The opti-coat thread

[etnpnys]

The rust pits are weird...

And can I come drive in your neck of the woods? Jeez I wish I could find snow like that in SoCal...

[Methodical4u]

Figured I would make an update on how well this stuff is working since I applied it to my wheels, calipers, exhaust, etc...

After giving the car a good pressure washing and hand wash I spray the car down with Adam's detail spray before drying it with an Adam's drying towel. I still haven't noticed any marring, swirls, scratches, etc.. that these car get very easily so the Opti-Coat is doing well in that area. On the other hand I'm still getting paint chips like crazy so I really should have look into a clear bra along with the Opti-Coat or bought a beater car for winter.

The exhaust cleaned up decent after washing but I still need something to polish it up. And I've noticed these little rust looking pits all over my car that will come off if you use your finger nail. Any suggestions on what products to use?

Here are some pics..



After cleaning the exhaust..


Chips..




What the rust pits look like..


All cleaned up..

Eric, stone chips are unfortunately an unavoidable thing with any car. I myself haven't seen more than maybe 4 or 5 on my car with 12k miles on it. However, I also have polished and then coated my bumper, hood and roof twice, which adds to the thickness.

As far as cleaning up the exhaust... don't you have OC on there already? I just use neverdull. It lasts for a pretty decent amount of time and really cuts into the exhaust residue. I just polished my tips the other day actually. I know the chips are a real let down, sorry to hear about that. The pitting and the rust spots in your paint should be attended to though. Perhaps it should even be buffed down and see if a medium grit compound might get it out of there.. and then coat the car with the OC again, wait 3 hours and then coat it once more. Remember though, you can recoat it up to 30 days and it will still stick to itself... any longer and optimum claims it won't work.

[Eric05mx]

Eric, stone chips are unfortunately an unavoidable thing with any car. I myself haven't seen more than maybe 4 or 5 on my car with 12k miles on it. However, I also have polished and then coated my bumper, hood and roof twice, which adds to the thickness.

As far as cleaning up the exhaust... don't you have OC on there already? I just use neverdull. It lasts for a pretty decent amount of time and really cuts into the exhaust residue. I just polished my tips the other day actually. I know the chips are a real let down, sorry to hear about that. The pitting and the rust spots in your paint should be attended to though. Perhaps it should even be buffed down and see if a medium grit compound might get it out of there.. and then coat the car with the OC again, wait 3 hours and then coat it once more. Remember though, you can recoat it up to 30 days and it will still stick to itself... any longer and optimum claims it won't work.

Yes, my entire cat back is opti-coated but it don't clean up that well since I've been driving in so much road salt and grime. I was under the impression Opti-Coat would not stick to itself so I didn't apply more than 1 coat at the time. I probably won't be able to hand wash the car until spring so nothing will be done until at least then. I live right in the snow belt so the roads are covered with salt and gravel almost daily. I just had a few coal trucks pass by me the other day throwing rocks all over my car so it's pretty much getting destroyed.

[G-Sep]

I would love to do this right now, considering I just got my car 2 days ago. Only problem is the salt and grime on the roads all over the place would make it tough to give the car a complete detail/wash/clay/buff and then apply the opti-coat before driving it again. It would have to start on a friday after work and be done by sunday morning so I could drive to work on monday.

[Methodical4u]

Yes, my entire cat back is opti-coated but it don't clean up that well since I've been driving in so much road salt and grime. I was under the impression Opti-Coat would not stick to itself so I didn't apply more than 1 coat at the time. I probably won't be able to hand wash the car until spring so nothing will be done until at least then. I live right in the snow belt so the roads are covered with salt and gravel almost daily. I just had a few coal trucks pass by me the other day throwing rocks all over my car so it's pretty much getting destroyed.

The only thing I could recommend would be some sort of no rinse type of car wash ... optimum makes No Rinse which is pretty good stuff and if you have a garage, just get a few gallons of warm water and you can wash the car that way. Opti-coat won't stick to itself and I wasn't aware for a while that they had come out with their V2 of it which can be used up to 30 days after the first application. I may wind up experiencing the very same thing at some point, but I don't live where I have to drive on highways and in snow on a regular basis... and I have a garage if the paint gets bad enough.

[Eric05mx]

The only thing I could recommend would be some sort of no rinse type of car wash ... optimum makes No Rinse which is pretty good stuff and if you have a garage, just get a few gallons of warm water and you can wash the car that way. Opti-coat won't stick to itself and I wasn't aware for a while that they had come out with their V2 of it which can be used up to 30 days after the first application. I may wind up experiencing the very same thing at some point, but I don't live where I have to drive on highways and in snow on a regular basis... and I have a garage if the paint gets bad enough.

