RaysWay
Autopia Specialist
aka Optimum Gloss-Coat Rayview 
Here she is! My new (to me) 2000 Mercury Sable LS. The first thing I did was take it home for a quick wash and wax (Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo and BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection).
The paint is in overall great condition, but did have plenty of swirl marks that I wanted to remove so I planned a full detail the following weekend. While I was busy deciding on what products to use for the full detail, the detailing world was hit with shocking news. Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 was discontinued. It would be the end of an era for a flagship detailing product.
The stages of mourning a loss are considered universal and are experienced by people from all walks of life differently. The first stage (denial and confusion) was evident across multiple detailing forums on the internet. The immediate shock even hit home at the Autopia-CarCare.com offices:
(Dramatic Reenactment @ Autopia-CarCare.com)
The other stages of mourning a loss were observed as well.
2. Anger (outlash towards Optimum and vendors)
3. Bargaining (Opti-Coat 2.0 Black Market)
4. Depression (lowered state of anger)
5. and finally Acceptance
I don't view this backlash as a negative, I like to look at it as a positive. The things we hold dearest to our hearts, cause us the most pain when we lose them. The commotion caused by the discontinuation of Opti-Coat 2.0, showed us just how much we all loved a product manufactured from Optimum Polymer Technologies. They "changed the game" years ago with the debut of Opti-Coat. The same chemist and company is now promising better scratch and mar resistance, better UV resistance, better chemical etch resistance, and better release properties than any other consumer coating on the market. After I personally went through the 5 stages of loss, I decided to give the same company that "changed the game" years ago the benefit of the doubt and use their latest coating as my LSP - Optimum Gloss-Coat.
After reading my review, I hope you'll agree with me when I say there is nothing to fear. Gloss-Coat is AMAZING.
Here's the vehicle before washing. Not too shabby since I wash and waxed the car 5 days ago.
Bonus BFWDAFPP beading pics
Wheels and tires cleaned with Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Iron X with various brushes.
Here's the Sable after being washed (Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo), decontaminated (Iron X + Nanoskin Wash Mitt), and dried (Guzzler MF Towel).
Although the paint looks clean, you can tell by looking at the reflections of the light fixtures that the paint is not as shiny as possible.
Before applying any coating, it's recommended to remove any defects from the paint. The Toreador Red Pearl Metallic did a great job of hiding imperfections. I used my FLEX Swirl Finder Light to inspect the true condition of the paint.
I decided to use a RUPES LHR15ES to try out the new Lake Country HD Orbital Pads. I started my test spot with the orange polishing pad with BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish.
It was a perfect combo. (Left side unpolished)
The reflections were much sharper, the paint was shinier and the color was deeper.
BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish was all this paint needed.
The Lake Country HD Orbital Pads were amazing. They allowed the RUPES LHR15ES to work effortlessly, even on my curved door panels.
It was fun watching the car seem to change color during polishing. (Left side polished, Right side not polished)
After polishing the paint, I decided to restore the trim with Solution Finish. This was after I cleaned the trim with Detailers Pro Series Cleanse All.
After 1 coat of Solution Finish.
I followed up by wiping the entire car carefully with a 15% IPA dilution to remove any oils on the paint.
Here she is! My new (to me) 2000 Mercury Sable LS. The first thing I did was take it home for a quick wash and wax (Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo and BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection).
The paint is in overall great condition, but did have plenty of swirl marks that I wanted to remove so I planned a full detail the following weekend. While I was busy deciding on what products to use for the full detail, the detailing world was hit with shocking news. Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 was discontinued. It would be the end of an era for a flagship detailing product.
The stages of mourning a loss are considered universal and are experienced by people from all walks of life differently. The first stage (denial and confusion) was evident across multiple detailing forums on the internet. The immediate shock even hit home at the Autopia-CarCare.com offices:
(Dramatic Reenactment @ Autopia-CarCare.com)
The other stages of mourning a loss were observed as well.
2. Anger (outlash towards Optimum and vendors)
3. Bargaining (Opti-Coat 2.0 Black Market)
4. Depression (lowered state of anger)
5. and finally Acceptance
I don't view this backlash as a negative, I like to look at it as a positive. The things we hold dearest to our hearts, cause us the most pain when we lose them. The commotion caused by the discontinuation of Opti-Coat 2.0, showed us just how much we all loved a product manufactured from Optimum Polymer Technologies. They "changed the game" years ago with the debut of Opti-Coat. The same chemist and company is now promising better scratch and mar resistance, better UV resistance, better chemical etch resistance, and better release properties than any other consumer coating on the market. After I personally went through the 5 stages of loss, I decided to give the same company that "changed the game" years ago the benefit of the doubt and use their latest coating as my LSP - Optimum Gloss-Coat.
After reading my review, I hope you'll agree with me when I say there is nothing to fear. Gloss-Coat is AMAZING.
Here's the vehicle before washing. Not too shabby since I wash and waxed the car 5 days ago.
Bonus BFWDAFPP beading pics
Wheels and tires cleaned with Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Iron X with various brushes.
Here's the Sable after being washed (Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo), decontaminated (Iron X + Nanoskin Wash Mitt), and dried (Guzzler MF Towel).
Although the paint looks clean, you can tell by looking at the reflections of the light fixtures that the paint is not as shiny as possible.
Before applying any coating, it's recommended to remove any defects from the paint. The Toreador Red Pearl Metallic did a great job of hiding imperfections. I used my FLEX Swirl Finder Light to inspect the true condition of the paint.
I decided to use a RUPES LHR15ES to try out the new Lake Country HD Orbital Pads. I started my test spot with the orange polishing pad with BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish.
It was a perfect combo. (Left side unpolished)
The reflections were much sharper, the paint was shinier and the color was deeper.
BLACKFIRE SRC Finishing Polish was all this paint needed.
The Lake Country HD Orbital Pads were amazing. They allowed the RUPES LHR15ES to work effortlessly, even on my curved door panels.
It was fun watching the car seem to change color during polishing. (Left side polished, Right side not polished)
After polishing the paint, I decided to restore the trim with Solution Finish. This was after I cleaned the trim with Detailers Pro Series Cleanse All.
After 1 coat of Solution Finish.
I followed up by wiping the entire car carefully with a 15% IPA dilution to remove any oils on the paint.
After some small talk, he wants me to detail his G35 asap. 
