New Car - Ford Focus RS - How would you do it?

[fastsvo]

Hey Guys,

I got myself a new RS in Nitrous Blue and started to shop around on professional coatings. After getting over the initial sticker shock, I am questioning the sensibility of paying anywhere between $500 - $1,200 for a coating and only expecting to receive 2-3 years out of it. I am indeed attracted by the protection and time savings (when washing) that a coating offers, but perhaps I am not taking other options/products a second look?

I don`t mind maintaining the finish but the car will be parked outdoors and in the burning SoCal sun. So how would you do it? Any particular products work especially well with the Nitrous Blue "Quad Coat" paint job?

Thanks in Advance!

[Ronkh]

Any thought on doing it yourself?

[fastsvo]

Any thought on doing it yourself?

Yes I`m starting to consider that. My concern is getting the prep 100% correct.

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[512detail]

get you some mckees coating and call it a day, super easy

[Mike lambert]

Talk to your local Modesta installer, they can offer you tons of information. After being involved with Modesta for a while now I can honestly tell you the whole network of installers are not only top flight detailers but genuinely people who are interested in helping you choose the way to go with your car care.

[trashmanssd]

I did Gteching CSL on my tundra and only got t about 80 percent corrected. The scratches I did not chase were slightly magnified by the coating but I think its worth it for how easy it is to maintain (But I dont expect it to last more than 12-18 months then I will use Gteching C2V3 to try boost it through the next winter or go back to Carpro Hydro2 to get through winter and reapply it after 2 years. It is a lot work to polish the whole car but I would do that every 2 years anyways so when I do it will get a coating and if it fails prior to the next polishing I will get by with some the new sealants (they are like coatings light).

Read this thread, these new sealants are a very real very good option to a coating with a lot less work. Think I`m done messing around with coatings, final thoughts...

[JSFM35X]

I would you to slow down, learn and do it yourself. That’s what I did. Wax it up and you’re good for a
While. Next find a local detailing manufacturer and learn. I went to a few met some great people and learned a lot.

If yoU drive out to NY I’ll show you if
You
Let
Me take it
Saturday night

[Dan]

I think a lot of it comes down to how long you plan on keeping the car and what benefits you are looking for. If you trade every few years, wash it regularly and hit it with spray wax. The dealer will be amazed at how "great" your car looks if you barely maintain it.

I agree with the DIY approach. Something user friendly like McKee`s 37 might be just the thing for you. I applied it to my car with minimal prep in some areas, and literally NO prep in other areas, like on top of old wax/sealants/etc and it still bonded. As long as your paint is squeaky (literally) clean before you apply, you`ll be good to go. Worst case, and this is really if things go terribly bad, you can use a mild polish to get it off and start again. This is really not rocket science, the only ones that say it is hard are the ones that are making money from doing it for you.

[Accumulator]

When I saw the title of this thread, the first thought I had for an answer is "just drive the wheels off it!" But OK, this is Autopia...

fastsvo- I`m never sufficiently confident to DIY a coating on anything but wheels, and I don`t want one anyhow as it`d preclude spot-correction and I`m getting by just fine with FK1000P. My coated wheels don`t clean up any easier than my FK1000P`ed ones, but they don`t need redone as often. BUT I gather that coatings supposedly improve marring-resistance and that might be of genuine benefit.

I too wonder how long you plan to *really* keep it. IF "indefinitely" I`d give lots of thought to how you can`t correct it very often. I have recent Ford specs on such stuff but I haven`t read `em yet A quick skimming gave me the impression that you can`t take off the 2/3mil (~16microns) that you could back a few years ago, so I`d be all about not marring it in the first place.

[fastsvo]

For now she`s a keeper.

I had someone measure the thickness of the paint. It averaged around 222 microns which I was very surprised to see. My fox body came in between 106 - 116, with some areas down to 94 microns (and this car could use medium paint correction).

I like the idea of Mckees ....I will have to look into that.

The only thing left in my arsenal these days are cans of collinite 476.

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[Accumulator]

fastsvo- Even though many of us are all about [other stuff] these days, there`s nothing really *wrong* with 476S.

[Dan]

Agreed, 476S is awesome stuff, the looks are subjective, but performance wise, the majority of new stuff can`t keep up with it.

[fastsvo]

Agreed, 476S is awesome stuff, the looks are subjective, but performance wise, the majority of new stuff can`t keep up with it.

I keep reading about FK 1000 and it sounds very good.

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[Dan]

I keep reading about FK 1000 and it sounds very good.

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It is good stuff but if I had a stash of 476, I`d use that. FK1000p looks awesome on white and silver. On some darker colors it just doesn`t look that good.

[Accumulator]

I, OTOH, have *MANY* tins of 476S just sitting here (and it`s pre-VOC even!) but I`ve switched everything that wore that over to FK1000P. Thought I`d hate the FK on the Granite (black) metallic Yukon and the dark blue Audi, but nope...even the Yukon looked nice to me after a little while and I sure never expected that.

Only thing that compares to the FK IME is KSG x 6, and IMO the FK looks a lot better than that on everything anyhow.