Time for a little controversy: The Case AGAINST Coatings

MarcHarris

MarcHarris

New member
Figured that as Autopia is North America's home to good detailing dicussion, I'd post this on up and allow people to respond / question / correct anything they feel is wrong.


 


http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/the-case-against-coatings-part-1-of-4/


 


 


My goals with this article series are to make people think and analyse choices and decisions rather than just going with the latest trend. Everything, to include permanent coatings, have pros and cons. I feel they should be weighed and implemented individually rather than used as a blanket solution. How do you feel?
 
While I like coatings for wheels, and understand why they might be right for many people, they're not right for me (on paint/etc.) as I need to be able to do spot-correction as needed and I don't see them lending themselves to that (i.e., how to recoat a small area after the "layering period" has passed).


 


OK, that's just me....but I can see it being an issue for Pros too if a customer's car were in the same boat.
 
Good point, though I don't know how many clients many of us pros have that have your experience/talents to the point they're doing spot correction when needed. Certainly something to consider though. 
 
As someone else had posted in the blog, I will wait until all 4 are published and then decided as to give an opinion.


 


Thanks.
 
My issue against coatings is that the cost to the customer is very high and our hard work can be undone in a matter of minutes with one improper wash. See below pic of my wife's car after it was brought in for emergency service, despite them being told not to touch it and having it noted in there system. The work I performed on her car 3 months prior would have been a $1200 bill to a retail client today. Owners need to be made VERY aware that proper care is require to get the most out of these coatings. My biggest issue though is the ever increasing cost by some of the newer "boutique" coatings popping up, and the massive upping of cost on one coating in particular. I'll never pay the silly price for some of the 4 figure waxes out there and I'll likely never pay the money these newer companies are asking for their coatings either, at least not without some solid evidence supporting why I should, not just some distributor spamming boards with exaggerated claims and flashy pics.


 


I do see some validity in your point of coating garage queens which maybe see the light of day a few times a year.


 


With the above being said, I still love coatings! My car was been wearing Opti-Coat Pro since 4-24-12 and it still looks great, swirl free, and beads like a champ. I rarely have time to wash, let alone wax so it's perfect for people like me.


 


 


Wife's car after coating


20121007-DSC_2020.jpg



 


 


After dealer wash


IMG_3665.jpg
 
Honestly, I think coatings work best for real car guys who aren't going to let others wash their cars. I make it very clear to people that while Optimum Coating is more scratch resistant than the paint, that doesn't make it bullet proof. I do have some who have their wife's car done even though it will see tunnel and dealer washes just because they won't have to worry about waxing it anymore. 


 


I've found that customers who use proper washing techniques can keep their cars swirl free indefinitely. I even had one message me to say he can finally wash his jet black BMW without messing it up. And its funny how many of them switch to ONR after watching me wash their cars with it. 


 


As long as you properly educate the customer and they understand that coatings, while offering more protection than waxes or sealants, they still have to take care of it properly. And I do explain that it is a sacrificial barrier that might get some environmental damage (concrete parking structures are notorious for leaving concrete rings on pretty much anything) that will protect the paint underneath. Just like with a clear bra, it make show some damage from rock hits but the paint underneath is fine. I've also found that on the occasions someone has had a damaging wash, the swirls and marring are mostly in the coating itself so the damage comes out more quickly. 
 
In my younger single days I probably wouldn't even give coatings much of a thought. I enjoyed and more importantly had the spare time to wax my vehicle multiple times a year. These days with a job that I put many hours into, a wife, and two kids, I just don't have the extra time to allocate to waxing my (and my wife's car) truck multiple times per year. Coatings are a blessing for me and others in a similar situation
 
I get the point as well about the exotic garage queens spending the extra money when they aren't exposed to the elements much, but let's be honest.... Any car enthusiast that has that kind of money is going to want the best protection possible
 
House Of Wax said:
I get the point as well about the exotic garage queens spending the extra money when they aren't exposed to the elements much, but let's be honest.... Any car enthusiast that has that kind of money is going to want the best protection possible
Click to expand...


