I was wondering if it’s generally a good idea (as some say) to get a opticoat / extra clearcoat of some sort on new cars - Subaru in particular?
Judging from some opinions such as these, it is really necessary on the newer cars:
According to some sites such as this, it’s experimentally better and more durable with the aftermarket clearcoat - Is this really better than wax once or twice a year?
Clear coat is a clear paint sprayed over the color coat. What you and they are talking about is not a clear coat but a sealer or wax or protectant treatment. Its not something I would do for a variety of reasons. Simply use a good quality wax once or twice a year on a new finish. Use a clay bar, polish plus the wax if you really want to do a good job.
There is no aftermarket clear-coat. @Bing is correct. Clear-coat is a paint. It’s the top layer(s) of paint over the color. What this product is - is must a wax/sealant. Nothing more.
Save your money and do it yourself. It’s no better then any other wax on the market…but costs 100 times as much.
I’m proud of my car, some might say obsessed. I’m proud to say many have thought it’s brand new, even though it’s 9 years old. When people ask me why it looks so great, I tell them “I’ve discovered something you can coat the paint with that repels dirt and protects the finish”. Inevitably, they’ll ask “oh, what’s that?”. They’re knocked off balance when I reply “car wax”.
Keep your finish clean, wax it periodically with any brand-name wax BEFORE it stops “beading up” water, and your finish will look great for years.
Amen to what all of the preceding posts have said.
This is just one more case of a dealership trying to “upsell” their customers with an overpriced, unnecessary product by using false claims.
Like my friend, mountainbike, my cars tend to be mistaken for new or almost new cars, even after many years. My simple solution is to wash the car fairly frequently, and to wax it a couple of times each year with a good-quality wax.
Although my current new-looking Subaru is only 3 1/2 years old, I can tell you that my previous Subaru was frequently mistaken for a new car at the ripe old age of 9 1/2 years. And, that was owing to just my regimen of washing & waxing the car.
Save your money, wait until the car is about 3 months old, and then wax it yourself.
“This is just one more case of a dealership trying to “upsell” their customers with an overpriced, unnecessary product by using false claims.” Amen to that @VDCdriver .
All of those are VERY EXPENSIVE waxes/sealers. This is a scam as old as cars, just about. You will find hundreds of testimonials, planted by the sellers of these super expensive wax jobs.
I looked at that first article for opti-coat, and I smell BS, big time. For a car to lose the ability to bead water so quickly is just wrong. My 17 year old, seldom waxed, left outside car will bead water once it’s washed.
Buy good wax/sealer, use it as directed, you should be fine. If a Subaru has a paint failure in warranty, go to the dealer. I don’t notice Subarus driving around with bad paint, and our 2007 Forester (never garaged) looks great.
You’re right those articles do seem a bit like an advert for the product.
Anyone here with a treatment of opti-coat-2.0/Cquartz or similar have the contents listing from the package, is it really different from, say, Meguiar’s ultimate wax with polymer?
"Anyone here with a treatment of opti-coat-2.0/Cquartz or similar have the contents listing from the package, is it really different from, say, Meguiar’s ultimate wax with polymer? "
Car waxes rarely list the contents, other than–perhaps–a cursory mention of their “secret” ingredient.
Unlike companies that produce food products, car wax companies do not have to disclose their ingredients in any sort of detailed manner. For example, my current favorite, Meguiar’s Tech Wax 2.0 lists only…
…what they claim that their product will do
…package weight
…directions
…cautions, such as “Combustible” and “Eye Irritant”
I would be very surprised if you found a car wax that had a full listing of its ingredients.
Wax would be my suggestion. I would be a afraid that over time, some of the finishes I have seen applied to paint on FG boats started to peal and looked like crap. There was little that could be done. I have no experience with it on cars but regular wax jobs, even a car wash spray wax works for a while. Most importantly, keep your car out of the sun as much as possible and that will make your car look new after 20 years with regular waxing, at least twice a year. There are no one time fixes. Regular washing and waxing would be the best thing to do.
