Coating Longevity

ShakingHorizons

ShakingHorizons

New member
I am only able to detail my mom`s car once a year and she unfortunately utilizes a swirl-o-matic every chance she gets. She refuses to wash her car by hand! I am looking for a coating that will last a minimum of a year, even with her using the automatic wash. Her paint is in great condition (2008 Altima), and she loves the "just detailed" look.

I know the new Sonax PROFILINE Ceramic Coating CC36 will be released soon, but I am looking for "real world" experience before coating her car. I used Sonus ION on it last year, and her and I both hated it. Her comment was "it doesn`t look as good as it usually does".

Suggestions?


EDIT - I am not looking for something that resists scratches - just something to protect from UV and hopefully work with the automatic wash instead of the automatic wash just removing the coating.
 
I believe nothing will protect any car from swirlomatics... probably not even Opti-Coat pro** which is in many cases well known for its durability.

I realized I didnt suggest anything :(

Okay, I will say try opti coat gloss coat (new 2.0)
 
I`d have to agree with Rasky here

seems like a waste of time to me

you could go with mckees coating its really cheap
 
Sorry but same song here. I know of no coating that will look good after a few swirl-o-matics. I coated my Mother`s car over a year ago with PBLv2 and while it still beads and looks decent I`m not sure a good sealant wouldn`t have done just as good. She runs it through the local touchless wash and I think the soap they use is so strong it affects the coating negatively. Even a coating needs a proper maintenance wash and a booster to keep it looking good. I am waiting for SEMA to see what the next generation of coatings will look like.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
Sorry but same song here. I know of no coating that will look good after a few swirl-o-matics. I coated my Mother`s car over a year ago with PBLv2 and while it still beads and looks decent I`m not sure a good sealant wouldn`t have done just as good. She runs it through the local touchless wash and I think the soap they use is so strong it affects the coating negatively. Even a coating needs a proper maintenance wash and a booster to keep it looking good. I am waiting for SEMA to see what the next generation of coatings will look like.
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Agreed with Rasky and others here that a coating probably won`t last if its being taken through the car wash regularly. I believe the car soaps in the car washes contain Hydrofluoric acid (or some diluted amount not sure as to how much HF content) as a cleaning agent as its cheap and effective at eating away at brake dust, rust, metal deposits etc. So probably taking the car through the car wash regularly is going to really diminish the coating.

That being said nothing stopping you from putting the coating on the car either way and testing it out.
 
not sure if anyone recalls my bubba test idea with the exo and csl on my daily driver frontier but...yeah..i chickened out of it because i just simply couldn`t bring myself to abuse my hard work

granted im suffering through hardly ever washing ot, for research...but i just couldnt bring myself to travel through one of those horrid devices

id say go for it and test out a lower grade coating..i mean, itd last longer than any wax or sealant and a spray coating like mckees would be super easy to apply

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Coatings are interesting because they tend to attract people that aren`t anal about routine car paint maintenance, yet coatings imo require frequent washing or they start looking like crap in a short time just as clear coat does if left alone...which inevitably requires it to polished off and reapplied if you want that car looking like new. The irony is that frequent washing means automatic car washes to 98% of car owners. I honestly think coatings are a waste of money for a majority of car owners. Just my two cents
 
silverfox said:
yet coatings imo require frequent washing or they start looking like crap in a short time just as clear coat does if left alone...
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I dunno...since coating our black cars last Spring, I wash the cars much, much less and they stay clean and looking good much longer. And washing them if much less work.

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Unless a coating owner is prepared to do a proper hand wash at least once a month and preferably 2x a month (which most aren`t especially women), imo they are wasting their money on a coating. Doesn`t matter if the coating makes the washing easier...if the owner ignores the frequent need to hand wash the car. My point being that a vast majority use automatic car washes which will compromise the coating which doesn`t do anybody any good.
 
silverfox said:
Unless a coating owner is prepared to do a proper hand wash at least once a month and preferably 2x a month (which most aren`t especially women), imo they are wasting their money on a coating. Doesn`t matter if the coating makes the washing easier...if the owner ignores the frequent need to hand wash the car. My point being that a vast majority use automatic car washes which will compromise the coating which doesn`t do anybody any good.
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While I don`t run thru auto washes, the Coating has made my life easier and the cars stay better looking with less intervention from me.