 


And more importantly than that, enthusiasts with that kind of money usually don't do the bulk of the work on their vehicles themselves (maybe occasional hand washing or QD-ing, but not much beyond that) due to not having a ton of time on their hands, so the experience of spreading a paste wax out of a "cool container" on their car isn't likely to matter for them.


 


 


I too am going to wait until all of the article series has been posted before adding my thoughts, but I have some definite concerns about the way things are being stated here. Will be interesting to see if any of the remaining parts of this series change my perception.
 
RaskyR1 said:
My issue against coatings is that the cost to the customer is very high and our hard work can be undone in a matter of minutes with one improper wash. See below pic of my wife's car after it was brought in for emergency service, despite them being told not to touch it and having it noted in there system. The work I performed on her car 3 months prior would have been a $1200 bill to a retail client today. Owners need to be made VERY aware that proper care is require to get the most out of these coatings. My biggest issue though is the ever increasing cost by some of the newer "boutique" coatings popping up, and the massive upping of cost on one coating in particular. I'll never pay the silly price for some of the 4 figure waxes out there and I'll likely never pay the money these newer companies are asking for their coatings either, at least not without some solid evidence supporting why I should, not just some distributor spamming boards with exaggerated claims and flashy pics.


 


I do see some validity in your point of coating garage queens which maybe see the light of day a few times a year.


 


With the above being said, I still love coatings! My car was been wearing Opti-Coat Pro since 4-24-12 and it still looks great, swirl free, and beads like a champ. I rarely have time to wash, let alone wax so it's perfect for people like me.


 


 


Wife's car after coating


20121007-DSC_2020.jpg



 


 


After dealer wash


IMG_3665.jpg
Click to expand...


 


 


I'd be willing to take that to small claims court if it came to that. Of course they will deny they caused damage. 
 
Read through this, and some good points made. 


Key to coating are like the same when it comes the paint system used on a vehicle, be it 60 years ago or last year. They have moved forward in the technology of such, however, it is still necessary to address the "one" issue that affects such at the start.


HEAT!


What ever is applied to a surface, is not a "solid" film, it is reduced, by "reducers, thinners", but that is required to create a "film". Waxes are not a solid, but are a blend of solvents, etc, as are paint products. Apply enough heat to such "applied" coatings, and they expand and attempt to return to the "liquid" state.


Heat makes any "solid" to expand. In doing so with most of the "car coatings', that means that it "expands", when it "expands", it makes  well known transformation to a "gas" state, when then  releases the once solid state of the applied solid to "gas off". That "gas off"  breaks the molecular chain that held together the "solid" one saw to an "evaporative" state. 


Think about these "basic chemical" facts and then get back to me. Cause this is just a "make you think" post.
 
Jean-Claude said:
I'd be willing to take that to small claims court if it came to that. Of course they will deny they caused damage.
Click to expand...


Not worth my time to be honest...and my wife's even a lawyer. :)



They offered to pay for my product cost but I declined and we traded the car in the next day.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ron Ketcham said:
Read through this, and some good points made. 


Key to coating are like the same when it comes the paint system used on a vehicle, be it 60 years ago or last year. They have moved forward in the technology of such, however, it is still necessary to address the "one" issue that affects such at the start.


HEAT!


What ever is applied to a surface, is not a "solid" film, it is reduced, by "reducers, thinners", but that is required to create a "film". Waxes are not a solid, but are a blend of solvents, etc, as are paint products. Apply enough heat to such "applied" coatings, and they expand and attempt to return to the "liquid" state.


Heat makes any "solid" to expand. In doing so with most of the "car coatings', that means that it "expands", when it "expands", it makes  well known transformation to a "gas" state, when then  releases the once solid state of the applied solid to "gas off". That "gas off"  breaks the molecular chain that held together the "solid" one saw to an "evaporative" state. 


