Those Who Have Used Opti Coat

N

nonwelder

New member
Are you 100% satisfied? I am really considering using this product, but would like some additional feedback. While I am not as talented as some of you, I am very experienced with a variety of products. One of the only things I am concerned about is the prep. Not so much the polishing, but the removal of any oils.



My question is this. If I polish with Megs, say 105/205 and finish with Optimum finish polish, would I need additional prep, or would a wipe down with OPC or just an ONR wash be sufficient?



Opti Coat really attracts me because I drive...a lot. To have little maint to do on a regular basis would be wonderful, not to mention the easily removal of bugs after the many road trips I take.



Any insight is really appreciated!
 
Optimum says you only need to do a wipe-down with a damp MF after using their polishes. However, I think would still take the extra time and prep the car properly just to make sure the surface is squeaky clean. I plan to do some testing one of these days to see if there is any negative effect from not fully removing the oils....just haven't had the time.
 
Opti Coat 2.0 is great. Easy to apply and works as stated. If you use Optimum polishes then there is no need to re wash the vehicle or anything, just use a little bit of power clean and water (in my case I used IPA) on a microfiber, wipe the vehicle down and apply. I have been happy with the results and so has my customers. One of them brought his Mercedes SL500 in yesterday to show me how great it looks still from when I did it a few months ago. Still beads water, repels brake dust on the wheels, etc. I used it on the paint, glass, wheels (inside and out), trim, emblems, headlights and tail lights, etc.

I plan to use it on my 4'X8' shop sign to help protect fading from UV and bead water since it's black and I do not need water spots.
 
I'm really happy with it, so are my customers who have it on their cars. If I use Optimum polishes prior to application, I just do an ONR wash. If I use Meguairs polishes, I wash with water cut 25% with alcohol.
 
I'm super happy with the results of OC. For the little extra effort of making sure the surface is bare, it sure might be worth avoiding any potential aggrevation of bonding issues just in case.
 
Thanks. So close to pulling the trigger. I drive a lot and free time is becoming less and less, so having a product I can easily maintain would be great.



My car currently has meg's 20 on it. My plan is to use polish II on it to remove #20, as well as refine the finish, and then ONR wash it. I am assuming this will be sufficient?



I was thinking about using Optimum finish polish as well, but on my hard VW clear I am not sure it would really do much? Thoughts? Do you all think Polish II finishes well enough? I'm talking the regular polish, not hyper.



Thanks...hopefully you can chime in so I can order today!
 
I've had mine since it first came out to put on my wife's car but haven't done it yet. I've about decided I like playing with sealants and waxes too much. Didn't do it at first for fear of getting the finish perfect before applying - too much pressure on me - lol
 
The ONLY issue I have....correction. Well, I can get it 99%, as it is a silver car. The only other thing is that I like to play around too. I also like to be able to locally pick up something new and not have to wait! :)



I know I SHOULD use OC, but doing it is another thing ;)
 
Finish won't do much correction but the paint will look really wet and the coating will just add to it.



On my personal vehicle, I love that I can just wash it and not worry about it. If I want to put a wax on to see how it looks, I can, but if I don't want to for the next several years, I can do that too.
 
I love it on my vehicle, the water beading pattern is unique from most other LSPs in the sense that it has a very small tight droplet pattern. I used it for the protection, but I love seeing it every time it rains.
 
David Fermani said:
You could always coat parts of your car and still use other products on the remaining panels?
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....that was always my thought when I bought it. Worse case scenario, I could still use the product on other bits of my vehicles if I decided not to use it topside. I eventually ended up using on my wife's Subaru Forester however and it will definitely be going on the mother-in-laws '06 Scion we just purchased for her. ....once I get some time to work on it. I also still have the roof and lift gate to do on the Forester (its hard to have the car long enough to finish what I need to do). My main concerns with the product had always been post-application (re: any light/spot correction I might want to do).
 
Kean, all you have to do for spot repair is polish the section (say the door) and apply a coat after cleaning it to that door. The new stuff can be topped now unlike the first version. The only spots I see that will most likely need to be topped by another coat later are the windshield, hood, bumpers and roof. Windshield will wear depending on how much it rains and you use your wipers of course.
 
100% satisfied? No...but I'm quite pleased with it. I coated my winter rims with OptiGuard both front and back last November. I did not clean them once until I took them off the car last week and 'effing wow! After a mild car shampoo (Sonus Gloss) plus a grout sponge and lots of water they looked like they were just polished! My only gripe is that I still had to clean some tar off the backside barrels.



Prep is key. Eastwood PRE worked swell for me. I really didn't care for using the foam applicator that comes with OC. I had better results with a microfiber glove. Wear a nitrile glove under the microfiber to keep the product off skin. A white foam Edge stick is good for applying OC around edges and getting into crevices.
 
Shawn F. said:
Kean, all you have to do for spot repair is polish the section (say the door) and apply a coat after cleaning it to that door. The new stuff can be topped now unlike the first version. The only spots I see that will most likely need to be topped by another coat later are the windshield, hood, bumpers and roof. Windshield will wear depending on how much it rains and you use your wipers of course.
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When you refer to the "new stuff" vs. the "first version", are you talking about the original Opti-Coat (not available to consumers) and Opti-Coat 2.0 (the consumer version)? ....or has OC 2.0 been revised? The initial description of OC 2.0 was that it was not layerable (nothing would stick to it even a layer of itself). I know some have experimented with light polishing/re-application and even Optimum's viewpoint seems to have changed a bit since then. My concern has always been with the fact that I (apparently) would need to remove OC from that panel before re-application. ....thanks for the feedback.
 
Kean said:
..concern has always been with the fact that I (apparently) would need to remove OC from that panel before re-application. ....thanks for the feedback.
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I too look forward to more info on this, it's one thing that has given my pause about coating an entire vehicle (as opposed to the wheels, on which it does work great).
 
Think of it this way....Like when a body shop paints a panel, they need to lightly scuff it to promote proper adhesion for the paint to stick. With OC/OG, the same thing is needed. All you have to do is use a light polish (85rd) and this should create enough tackiness to reapply another layer.
 
Blinky said:
100% satisfied? No...but I'm quite pleased with it. I coated my winter rims with OptiGuard both front and back last November. I did not clean them once until I took them off the car last week and 'effing wow! After a mild car shampoo (Sonus Gloss) plus a grout sponge and lots of water they looked like they were just polished! My only gripe is that I still had to clean some tar off the backside barrels.



Prep is key. Eastwood PRE worked swell for me. I really didn't care for using the foam applicator that comes with OC. I had better results with a microfiber glove. Wear a nitrile glove under the microfiber to keep the product off skin. A white foam Edge stick is good for applying OC around edges and getting into crevices.
Click to expand...



Yeah, but unlike a wax or sealant you can use a tar remover on it without effecting the coating...same goes for bugs. ;)
 
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