Why coatings work for me...

There is something to the `self-cleaning` aspect of a coating although many dispute that notion. Additionally, I do believe that the coating does offer a bit of a sacrificial layer to the paint in addition to protection (if occasionally maintained) for very light swirls from when it does get washed. At the end of the coating lifespan I`d rather be removing defects by removing the coating with it`s swirls rather than the clearcoat with it`s swirls.

Since I coated the wheels, tires, glass and paint the only chemicals/products I have a need for are WG Auto Bathe and Kamikaze Overcoat. No tire dressings, no wheel cleaners, no glass cleaners, waxes, sealants, etc.
 
BudgetPlan.... Yeah, i can dig it. What you said and your reasons. Seems as times goes by, I find myself wanting to try coatings on my daily driver Yaris. My wife`s car will continue to have it`s 2 layers of FK1000p, however. That one, I want to pamper just a little.
 
JustJesus said:
BudgetPlan.... Yeah, i can dig it. What you said and your reasons. Seems as times goes by, I find myself wanting to try coatings on my daily driver Yaris. My wife`s car will continue to have it`s 2 layers of FK1000p, however. That one, I want to pamper just a little.
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Another nice thing about coatings is that they seem to attract less dust than sealant/wax. Have found carnuaba`s to be especially poor in that area.

FWIW we just picked up a new $19k Honda Civic as wife`s winter driver; it won`t receive much attention, will be parked outside most of the time. Dropped $350 worth of coatings on it (wheels, tires, paint, trim, exterior glass) so we`ll see how that holds up 12 months from now with little attention paid to it going forward.

The 2 separate paint coatings (2 layers of one followed by 1 layer of another) will give 24-36 months of protection...so says the mfg. At most car will likely be washed at most once very 1 to 2 months with a coating `booster` applied every two months.

Will be interesting to see how it all holds up.
 
A bit of a revival...

Anyone on here have a professional coating like Finest, Modesta, Crystal Serum etc. on their vehicle or authorized detailer?
What type of Longevity are people seeing? Just curious if people are seeing the touted 5,7, 10 year claims of these coatings with the proper maintenance? Or is it still too early to tell on many of them?
I ask because more and more I am seeing some pro detailers (not on here) say these coatings will last 7 to 10 years and will stop scratches and swirls from automatic car washes as a selling point/ benefit?
 
RaydiantDetail said:
A bit of a revival...

Anyone on here have a professional coating like Finest, Modesta, Crystal Serum etc. on their vehicle or authorized detailer?
What type of Longevity are people seeing? Just curious if people are seeing the touted 5,7, 10 year claims of these coatings with the proper maintenance? Or is it still too early to tell on many of them?
I ask because more and more I am seeing some pro detailers (not on here) say these coatings will last 7 to 10 years and will stop scratches and swirls from automatic car washes as a selling point/ benefit?
Click to expand...

Very few of my clinets keep their cars that long but I do have a client that I applied Opti-Coat to his G37 over 6 years ago now. It`s pretty well cared for, lower miles, and is always garaged. It still look pretty good and beads okay but it has light to moderate swirls on it now. It`s never had a decon or any kind of booster applied. Sees lots of touch-less washes and an occasional ONR wash.

Anyone telling you their coating stops scratches and swirls from automatic car washes is full of it and they`re part of the problem with this industry right now. CarPro Immortal may be the exception to that, but it`s not hand applied (sprayed on like paint), expensive, and hasn`t been around long enough to see what the long term result will be like.

I`ve had CQUK, Gloss-Coat, 22ple ME, Finest, and OCP on the roof of my truck for 26 months now and they all still look good, though beading has fallen off significantly. Up until recently the truck was outside 24/7 and rarely washed. It also sees lots of touch-less washes. No boosters applied or decon has been done to the roof.
 
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