Slust

So I cannot find a detailer in the area that even knows what Opti Coat or Cyrstal Quartz is. In fact, most of the detailers went out of business. I found one and he did a decent job on my friend's C350 so I'm thinking about using him to help with my ride.

He also never heard of Opti Coat or Crystal Quartz. He found instructions on Crystal Quartz and he has high confidence he can do the work properly. His price is within my range so not asking about that. What do I need to know is this ...

- What questions should I ask him to make sure it will get done right?
- What all should I have done? I did tell him I wanted clay bar treatment to detoxify the paint
- Where should I buy the Crystal Quartz online?


He mentioned another product by the name of Longevity which is also resin based like Crystal Quartz. He has immediate access to that. Anyone have any experience with that? If so, how much consideration should I put into that product over Crystal Quartz?

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

1... the "C" in CQuartz stands for Ceramic

2... if the detailer in question has not heard of Opti-Coat or CQuartz, they clearly are not in tune with the technological advances being made in the detailing world. While these products are "newer" they certainly are not brand new and have been around for several years. They are the 2 most recognizable names in the coating industry at this point. The coatings are not that difficult to apply, but the prep work is what will make or break the job. If proper prep is not done, the benefits of the paint coating are sure to be short lived.


- I would be curious to know his plan of attack. What will he be doing for the washing, decontamination, paint correction, and surface prep steps before applying the coating? Does he use random orbital/dual action machines? Or is he still using rotary tools? Is he familiar with proper two (or three) bucket washing processes?


- Clay bar will not remove oxidation... if you have a modern clear coat vehicle I doubt you are truly seeing oxidation. Clay bars are used to remove bonded contamination from the surface of the vehicle - they do not contain abrasives and therefore do not remove surface defects such as oxidation, swirls, scratches, water spot etching, or anything of the kind.


In order to properly prepare the vehicle for the paint coating, it will need to be very thoroughly washed, then decontaminated to remove ALL bonded contamination, the paint should then be corrected to remove surface defects or else they will be 'locked' beneath the coating. The paint then needs to be carefully wiped with CarPro Eraser to remove any residual oils from polishing, and then the coating can be carefully applied to the paint. This process would take 1-3 full days to complete depending on the current condition of your paint and the amount of decontamination and paint correction required... this is not something that can be done "quickly" as it is a very careful and exact process.


- I would recommend CQuartz UK, and I would purchase it from DetailedImage.com


I have never heard of this "Longevity" product, and I am very aware of most maintstream products. I would steer clear of this product unless you can find some concrete testing and testimonials from real users and customers.

EDIT: Just looked up the Longevity product... it is NOT a coating. NOT even close to the same type of product. It is simply a durable sealant. There are many differences between a paint coating and polymer sealant... click here to check out my article on The Benefits of a Paint Coating.


What city are you located in? Maybe I can help find someone in your area who would be willing to help you out.


Let me know if you have any more questions.

-Zach

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

For reference... here are a few detailed write ups that will give you an idea of the amount of work that should go into a proper coating job.

2013 Audi Q7 - Polished and Coated with CQuartz Finest

Lingenfelter SSR Corrected & Coated with CQuartz Finest

Low Mileage C5 'Vette - Polished and Coated with CQuartz UK

2013 Scion FRS - Corrected and Coated with CQuartz UK


You may consider showing the detailer these to see if the process is something he is familiar with.

Slust

Thanks for the correction and the great information. Going to be hard to find a way to ask some of these questions without offending the guy. Unfortunately there just isn't many detailers here (KAFB, part of Albuqueruque, NM) so its not like I can afford to be picky. My options are pretty much have someone like him try it or just get a mainstream detail job done. If you do happen to know someone in the area, by all means I would love to find out.

I will probably have more questions but looks like I have some homework to do first.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

I personally would not be offended if someone asked me any of those questions as I think it should be common knowledge for a good detailer to know those things and if a client was asking technical questions, I'd be more than happy to answer.

If he doesn't know of those proper techniques or tools he may get annoyed because he cannot answer the questions... that is a different story.


I created a thread on Autogeek (a HUGE online detailing forum) trying to find a professional detailer or detailing enthusiast in your area who can help you out.

Seeking member in Albuquerque, NM!

Hopefully someone chimes in to help.

IS3Fguy

Is there any other products that comparable to CQuartz Finest that I can apply myself? I know that most of the cost is going to the labour. I would like to do it myself so I can save more money. Suggestion??

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

You're correct, much of the cost is related to labor as the correct process is very time intensive.

However, premium coatings like Finest are quite expensive on their own which is why they demand a premium price compared to cheaper coatings.

There are several consumer coating products that will be great to use. These are 2 of my favorites.

- 22ple VX1 Pro
- CQuartz UK

Mors

Opti-Coat is another coating to look into. An authorized detailer of Opti-Coat is Diamond Detail (http://diamonddetailabq.com).
Zach here is going to give you the best information you could receive. You should definitely listen to him. i just wanted to mention Diamond Detail. I don't have any affiliation with this company, nor can i recommend them as I don't live there. I just found them online.
In looking at Diamond Detail's website, they apparently do CQuartz coating as well.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Since he specifically asked about CQuartz Finest, I listed other silica based coating options... OC is a silcon oxide formula and is therefore quite different (to me at least).

With that being said, Opti-Coat 2.0 is a great consumer product that will yield durable protection, but is lacking slightly in the overall finish... though that can be remedied with a layer of CarPro Reload.

Slust

Looks like no one chimed in. Thanks for helping me look though!

I sort of put this all on hold because we have a grasshopper swarm all over that is making a complete mess of the city. I had my car washed and literally only drove it 12 miles (one trip) and I had grasshoppers all over my grill and smooshed on the side of my car. The parking lot at the theater tonight looked like the entire road was moving.


Thanks I will definitely have to look into them! That might be the best lead so far. I've done searches as well but the only one that came up was some other website that seems to advertise for a bunch of cities. I'm not sure if that "Coming Soon" text on the bottom means their service in general is coming soon or if they meant it for CQ. Looks like they mean for their entire business! Vinyl wrap too! I haven't had any luck finding anyone in town that does vinyl wrap either. Seriously, thanks!

Sounds like Zach recommends CQ over Opti-Coat. Was curious what the better product is and by how much.

PondScum

Maybe you meant to write "silicon carbide".

Silica is a silicon oxide, silicon dioxide to be specific. Opti-coat describes their product as a "resin-based glass coating" and different from every other coating on the market. I've also seen literature from Optimum which describes Opti-Coat as containing SiC (silicon carbide) as opposed to SiO2 in competing paint coatings.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

You're correct... thank you for correcting my mistake... my typing doesn't always reflect what is going on in my brain

Opti-Coat = SiC
CQuartz & 22ple = SiO2