After lots of thinking, I finally did it, 2011 Jetta gets OptiCoat

Dan

Dan

Well-known member
I had a huge internal struggle about this stuff. OptiCoat seems great but is it all that? I love shiny paint, I was worried that OptiCoat would not give me the looks I liked. I also love waxing, this was going to take away from that. However this car is parked outdoors 24/7 and there are times during the winter where I can't apply anything for long stretches. A friend had purchased some OptiCoat and left it at my place as I was going to apply it for him. He also said I could have the rest after doing his car. Well, he's been very busy lately, so I helped myself to my share.:grinno:



The process:

-Wash with CG Citrus

-FK 3 Step Decon

-Clay with Meguiars clay and 3D QD as lube

-Polish via rotary using Megs yellow polishing pad and HD Uno

-Finish with GG6 and PO85rd

-2x full strength IPA wipedowns

-2 coats OptiCoat, I ended up using just over 5cc, for all painted surfaces and wheels. Hope I didn't go too thin, but I felt like if I used anymore I'd get high spots.



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And the results:



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Looks-wise, its a bit boring to me, plenty of gloss but very little depth and no glow. I'll keep updating the thread as time goes by.
 
Looks good. I feel sort of the same way about oc. I love the utility if it, especially because of the salty, long winters in MN. It looks very clean and hard to me, which is ok but I do miss the really super wet look I'm used to with Blackfire. But, overall I think it's definitely worth it for a daily driver.
 
Dan, if anyone can be an objective observer for a product of this type, it's you! I'll be wathcing closely!



(Are you up to speed on the high pressure fuel pump failures on the VW CRD cars???)
 
Wow, a brand spankin' new Jetts TDI. Nice. White is a tough color to get to pop sometimes but it looks pretty fantastic to me. I agree that durability, even sometimes at the expense of overall look, is the way to go. And most likely you will be the only one that sees the difference at all. :)



How will you maintain through the winter? Car Wash and QD choices?
 
Great Dan, thanks for stealing my post! I was just about to upload the pictures for my squaw's 328i that I decided to Opti-Coat. Honestly, I don't feel that I lost much, if anything, looks wise. However, my car is metallic blue, not white, so that might be why. Like you, I'm afraid that maybe I didn't put enough on, but I applied it just as I have applied OptiSeal many times in the past. We'll see...
 
i don't know dan that thing looks pretty good to me. not sure how much better it could look. my audi is going on about 2.5 yrs with opti coat (now opti guard). it's a dd and outside 24/7.
 
tom p. said:
(Are you up to speed on the high pressure fuel pump failures on the VW CRD cars???)
Click to expand...



Yep, if you can find a VW product that doesn't have some sort of catastrophic failure, let me know! From what I've read, the majority of the HPFP failures are due to misfueling, but there are some legitmate concerns.



Brad B. said:
How will you maintain through the winter? Car Wash and QD choices?
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Wash will be either NXT, Optimum or ONR, QD will probably be everything under the sun, I'm a QD junkie.



Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Looks nice! But... a Jetta? Thought you just bought a 'vette?
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There was a lot of car turnover in our houshold this year. :tongue2: I do have the vette.



wascallyrabbit said:
i don't know dan that thing looks pretty good to me. not sure how much better it could look.
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Would I be a jerk if I told you guys that the outdoor pictures were taken a week after I applied it???:think:



350 miles (major construction on two of its primary roads with milling and repaving) +



jetts_opticoat_week1_weather.jpg




Rain just about everyday last week.



And yup, it looks that good, I haven't touched the car except I put some tire shine on before I took the pics. I'm blown away by how clean the car stayed.:clap2:
 
Looks super glossy to me. Depth should improve over the next 24-48 hours as it fully cures. The beading will amazed you.
 
Dan- This'll be interesting, huh? And yeah, that's a nice looking car and the OptiCoat looks fine on it.



Heh heh, maybe I oughta tease you a little...the "oh, just ZAIO it!" stuff and so on :chuckle:
 
One Month Update

Washed the Jetta Saturday, almost exactly one month (9/17 to 10/15) after applying OptiCoat. Some notes:



-Car was pretty dirty, mostly road grime, not much dirt.

-The grime that was on it didn't rinse as well as I hoped with the pressure washer. After reading all the reviews I though I would be able to take a pressure washer and essentially spray everything off, that was not the case.

-Tar...lots of it on the car, they are repaving one of our major roads here and doing a sloppy job. The amazing thing is the tar comes of with soap and water and mild agitation with a mitt! This same tar was a bear to get off before, requiring a chemical cleaner.

-Excellent sheeting action, not much beading as it all sheets away.

-The water seems to want to get off the car and into the waffle weave more so than usual.

-Car looked good after a wash but some QD really made it pop.
 
Dan- Thanks for posting the update, I find this an interesting difference from the (untopped) ZAIO approach.



Especially interesting contrast between the tar coming off so easily and the pressure washing not working as well as expected.
 
Accumulator said:
Dan- Thanks for posting the update, I find this an interesting difference from the (untopped) ZAIO approach.



Especially interesting contrast between the tar coming off so easily and the pressure washing not working as well as expected.
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Hey, the untopped ZAIO approach is more of a do as I say, not as I do approach. I'm way too LSP crazy to use that approach on my own cars. The red Jetta has been getting a new coat of something EVERY week, if not twice a week. And as you can see by my QD application... I'm all over the place :D



And yeah, not what I was expecting from the washing standpoint, but the fact the tar almost leaps off is amazing in itself. Another thing I failed to note, the paint feels so grabby without the QD.
 
Dan- Ah, that's worth mentioning about the "grabby" feel. Wonder if it's just a coincidence that the "grabby feeling paint" didn't shed dirt all that well when pressure washed :think:
 
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