opticoat vs. regular polishing and sealant

[Dairyman]

i am debating opticoating my daily driver...



right now i give it the usual polish every few months and reapply sealant(opti seal) every time i wash



the car is a black 04 TL honda paint is not amazing so it is starting to show its age on top of being a daily driver



i was thinking of giving it a full paint correction then adding opti coat



will opti coat be more resistant to swirls?



can i polish the car once i apply opti coat?



will opti coat come off if i cut it with 105 and my rotary?



i do enjoy washing my car then adding a sealant or wax to improve gloss and have the peace of mind that my car has protection



after applying opticoat how can you improve gloss over time?



any input will be greatly appreciated (i searched but no threads i found covered answered my questions)

[ictoaln]

Have Opti-Coated 06 Infiniti M35X,an outside car. Used Opti-Coat on all paint,chrome,rims,and windows except front. When I infrequently wash car. I use FK425 detailing mist after car wash. Seems to make surface slicker and dust resistant.Opti-coat looks like it is extremely slow to pick up dirt or anything else that would make a wash necessary. Considering the worn out condition of your paint I think it would be the perfect thing to protect whats left of your clearcoat without over polishing. From what i"ve seen Opti-Coat seems very resistant to swirls.From what I`ve seen in other blogs about Opti-Coat nothing you add to the finish will last that long so thats why I use FK425. Opti-Coats finish looks like Zaino Z2.

[imported_dfazekas]

will opti coat be more resistant to swirls?



Yes, it should be. But most of that`s going to be up to you/whoever maintains the car anyway




can i polish the car once i apply opti coat?



I believe a very fine finishing polish can be used, but I haven`t had to do this on any of the vehicles I`ve applied it to yet.




will opti coat come off if i cut it with 105 and my rotary?



Oh yeah.




i do enjoy washing my car then adding a sealant or wax to improve gloss and have the peace of mind that my car has protection



As mentioned, some people top it with a spray wax to get a slick feel (opticoat doesn`t feel as slick to the touch as some lsps), but anything more than that will be a waste `cause it won`t stick.




after applying opticoat how can you improve gloss over time?



I can`t fully comment on this as I haven`t had it on any vehicles as long as some people on here have, but I don`t know that this is too much of an issue with opticoat. I guess if you had to, you could always hit it with some finishing polish as I mentioned before, but I`ll let someone else chime in on this question.



There`s TONS of information about it in these two threads:



http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing-product-discussion/126661-optimum-opti-coating-durability-test-review.html



http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing-product-discussion/130527-opti-coat-users-whaddya-think.html



Its a great product. I recommend it to customers who have outside vehicles or who do a lot of driving.



Hope that helps answer some of your questions.

[Dan]

A few thoughts:



-If you need to polish every few months, there is something else going on. How confident are you in your wash technique?

-OptiCoat might help with swirl resistance, but its not a miracle

-OptiCoat is not a looker. To my eyes, it toned down a car that was polished with PO85rd. Other sealants will blow it away in the looks dept.

[tssdetailing]

dfazekas has it all right. Dan brought up a good point, what kinda washing techniques are you using that requires a full polish so often?!? My thoughts are that you should fully correct the car, OC it then just do traditional 2 bucket washing. Spray the car with QD right before drying it with a MF towel too, that will help prevent swirls and add some slickness to the OC (yes, it really has no pop at all, looks basically like clean paint, not high gloss paint.) You really shouldn`t have to polish it again if you use autopian washing techniques.

[Brad B]

I find better slickness (feel) and visual pop with other products.

[pootoo12000]

The finish it leaves is not eye-poppingly beautiful but it definitely has the "clean car" look. For an outdoor vehicle, this is probably just what you need. Unfortunately, IME, it is prone to water spotting. I solved that problem by topping with Permanon periodically. Your FK 425 should do that trick. Any sort of sacrificial barrier on top of the OC should make the spots much easier to remove. Just remember to top it semi-regularly. I found the application of OC to be quite easy, but you have to pay attention to what you`re doing. Sometimes I get the urge to squirt the finish with a hose just to see the incredible water behavior! I don`t think you`ll be disappointed.

[Bill D]

Looks are top priority to me, so I will continue to use classic carnuaba and sealants.

[Accumulator]

I think of OptiCoat more as an approach for people who want to "do it and forget it". If I were leasing a white/silver vehicle, I might OptiCoat it and then just do washes until the lease expires with the mindset of "it`s not mine anyhow, I just don`t care...".



But on my vehicles, I not only want a certain look, but I also want to be able to do spot-correction as needed (which isn`t very often ;) ). I did use it on the Tahoe`s wheels, and I can think of a few other things I might use it on, but I don`t really see it as an LSP for most people of an Autopian bent (could sure be wrong about that though :nixweiss )

[2005GTPinMD]

My long term plan for my cars is to get a DA and learn how to use it. Ultimately I want to opti-coat my car. To keep the shine I plan on using OCW.

[Dairyman]

i plan on doing a full correction then applying opti coat



i am really happy with the gloss that opti seal gives would opti coat be simliar to that or less gloss?





thanks for all of the input

[Dan]

Opticoat is much less glossy than Optiseal.

[Scottwax]

My DD has had Opti-Coat on it for two years now, didn`t realize at the time that I applied it when it was my Dad`s car I`d eventually buy it. The paint has a clean, glossy look to it. Depth is fine but not outstanding. Swirling has remained very minimal, not enough to consider polishing the car, good testament to how well my Dad washed it and kept the dealer from washing it. However, even when I drive it in the infrequent rains we`ve had, it picks up very little dirt. Washes off very easily, beading is still outstanding. If I want more pop, I can just add an ounce or so of OCW to ONR when I wash it. Makes taking care of the car very easy.

[AudiOn19s]

I was one of the bigger skeptics and finally caved and put opti-coat on my daily driver, it`s a Black sedan with 200K + miles on the clock. This car is not only my daily but serves as a work "truck" for me as well. As others have stated when it`s perfect the looks are NOT to die for, however here`s my take on it.



Inbetween washes it still looks amazing, it doesn`t collect dirt nearly as easily as it used to. At the ~2 month mark where other products start to fall off the Opti-coat does not. In the end, for me, the car looks good more of the time than it does with other products. Sure it won`t look outstanding like it would the first few days after say a coat of Blackfire Wet Diamond, but this time of the year the car is covered in dew every morning and that takes away from most sealants pretty quick, not soo much on the opti-coat.



The above is very important for me on my daily, this product just makes sense in that setting. Also on wheels. The Autopian in me will not be using it as an LSP on my other cars that sit in the garage. I thought very hard about putting Opti-coat on my GT3 which sees about 50% of it`s usage at the track, but in the end I wanted the car to look as good as possible when it`s cleaned up and I would not get that with the opti-coat.

[Dairyman]

i don`t mind adding product after every wash



if i was to apply opti seal over opti coat will it give it more gloss and shine even though it will only last a few days



i wash my car twice a week anyway