Optimum Opti-Coat Review

[seech]

It has been two weeks since my attempt at replacing the clear coat on a clear coat failure situation with Opti-Coat. Took some pictures to monitor the progress of the Opti-Coat.

The condition of the test section after the Opti-Coat application two weeks ago.

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2 weeks later, after spraying the area with ONR before wiping off.

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The area treated with Opti-Coat is still beading quite well.

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Untreated.

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Opti-Coat.

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After wiping down with ONR.

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The Opti-Coat seems to be holding up well with some nice water beading and the test area still looking nice and glossy. But, there is a slight issue with a section of the test area.



Although the entire section is still glossy and the Opti-Coat seems to be sealing in the entire test area, the paint below the Opti-Coat at the edge of the test area seems to be fading.

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However, the Opti-Coat seems to be working well on the top section.

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Bottom.

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Observations so far, with the exception of that one section, the Opti-Coat seems to be holding up well and preventing the clear-coat failure from reappearing. As for the section which is fading again, perhaps the compounding and polishing wasn't sufficient or the Opti-Coat was not applied thick enough in that area.



It will be interesting to see if the fading continues to spread and how long the rest of the test area will lasts.



Stay tuned for further updates...

 

[bigltc]

Hey Seech,



What has your average temp and humidity been? Are you getting alot of rain?



Thanks, B.

 

[wannafbody]

Observations so far, with the exception of that one section, the Opti-Coat seems to be holding up well and preventing the clear-coat failure from reappearing. As for the section which is fading again, perhaps the compounding and polishing wasn't sufficient or the Opti-Coat was not applied thick enough in that area.(end quote)



It might be that you are using Opti Coat over a less than ideal surface or another possibility is that the Opti Coats UV protection isn't very strong. You probably would have been better off doing the entire hood with Opti Coat.

 

[seech]

Hey Seech,



What has your average temp and humidity been? Are you getting alot of rain?



Thanks, B.

Hah... I'm located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia so humidity and temperature is always high and it's been raining everyday for the past two weeks.

It might be that you are using Opti Coat over a less than ideal surface or another possibility is that the Opti Coats UV protection isn't very strong. You probably would have been better off doing the entire hood with Opti Coat.

Yes. It's possible that there's some surface prep issues or the Opti-Coat wasn't evenly applied. It'll be interesting to see how he rest of the area holds up in the coming weeks.



I think it's useful to note that I'm using the Opti-Coat in a manner that it was never designed for but it'll be ineresting to see where the limits are.

 

[salty]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Subscribed.

 

[Obsessive]

I've had the coating on my truck since October and it is still beading really well.

 

[blake_jl1]

I wish you corrected a small area of the hood but didn't apply the coating here so we could compare the progress on two areas polished at the same time, one with the coating and one without.



Nice test.

 

[seech]

I wish you corrected a small area of the hood but didn't apply the coating here so we could compare the progress on two areas polished at the same time, one with the coating and one without.



Nice test.

Yeah. Someone else also mentioned that. I'll try to do another test area if I can find the time.

 

[percynjpn]

Great test - very interesting! Looking forward to further updates.



Todd

 

[seech]

The Optimum Opti-Coat trial was started about a month ago on a car with clear coat failure to evaluate if the Opti-Coat would act as a 'new' clear coat and a follow up update was done two weeks later.



The initial results were simply astounding.

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This was the state of the boot before anything was done.

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This was what it looked like after compounding, polishing and an application of Optimum Opti-Coat.

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After two weeks, there were some issues with the paint fading at the edge of the test area.

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It has now been another two weeks....



I was very keen to find out how the Opti-Coat was holding up as there was some issue of fading in the edge of the test area. As reported in the update two weeks ago, I suspect that this was due to the surface preparation as the rest of the test panel looked great. The only way to confirm this was to evaluate if the fading continue across the rest of the panel.



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The Opti-Coat still looks great!!!



I was very anxious to view the results after another two weeks and after a quick ONR wipedown this was the results...

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If you compare this with two weeks ago, the faded areas still look the same.



How about the rest of the panel?

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Still looking pretty good...



Conclusion:

The Optimum Opti-Coat really does work. Although this was never meant to be its intended purpose, I could think of no better way to test what is supposed to be a second-layer of coating on a car which had clear coat failure.