Think about these "basic chemical" facts and then get back to me. Cause this is just a "make you think" post.
Click to expand...


 


Right and the coatings I am aware of have a threshold above what temperature a car's paint would naturally see. For instance, CQuartz Finest is designed to withstand temperatures beyond 575 degrees F.
 
Interested to see where the other parts of the series go.


 


I agree about some cars (garage queens) not being ideal candidates for coatings.  They have their place and I do agree that they are sometimes oversold.  They are low maintenance, but not maintenance free.  I also don't often recommend coatings for a black car since regular polishing will still be necessary to keep the car looking its best.  I have only coated one black vehicle, a minivan, and the owner was well educated about the product and proper maintenance.  
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">What’s the best thing to use on your vehicle’s finish if you want maximum durability, additional gloss, and protection against the elements? Clear-coat of course.</blockquote>


 


Great article Marc! 


 


No doubt that clearcoat has come a long way and serves several very useful purposes, but it's still a pretty fragile layer and can be easily compromised. I'm pretty certain that its achilles heel is bird bombs, sensitivity to marring and overall thinness. A coating on the other hand, will not only preserve that substrate and compliment the protective properties (i.e. against bird bombs & marring), but will enhance it's gloss characteristics also while adding a true sacrificial protective . A huge misnomer is that show finishes have thick clear coats.......that's partially true and false. Yes, more clear is applied for show applications, but most of that additional clear is sanded/flattened down to bring out a better appearance. Otherwise, it would be pretty lumpy. 


 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">Stop wasting your time and money on coatings, and start waxing your car.


 
</blockquote>


 


Wait....what?  :rolleyes:
 
The achiles heel of coatings, and clear coat per se, is that to repair the damage from bird crap (as an example) requires significant effort and work in most cases. A wax can be removed and replaced quickly, as can sealants, albeit they are much weaker to the damage. The articles touch on this a little, but we had to keep them short, hoping the reader would figure this out.


 


Regarding heat, and this is the engineer in me, "heat resistance" means nothing of value to the detailer, and is used as a blanket statement in attempt to qualify a product over another. What does heat resitance mean? Does it mean the coating is still there after a heat cycle? Or does it include that the coating is still effective after a heat cycle? Is it just as effective or did it loose some of its qualities? How many heat cycles can it withstand before a decrease in "protection" (another empty misnomer technically)? What temperature do the cycles have to be before it decreases performance? Does the coating's bonding to the substrate suffer during a heat cycle?


 


I had a client (non automotive) that fire kilned C1 to 1000 degrees F. After one firing it was "still there", but not after a second firing. Further, he mentioned after looking at it under a microscope (I assume), it didn't look like it would be very useful after that firing. With an exhaust going upwards of 1000 degrees F air flow (my boosted EGTs run 1300-1500 F, and although not all of that gets to the surface, most of it will), how many cycles would a coating protect against? Would it delaminate? Will it still prevent blueing? On a Harley the exhaust temps are MUCH lower (straight low restruction pipes in an underpowered combustion cycle), but how about brake calipers? Those can see enough temp to fry powder coating after a few cycles, and brakes get over 1500 F on even a street car. One track day and I can assure you the calipers have melted away any protection.


 


So heat resistance on paint is something I will sell to my clients. Saying a coating will protect their calipers or exhaust is something I would be very hessitant to mention, although I know some clients will never cycle their brakes that high, which are the same clients that, like Charles says, never wash their own cars and are the ones who could benefit the least from a coating, other than it being "expensive and the ultimate in protection", which it is.


 


The extremely appealing glass look of a coating comes with caveats, which need to be understood by the professional and the client.
 
As far as bird bombs go, I've yet to see one get through Opti-Coat 2.0 or Optimum Coating and damage the paint. On both occasions (out of over 100 OC jobs) that bird bombs left a mark, it was easily removed from the coating itself. And on the other one I was called about, it apparently self healed (others have mentioned this phenomenon) because the owner called back a couple days later to say the mark was no longer there. 
 
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