Aside; When I first own cars, I just used crappy spray wax whenever I washed the car. The finish was fine after ten years. Then I stated to hand wax the cars regularly for over twenty five years and have since though gone back to crappy car wash spray wax 6 or7 times a year. To be honest, I have found no difference in the finish after 10 to 15 years. I do have crappy eyesight now so that could be the real difference. Out of the sun has always been my biggest concern.
Like Mike, I like wax with carnuba wax in it. I used to use NewFinish, which worked great, but the past two years I’ve been using Meguire’s with carnuba wax and it seems to be just a wee bit shinier. Could be psycho-somatic, but I like it anyway.
When I bought my new Tundra in 2002 I was offered clear coat by the dealer for the low low price of $1000.00.
I wouldn’t have done it for $100.00. Especially since the label on the window said it already had clear coat on it. When I asked about that I was told that the clear coat they would put on is better.
I don’t know how I would have known whether or not they put clear coat on it since it was new, smooth and glossy already.
For what it’s worth, the Nissan dealer I worked for slapped “paint protection” on every new car sitting on the lot and priced the wazoo out of it. If the customer balked; so what. The dealer had practically nothing invested in the process to begin with and any theoretical loss was offset by other extras.
Once upon a time they were way behind in detailing out the new cars that were sold and asked if any mechanics wanted to pick up some flat rate hours by staying a little late. We got paid 1 hour per car to apply that “paint protection” and it could be done in 20 minutes.
It was a very thin wax; nothing more. The dealer was buying this stuff for a few dollars per bottle and the customer pay markup was something like 80 X the cost of the bottle.
A good rainstorm or one trip through the car wash and that “paint protection” was history.
About 10 years ago I was at a local fair and they had this demp of this new paint protector. So they applied it to this hood of a car. Poured lighting fluid on it and then lit it. Then after about 10 seconds put it out…and wiped it clean…still looked GREAT…OBVIOUSLY it was just a gimmick.
My father-in-law bought the stuff…and I looked at the bottle - active ingredient was Carnauba wax…nothing more. But it sold for about 10 times what any other Carnauba wax sold for.
I remember those ads!! If schools still taught basic science nobody would have been fooled by that magic trick. Everyone would know that the combustion process is taking place ABOVE the fluid where the HC fumes and the oxygen are in contact and not below it. Some radiant heat would propagate to the paint given enough time, but the flame trick isn’t as dangerous to the finish as it looks. I love that ad!
Run and don’t look back!!
The scam at the dealer in this area is etching the side windows with numbers to “prevent theft” it was several hundred dollars. I told the salesman I didn’t want it. He said too bad, it’s already on the car I told him to order new side glass or I’d go elsewhere. With the look of defeat, he removed the cost of the etching. I just purchased my 2013 f150 six month ago and had a similar desk on the window. During the signing of the mountain of papers, he slipped that one in. I asked what the heck that was. He hum hollowed around. I asked if it cost anything and he said no. The next day (Sunday) was taking the tags off of the dash and going through the papers and I was charged for the anti theft bs. I called his cell phone and left a message he was to return my $200 or the truck was going back Monday morning. He called Monday and said the check was on its way. Do they actually think its worth $200? My truck was over $40,000. Do you think I’ll ever go back to get my next one there after he lied to my face? I get new truck every two to three years. Bad practice on their part.
One thing to watch out for with the new sealers is silicone. If they have silicone in them it can contaminate the paint surface so it will be dang near impossible to paint again. Fish eyes all over. That’s why I only use the top of the line wax and not the newest, bluest, polymer, etc. stuff that comes out. You may never need to have it touched up but can be a mess if you ever do.
EK Hammer, I’ve seen this “pack”. Sadly, many people get talked onto paying for these “packs”… even people who can’t afford them. And sometimes they can cheated out of the money even if they say “no”… as you almost did.