Average life of Opti Coat

[oachalon]

I was wondering what the average life everyone is getting with their opti coat? This is non camaro related as i did not apply opti coat to my camaro. On my camaro for protection i use Zaino.

My daily driver is a Cadillac ATS. I bought this car brand new Last July. At that time i completely removed all of the imperfections from the paint wiped it down and applied the opti-coat. I hand washed the car about every 2-3 weeks from July to November. Each time the car was easy to wash, and all of the dirt, debris, and water shed right off. The water would bead like crazy. Then one of the worst winters in a while hit. Basically From December to March it snowed everyday. I want to say we had roughly 140 inches of snow fall this winter. This included lots and lots and lots of salt on the roads.

Finally today I had the opportunity to wash the car (last time was in November). I noticed after washing the car and during the drying process, the water is not really shedding off the vehicle and I do not have any water beading.

I am going to assume the opti-coat has pretty much been stripped off my car from the winter? The paint was still in pretty good condition and the car after being cleaned looked good again. Opti-Coat has seem to have done its job as the paint looks to be have been protected and i am not complaining, but i was just wondering if people had similar results, or possibly i did not apply the coating properly.

The coating worked well for 5 months before winter, and seemed to have worked throughout most of the winter. It was just a really bad winter, so i was wondering if i should expect those results.

[Good_Times]

I'm willing to bet the coating is still on there and just needs a deep cleaning. If it fails in five months or less it was not properly installed. Try a product such as Iron-X and Optimum Power Clean before you regular shampoo. The only way to remove OC 2.0 is to abrade it off. David Fermani did a youtube video and posted on many detailing forums a two year test of coating a half of his daily driver that was regularly taken through a tunnel wash without removing the coating. I will try and find a link.

[Good_Times]

http://www.autopia.org/forum/topic/1...y-test-review/

[oachalon]

Thanks for the post. I will take a look at Iron-X or optimum power clean. I believe i applied the coating properly, but you never know. The paint looks to have been protected so i am assuming it is still on the car.

[babaron]

I have had a similar experience with Opticoat 2.0. I put it on this past September On my new Cayenne . Water beaded very nicely right after I applied it however after going through this winter with it, I washed it and saw that most of the car did not bead water. I had waxed the hood on top of the Opticoat and that was the only place that beaded water.

I have not been impressed with this product at all.

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by babaron

I have had a similar experience with Opticoat 2.0. I put it on this past September On my new Cayenne . Water beaded very nicely right after I applied it however after going through this winter with it, I washed it and saw that most of the car did not bead water. I had waxed the hood on top of the Opticoat and that was the only place that beaded water.

I have not been impressed with this product at all.

I'm far from an Opticoat fan, I prefer other coatings much more.

However, keep in mind guys that you have to maintain OC or any other coating. You still need to clay it, iron-x, keep it clean, etc just like you would your clearcoat.

Contamination can still embed itself into the coating and impede performance.

Now, in my opinion, go the Cquartz route if you want an EXCELLENT coating that flat out performs. I'm partial to original CQ, but CQUK is great too, just a little more difficult to apply IMO. CQF is a lot of hype IMHO (sorry, Corey )

GTechniq EXO V2 is an excellent product when you want to talk about extreme beading for long periods of time. I struggle to call it a true coating, but it's definitely more than just a sealant.

EXO V2 topped with Sonax PNS is my combination of choice. You won't be able to get water to stick to the car long enough to wash it with that combo. It's perfect.

[Jims Mongoose]

I have been watching this thread with great interest and this is why.

I used it on my Camaro as a second skin to the clear coat. Then with other polymeric coatings such as blackfire I find the combination is so tough that my car stay cleaner easier.

By that I mean that i can use my california duster to remove light dust and pollen. I am not suggesting that dirty rain water dirt can be brushed off, but all other light dust can be. Makes a black car easier to take care of.

I don't believe that its meant to bead. Does your clearcoat bead up, no!


It's meant to protect, again like another coat of clear coat, the wax or in my case the polymeric coating is what gives the beading, the shine etc.


I am not saying that you don't have to take care of the car in other ways.

I still use detailer for small spots, I still use the polymeric black fire coating for beading, and shine, it's just easier and allows alot more times when I can use the duster.

The duster is very affective if the paint is protected as I said above with the opticoat and polymeric coating.

If you need to understand how to use the duster properly I will expand on that.

Thanks
jim