OptiCoat 2.0 to Avoid Hell????

[pwaug]

After months of looking at cars from the Cube, Versa, Soul, Forester, Impreza, Hyundai's etc, etc, my wife finally decided on a VW Golf (which I suggested in the first place--should have kept my mouth shut), but to my dismay she chose non-metallic Black. I must say the car looks great for a small compact, but I know what a nightmare caring for black can be so would appeciate some of your thoughts.



Car still has the white wrapping on it and the dealer has promised to leave it on until we pick up the car so they will be doing no exterior prep work. I plan to remove any adhesive with 3m Adhesive remover, wash, clay and give it a coat of POXY until I decide which direction I want to go for future care.



Since VW clear is relatively hard does it make sense to OptiCoat this car?? It is garaged and my wife only puts on about 4K miles per year, however, she thinks of a car much like a toaster--just another appliance.



If I do OptiCoat it, should I give it a light polish (have 3D polish) even if the paint is swirl free from the dealer??

 

[Dan]

If you don't care about final looks, Opticoat it. Just know that its not the silver bullet for everyday wear. It is however a great product for people that hate to apply an LSP or have silly soft paint (not your case).

 

[imported_RZJZA80]

Either way, I would definitely polish it first before applying any LSP, especially a black car. Depending on the condition of the paint, you may need to compound then polish it since the clear is harder than average, the HD Polish may not have enough cut to get it just right, but the gloss will be awesome.

 

[Accumulator]

pwaug- Don't expect the "hard clear" to really make any difference except for when you're trying to correct it. Might oughta educate your wife about not touching the paint/etc. lest the car's appearance eat your life.

 

[JSFM35X]

I just opticoated a brand New Subaru this past weekend by a professional in my area. I took delivery with all the exterior paper still on it. All dealer did was mechanical prep. I steamed off the plastic, foamed it, de-coned it, cleaned the wheels. later booked the car for Opti-Coat. This car will not recieve alot of TLC and I wanted a good looking car with minimal effort. The professional did a re wash, nano skin, 1 step polish to pop the shine up. car was mostly swirl free but the polish just stepped up the shine. Then IPA wipe down and opti-coat all paint, wheels and glass except the windshield. Car looks great, sitting in garage for 24 hours. Looks great and I hope it will be all that I have heard on as far as durability.

 

[pwaug]

Thanks for the input! I think I'll just play it by ear--if the dealership stands by it's word and doesn't prep it and the paint is OK I'll just put on a coat of POXY to get it on the road then do any polishing later when I have the time. And hold off through the winter to see how it goes before I decide if I want to OptiCoat it as I do enjoy trying different LSPs. Wolf's Hard Body may be an option as it's not permanent and I believe you can top it if you like--have to wait and see as it's just been available here for a couple of weeks.

 

[Buffautodetail]

I do tons of work for dealers, do not try to remove the adhesive until after its washed. I take strong APC and soak the left over adhesive before the first rinse down, wash, then use a prep sol or adhesive remover.

 

[pwaug]

I do tons of work for dealers, do not try to remove the adhesive until after its washed. I take strong APC and soak the left over adhesive before the first rinse down, wash, then use a prep sol or adhesive remover.

Thanks for the heads up re the APC. I did plan to wash before removing the adhesive with 3M Adhesive Remover, but hadnn't thought about soaking it with APC first.