consumer get's educated on the real world performance VS "Selling ice to eskimo's" sales practices.

In this "Me2" furor, it has been disappointing to watch the developments of the makers of some of the products to guys flip flopping on the sales approach in order to "Get paid" totally selling out there integrity and care not...............in fact brag about this in private(Or so they thought) Facebook groups.

Someone is always watching gents...................always.
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In an elevator with X number of people farting - this is a breath of fresh air. Thank you.

One question. I've got a $3 bottle of Nu-Finish "The Once a Year Car Polish", and a garage. How long can I expect it to last under *ideal* conditions?



Edit: just to be clear, I am not promoting Nu-Finish.
 
Hydrix Detail said:
Im curious to know how some of you feel who have used the higher end coatings, like Modesta or Cquartz finest. Are the extra $$$ worth the money? How about durability? Ease of maintenance?
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in my opinion, for people on here? largely, nope. the consumer grade stuff is nice as heck and as this thread has shown, diligent members can generally handle that tech to their own satisfaction.

some enthusiasts can do it but don't have time - i've had times in my life where i was just too busy in my regular life to do a correction and coating to my spec so i enlisted the services of a professional. it didn't work out, that's for sure, but i'd think that is definitely an anomaly given how passionate so many of the pros appear to be. there are a good operations and people out there. no doubt.

for the general public who isn't DIY but wants their car to look nice? absolutely, the higher end stuff is worth it if their budget allows. it makes sense to have a pro do it and for the pro to give them the best coating product available. which also typically means a more finicky coating. ideally, the pro should be able to make the paint as nice as possible or at least as much as the budget will allow, apply the coating without issue and discuss what the coating CAN do and what it CAN'T do. and of course, explain how to take care of the finish if the pro isn't handling all of the maintenance as well.
 
is it worth applying a coating for some if you plan on polishing within or about a year, or would some just rather apply a wax or sealant every 2-4 months?
 
VISITOR said:
is it worth applying a coating for some if you plan on polishing within or about a year, or would some just rather apply a wax or sealant every 2-4 months?
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ultimately it depends on how you use your car, first and foremost. and how you treat it as a whole. but my take on your question is usually a definitive yes. imo the coating will help maintain the substrate and keep it from getting as damaged as easily. and the substrate is finite, so preserving that is obv terribly important. the coating tech is more durable than waxes and sealants, if not because of the chemistry, because of the sheer increase in film build.

if you get bird crap on your car and there is wax or sealant, it will be better than just having the bare clear. but fallout like that can easily defeat those LSPs and get into the clear. same with hard water deposits. with coatings, my experience is they give themselves up much less. i think the Mini Cooper hood example in my first post is a prime example of this.

in my experiences they keep your car looking cleaner for a lot longer than waxes and sealants and are just generally easier to clean.

but, sealants and waxes are traditionally easier to use and some people don't need the sort of protection the coatings give because they have a garage queen or something. i mean, i have a garage queen and i still play with coatings but that's because i like how much easier it is to clean without having to constantly refresh the LSP.

but after my time with this new Gloss-Coat, that stuff is almost as easy to install as Opti-Seal, which is pretty damn cool. as i said earlier, i don't have experience with any other brand's coatings but i'm sure there are easier-than-ever to install coatings coming out from other companies too that are fantastic.
 
I just recently started using coating in the past several months. I started out on my own truck with the Gtechniq, which I won in a contest, and it is amazing. Yes some people will say that coating are no good and everyone has their own opinions that is why there are so many different companies and products. My opinion is that after applying the coating and letting my vehcile get dirty and seing how easy the dirt came off and how clean the vehicle looked afterwards that coating are wonderful. As far as how long it last, not really sure yet. It's been through hot weather and now snow and so far it's great. I have 3 months so far and it looks like I just applied it to the paint. If it holds up like that for a year I will keep using it. Only time will tell but really impressed so far.
 
But again, we have people talking about year long durability. My experience is that the modern ways of going about sealants means that you can get pretty darned close to that. For a coating to be worth considering, it needs to be lasting a whole lot longer than 'about a year'. In fact, it makes me wonder how many of these 'coatings' might actually be little more than new age sealants, with the marketing machine on overdrive...
 
PiPUK said:
But again, we have people talking about year long durability. My experience is that the modern ways of going about sealants means that you can get pretty darned close to that. For a coating to be worth considering, it needs to be lasting a whole lot longer than 'about a year'. In fact, it makes me wonder how many of these 'coatings' might actually be little more than new age sealants, with the marketing machine on overdrive...
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a point for me is durability...but offering what level of protection over that course? if the film build of a coating is much thicker than a sealant, and/or much harder (not only than a sealant but of the paint underneath), then i get the superiority of a coating, even if they "last" the same duration.

OPT, CQ...they all talk about hardness and film build.

the manufacturers should have testing data available for your review. even if it's lab testing done during development, it will show the various differences between the tech of coatings vs. sealants. not anecdotal youtube vids or something but someone, somewhere had to make the stuff in lab and they had to assess the performance there (like they do with paint) before the next step.
 
So far i have no regrets using the DP PAINT COAT. Ease of use and the gloss/shine are great! Got done with a wash today. It still impresses me. Doing well like the day i applied it.
 
Well I used DPPC first and then DGNCC and I'm glad I did as the DGNCC flashes much faster, so using DPPC first really helped with the learning curve. I haven't used both on the same car so I can't comment on looks but durability for both seems equal to me.

I have DGNCC on my wife's Mazda 6 as well as 2 customers cars, even my own car but its been topped by itself several times as well as AW and now numerous products like #915 and finally for winter, #476. I feel having a good base of paint coating is great as an LSP and its also fine if you still like using other products ontop of it because I feel its so strong that applying products like Collinite, Klasse and other DG products isn't going to hurt it one bit, but again that's my uneducated guess;)

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builthatch said:
the manufacturers should have testing data available for your review. even if it's lab testing done during development, it will show the various differences between the tech of coatings vs. sealants. not anecdotal youtube vids or something but someone, somewhere had to make the stuff in lab and they had to assess the performance there (like they do with paint) before the next step.
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As I posted a few moments ago, I am quite convinced that many of the brands selling coatings have absolutely nothing to do with the development and manufacturing. Frankly, we know well that there are not that many brands who are technically capable of producing routine cleaning and care chemicals (wheel cleaners, shampoos etc.) - the majority of the detailing brands out there will be buying from a third party. Coatings, well those are a whole different level of technical! You can do the simple chemicals with a moderate knowledge and a bit of experience. You can't do the same with coatings! Quite why the detailing market seems to believe that there are so many chemical experts suddenly working in tiny companies, making 'coatings', is beyond me.

So, I firmly believe that the lack of data is simply because the brands providing the products, on the whole, have no technical knowledge of the product, have limited to no input to the development and are unwilling to spend the time and money actually getting experts to do the necessary tests, when that money could be spent on marketing instead.
 
What about products like Meguiars new Paint Protect 365 that was released at SEMA? I was lucky enough to be able to attend a special open garage at Megs hq after SEMA. We where able to apply the product to a willing participants car. They are not calling it a coating or a sealant or wax just paint protection. No claim of scratch resistance, just that it will withstand 52 washes and still bead water like crazy. The product is supposed to retail for around $10.00. It goes on very thin like ULW and needs 24hrs to fully cure if I remember correctly. Seems to me that most people who have had or applied them selves a "coating" usually are the ones who keep their vehicle in a garage. Thus not to be beaten on by the elements 24hrs a day. Could this change the way look at coatings? I personally am skeptical of them but that is probably due to lack of experience with them.
 
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