DetailedByPrecision: Review & Update on Opti Coat 2.0. 2 year 8 month test. Severely Neglected Exper

When Opti Coat 2.0 came out everyone went full speed ahead and started to purchase it for their own use. I was one of them who bought 2 tubes after reading reviews and watching videos of water sheeting, hydrophobic properties, ease of use, and durability of the product. I polished a couple panels of my test car which sits outside 24/7 everyday rain or shine prior applying the coating. I wanted to see how long the coating can last with only 1 wash a year. The only time it got wet was when it rained. Other than that, I've never rinsed it down, detailed it, nor washed it. The reason I decided to take this approach is to see how far I can push the product. I questioned some of the claims of the product back then because it seemed too good to be true. Do I still question it to this day? You bet... But I can safely say to my knowledge the coating lasted at least 1 year of showing signs of hydrophobic properties and water sheeting without ever washing it. After the 1 year bench mark I sort of forgot about it and didn't take notice of it that much anymore. Onto the pictures.....



Starting point. Pressure washed off surface, washed with Carpro Reset, Iron X, Claybar, Rinsed with water



DetailedByPrecision3303 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3304 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3305 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3306 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3307 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3308 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3309 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



Based on the photos above, it looks pretty bad at this point. Next, I decided to test the fender I also coated. Same process from wash to decontaminate. First pic is for reference on how clean it look from 1st day of applying Opti coat 2.0









DetailedByPrecision3310 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3311 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3312 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3313 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3315 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3316 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



I decided to use my favorite drying aid, Opti Seal, to see if it can lay down a layer of it's own properties...



DetailedByPrecision3317 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



Back in business.....



DetailedByPrecision3321 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr



DetailedByPrecision3322 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr







Well, coatings are definitely a good choice for long term protection if you maintain it by at the minimum monthly washes. Coatings also changed the auto detailing industry ever since it came out years ago. They are not immune from neglect which shows you need to put some effort into taking care of your paint coating investment. This might have turned out differently if it was garaged, but I don't have space to store 2 cars at the same time. San Francisco housing design from way back then wasn't that good in terms of parking garage spacing wise... Let me know what you guys think of this..... Thanks.

 

Excellent research/experiment/data. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this and document it. Very interesting and eye opening. I too believe that coatings are an excellent option for vehicles, but this just hammered home the importance of regular maintenance on them.

Thanks again!!!!

 

Glad it helped out with your opinion on coatings. Ever since Opti Coat 2.0, there have been so many different options that's brought to the market. This is one of the original ones that was introuduced years ago that's not a PRO version. I have Gloss Coat atm, and I will test that as well to see if any improvements to the forumula.