I don’t think a ‘pro’ coating (as denoted by selling only to authorized, vetted users) is always necessarily better (whatever that really means) than a coating available to anyone. I think there are a few reasons that a mfg sells only specific products to vetted/authorized users; difficulty of install, desire to somewhat control a user base, ability to offer ‘exclusive’ rights to pros within a defined geographic area, etc.
The ability to become pro-certified varies as well and in some cases involves a cost to the potential pro user. In some cases (Gtechniq is one I believe) an authorized user must attend training sessions (around $1500 last I heard) and in other cases (Gyeon perhaps) an authorized user must have an actual physical location (as opposed to mobile), possibly due to the need for IR curing for their upper level products. In the case of IGL I believe all that is needed for their lower-level pro offerings (Poly, Quartz and Quartz+) is proof of a business license and business insurance; should you want to install their top-tier coating (Kenzo) I believe one must attend a training class. I have also heard of a requirement to send pictures of you facility to the mfg, I guess to insure that your physical location meets the ‘visual standard’ they want to maintain for their products…appearance is everything?
Regardless of the path to certification, there are still authorized-installer products, usually at the lower end of their offerings, whose performance can be exceeded by a consumer/prosumer offering. I had a sympathetic installer send me a bit of a pro-only coating last year and I ran it side-by-side with one of my preferred consumer coatings for a few months; the consumer product beat the snot out of the installer-only coating. However, from what I could gather by asking around, the pro-only coating came in at a cost level that was a mere 33% of the consumer coating cost. So it’s not just a matter of performance with regards to pro v consumer, but also a matter of cost (in some cases; I have heard that Modesta is relatively expensive even for installers).
A little note about Gyeon, as it was mentioned here. Whether intentional or by accident, Gyeon has provided consumers with some options that will approach a couple of their pro-only offerings:
- Gyeon Syncro is a less concentrated version of their pro-only Duraflex offering
- Gyeon Mohs + Gyeon Booster is a less concentrated version of their pro-only Durabead offering
They may be adding another to this list as I see mention of a pro-only CanCoat product being released at SEMA this year. While in the above mentioned cases, one would certainly *hope* that the pro-only versions ARE significantly better in performance than the consumer approximations but only a pro would know that for sure.
Additionally, pro-only products often come with warranties, which are likely pretty specific regarding after care, what defines failure and other such items that could not be controlled outside of pro-only situations. Could you imaging the warranty claims if consumers were left to evaluate failure conditions with a consumer offered product that had a warranty available?
As for myself, I don’t really worry about access to ‘pro-only’ offerings as there are enough great consumer products currently out there; even one or 2 ‘limited self-healing’ are now available to consumers and I’d expect that segment to grow going forward. My specific needs and experiences have shown me that I have absolutely no need for anything beyond a claimed 3 year coatings, and with heavily used daily drivers even 2 years means I’m likely gonna have live with a few flaws (inflicted by my ignorance/laziness or inflicted by daily use) before the coating itself gives up the ghost. I kinda go by the 3 years or 36000 miles theory, aside from unusual incidents, which seems to hold somewhat true given my local climate, maintenance habits and vehicle usage. YMMV
And beware everything I’ve typed above as there are no proven facts in that jumble of words, just things I may have heard, read about (without verification) or just plain guessed at. It’s the Interweb after all, where the information is just about worth exactly what ya paid for it….Nada!
On another note, my experience with Syncro pretty much mirrors The Guz and regarding Ancient1's thoughts of topping CSL w/ Skin if it was available, I have topped CSL w/ Gyeon CanCoat and am very, very happy with the results (been about 5 months, 12k miles now). It seems to maintain the base appearance of the CSL (a very 'rich' look to me) and the CanCoat significantly increases the entertaining water behavior and self-cleaning aspect of CSL alone. Also adds a nice pop to the finish, a bit of the candy-gloss that does not seem to be overdone when sitting on top of CSL.
