Before we start, I have to admit that I’m really embarrassed that this post wasn’t put up a very long time ago. I had Opti-Coat applied to my car on August 28th, 2015 and while showing Mom some photos of the process, I couldn’t find the blog post on my blog only this one where I show how frozen water looks on a car that has Opti-coat. I honestly thought that it was an issue of WordPress Hosted search failing me but, nope. I promised Northeast Detailing I’d do a blog post and I never did. What a shame so here we are, 5 months late to getting this post up.
The full gallery of images is here if you’re interested.
The application, detailing and paint correction on all surfaces inside and out was performed by Northeast Detailing. I really can’t thank them enough for their hard work. Kris, the owner and magician transitioned my car to a thing of beauty. From 7AM to 6PM, he worked diligently to get everything perfect.
90 minutes on washing / drying 4 hours of priming and paint correction The rest was spent on outside and inside Optimum products all around
Why so long on paint correction? The hood and doors while under a black light had perfectly square brillo pad marks all over. Swirls and straight lines and even a few deep scratches on the roof. Looked like a knife went across it. “It’s not the worst looking new car I’ve gotten” said Kris. He wasn’t surprised but he also said he should have charged slightly more for the almost double priming and paint correction he thought it would take.
Here’s what I paid for Opti-Coat. These prices may change depending on when you take your car in or what kind of car it is and how old it is. So don’t call Northeast asking them to match this pricing. That’s not really fair. I’m actually kind of reluctant to post pricing here but if people are considering this, it’ll give you ball-park of what you might pay:
- OptiCoat Pro Plus – $845 (most of exterior Plastic + metal) – includes wash dry, paint correction, priming.
- Opti-Glass – $150
- Wheels + calipers + tires – $100
- Door Jams – $50
- Opti-Guard Interior – $400 (carpet, dash, doors, + leather)
Actually, it may be a good thing that I delayed posting this because it gives me a chance to talk about Opti-Coat now that it’s been applied for 5 months and I’ve done at least 8 hand-washes since then. Kris indicated that I wouldn’t have to wax my car but I’m doing it anyway. Note, Optimum (the maker of Opti-Coat) has a 5-year warranty on their products but there is a stipulation detailed on their warranty page:
Optimum Polymer Technologies, Inc. or its agents shall not accept liability for the following: Neglect to maintain the vehicle according to the standards and techniques recommended by Optimum Polymer Technologies available here: http://opti-coat.net/pub_dl/warranty_maintenance.pdf
In that PDF:
For best results wash with Optimum No RinseTM Wash & Shine, No RinseTM Wash & Wax, or Car Wash on a bi-weekly basis to avoid excessive contamination build up.
I’m not too surprised by this line-item but it’s really important to remember that if you’re using a non Optimum product, they may use that against you if they find out. I’m sticking with all Optimum products inside and out and their price isn’t awful considering I get a small discount as an Opti-Coat Pro customer.
How is everything holding up?
Well, I actually do have some swirls already and I can only blame myself. I’ve been washing with everything I’ve been told to use along with the sponge but things do happen. A week after the Opti-Coat application on my Glass and Wheels, I suffered a rock chip in my windshield which was repaired luckily and didn’t require a replacement and I suffered some curb rash on my right rear wheel:
To repair the wheel, I’ll probably go with powder coating which basically nullifies the benefits of paying the money for Opti-Coat. Also, my winter wheels don’t have the application and it’s night-and-day how quickly the front wheels get covered with brake dust and how difficult it is to get that brake dust off versus my 19” Stock VW wheels which do have Opti-Coat applied.
If I have to have the front glass replaced, I will without a doubt re-apply Opti-Coat glass. It’s like having a permanent Rain-X Hydrophobic spray applied to the entire glass.
For the rest of the car, I’d say Opti-Coat is holding up well. Swirls aside, I’m hand-washing and waxing and I could be a bit more careful with following the detailing rule of washing top to bottom so that the dirtiest sandiest bottom parts of the car’s metal aren’t getting picked up by the foam sponge and scratching the top of my car. I believe that’s what happened and I’ve learned my lesson.
I’d be really interested in seeing how well Opti-Coat holds up in 5 years. I have a written warranty card w/ the vehicle’s VIN number and I can go to any Optimum dealer for warranty claims on the coating. I will for sure be doing twice a year detailing jobs at Northeast (my first one is in April) and will follow their recommended Opti-Coat touch-up / renewal advice. If I have to touch up the car’s paint with correction and new Opti-Coat at the 5 year mark, that’s fine with me (assuming it has done its job and I’m happy with it).
Now, for a few photos:
I took these photos 2 months after Opti-Coat and after an @ Home Detailing session:
One Month later:
Mid-December (4 months later):
Overall, I think Opti-Coat is holding up very well. I’ll try to remember to do a similar post a year from now with a video showing the hydrophobic properties and detailing all of the scratches or lack thereof.