I'm pretty sure the original Opti-Coat was not available to the general public, just the Opti-Coat 2.0 which is what I had. I checked out that no rinse car wash a few weeks ago but honestly it wouldn't be worth the time other than to give it a quick power wash when it's above 30 degree's because my car will look the same the next day. That would be a great product for the summer months when the car is just dusty and you just want to give it a quick cleaning.

Here is a quick view of what my daily commute looks like. You can hear the gravel flying and a few hit my car from the passing cars..
http://youtu.be/-ntxUfeo4YU

[Methodical4u]

I'm pretty sure the original Opti-Coat was not available to the general public, just the Opti-Coat 2.0 which is what I had. I checked out that no rinse car wash a few weeks ago but honestly it wouldn't be worth the time other than to give it a quick power wash when it's above 30 degree's because my car will look the same the next day. That would be a great product for the summer months when the car is just dusty and you just want to give it a quick cleaning.

Here is a quick view of what my daily commute looks like. You can hear the gravel flying and a few hit my car from the passing cars..
Daily drive - YouTube

No, they actually made the Opti-guard which was a detailer only product, but they made opti-coat in 2 versions... I don't know how long ago it was that they switched to the V2 though. Either way, if you do it again, i'd double coat it... just made sure it feels a little tacky as you wipe it off.

[Methodical4u]

definitely doesn't sound to friendly of a drive man, and you even have mudflaps.

[Eric05mx]

definitely doesn't sound to friendly of a drive man, and you even have mudflaps.

The road noise is horrible so it does get old hearing that when they salt and gravel the roads. Oh well, it's just a car and I won't have it more than 3-5 years so no sense it trying to keep it perfect.

[Methodical4u]

The road noise is horrible so it does get old hearing that when they salt and gravel the roads. Oh well, it's just a car and I won't have it more than 3-5 years so no sense it trying to keep it perfect.

Yeah, I wish I could look at it like that, but everytime I hear a rock hit or anything my anger level goes up just a little more lol. Like I said though, surprisingly (knock on wood) there are hardly any chips at all in my car.

[Jlax2485]

The road noise is horrible so it does get old hearing that when they salt and gravel the roads. Oh well, it's just a car and I won't have it more than 3-5 years so no sense it trying to keep it perfect.

On the contrary- that's my motivation to keep it as perfect as I can. When you go to trade it in/sell it 3-5 years from now, the difference between "good" and "excellent" condition could mean several thousand dollars- putting you on better ground for your next car.

[Eric05mx]

On the contrary- that's my motivation to keep it as perfect as I can. When you go to trade it in/sell it 3-5 years from now, the difference between "good" and "excellent" condition could mean several thousand dollars- putting you on better ground for your next car.

With a wrx or STi I disagree with that. If you keep the car "perfect" your just saving it for someone else and your really not going to get several thousands more for the car. I've seen people try to sell STi's for top dollar because they never seen rain or snow and people still compare the price to the typical market value. Now, I'm not comparing one that's completely trashed vs a mint condition car. Just your typical chips and nicks of a daily driver that's well maintained vs a garage queen.

Just for an example, here are the nada trade in value's for an 07 STi with 60,000 miles on it..
Rough trade in = $17,675
Clean trade in = $19,925

I do the best I can to keep the exterior of the car is reasonable condition but aside from getting a beater for winter I can only do so much because of where I live.

[Jlax2485]

You're right about the difference in condition between Excellent and good; I was referring to a more extreme case- maybe rough/average vs excellent. At the end of the day a dealership or buyer is going to try and get the best deal that they can.

It still makes me cry to see rock chips on my front bumper though.

[Methodical4u]

With a wrx or STi I disagree with that. If you keep the car "perfect" your just saving it for someone else and your really not going to get several thousands more for the car. I've seen people try to sell STi's for top dollar because they never seen rain or snow and people still compare the price to the typical market value. Now, I'm not comparing one that's completely trashed vs a mint condition car. Just your typical chips and nicks of a daily driver that's well maintained vs a garage queen.

Just for an example, here are the nada trade in value's for an 07 STi with 60,000 miles on it..
Rough trade in = $17,675
Clean trade in = $19,925

I do the best I can to keep the exterior of the car is reasonable condition but aside from getting a beater for winter I can only do so much because of where I live.

This car has to last me a while, i've had wayyyy to many cars over the last few years... just still being a kid. When my back is better, I will start buffing the OC down with 2 compounds and then adding 2 more layers of it, which will make for a nice hard finish and hopefully even better looking than the current. I also have considered giving Wolf's Hardbody a try as well.

[Eric05mx]

This car has to last me a while, i've had wayyyy to many cars over the last few years... just still being a kid. When my back is better, I will start buffing the OC down with 2 compounds and then adding 2 more layers of it, which will make for a nice hard finish and hopefully even better looking than the current. I also have considered giving Wolf's Hardbody a try as well.

Living in MD and being great at detailing I'm sure your car will look good for along time if you treat it right. I remember your 370z but didn't you have an Evo too?