There was a slight issue with the paint fading in one section of the test area but as the fading was confined to that area, I suspect that this is probably due to issues with the surface preparation.



This will be the final update as the rest of the boot lid will be corrected and sealed with Opti-Coat.

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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Thank you for your interest in this review.

 

[seech]

The Optimum Opti-Coat trial was started about a month ago on a car with clear coat failure to evaluate if the Opti-Coat would act as a 'new' clear coat and a follow up update was done two weeks later.



The initial results were simply astounding.



This was the state of the boot before anything was done.

This was what it looked like after compounding, polishing and an application of Optimum Opti-Coat.

After two weeks, there were some issues with the paint fading at the edge of the test area.

It has now been another two weeks....



I was very keen to find out how the Opti-Coat was holding up as there was some issue of fading in the edge of the test area. As reported in the update two weeks ago, I suspect that this was due to the surface preparation as the rest of the test panel looked great. The only way to confirm this was to evaluate if the fading continue across the rest of the panel.

The Opti-Coat still looks great!!!



I was very anxious to view the results after another two weeks and after a quick ONR wipedown this was the results...

If you compare this with two weeks ago, the faded areas still look the same.



How about the rest of the panel?

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Still looking pretty good...



Conclusion:

The Optimum Opti-Coat really does work. Although this was never meant to be its intended purpose, I could think of no better way to test what is supposed to be a second-layer of coating on a car which had clear coat failure.



There was a slight issue with the paint fading in one section of the test area but as the fading was confined to that area, I suspect that this is probably due to issues with the surface preparation.



This will be the final update as the rest of the boot lid will be corrected and sealed with Opti-Coat.



Thank you for your interest in this review.

 

[Legacy]

Excellent write up thanks for the review.

 

[Scottwax]

I think I will have to try that on my son's Accord since his has suffered massive clear coat failure (typical of 5th gen Accords) but otherwise is a great running car.

 

[seech]

Excellent write up thanks for the review.

Thanks for the kind comments.

I think I will have to try that on my son's Accord since his has suffered massive clear coat failure (typical of 5th gen Accords) but otherwise is a great running car.

Scott, based on what I have observed in the last month, I think it will work for cars with clear coat failure. Perhaps you would have to layer it up (if it is possible to layer the Opti-Coat) to provide additional protection.

 

[schiddy]

Any updates on this?

 

[seech]

Just uploaded a video showing the water beading of Opti-Coat after 5 months. No special maintenance carried out other than washing with ONR on a regular basis.



The original post on the Opti-Coat can be found here:

ProDetailing: Optimum Opti-Coat Review



The results are quite impressive considering it has been 5 months without anything being applied to it:

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[seech]

How long does the Optimum Opti-Coat lasts? Does it really work?

- Optimum Opti-Coat is supposed to form a PERMANENT protective layer on top of your existing paint and is designed to be harder, more scratch resistant and has better water beading characteristics than the original paint.

- Optimum Opti-Coat is supposed to last and protect for as long as the coating is taken care of properly.

- Another advantage of getting your car coated is that should there be any issue with with scratches or watermarks which requires polishing or compounding, only the Optimum Opti-Coat will be affected as the original paint below the Optimum Opti-Coat will not be touched.



Does it really work? How long does it last?



The only way to tell is to try it out...



The surface of this test vehicle suffered from clearcoat failure. IF the Optimum Opti-Coat really works and forms an additional permanent protective layer on top of the paint, the coated area should remain the same and the paint should not oxidize and revert back to the original condition over time.



Early-May 2010: A section of the test area was taped off and corrected before the Optimum Opti-Coat was applied.

After correction. Nice and shiny with the gloss restored.

Time to try out the coating...

The surface really looks great!!!

Mid-May 2010: Great water beading!!!

June 2010: Still the same reflection...

May 2011: Water sheeting ONE YEAR LATER!!!

August 2011: After 15 MONTHS!!!

Does Optimum Opti-Coat work?



They say a picture tells a thousand words..... at least this saves me from typing another 738 words.



Original post from my blog:

ProDetailing: Optimum Opti-Coat Review - Update after 15 Months

 

[Scottwax]

Wow, amazing results!

 

[seech]

Wow, amazing results!

Thanks Scott. Considering that the clear coat on the original paint had already failed, the OptiCoated section is still holding up. 15 months!!! I'm just wondering how long it will last.