Paint Protection Poll

Anybody had experience with either one? Waste of money? Or just clay bar, sealant and wax job. :shrug:

Clay bar is for preparation of paint for polishing or application of protection. Not sure why it is included under sealant/wax.

Claybar, polish and wax first thing I did when I got my GT. IMHO it is the part of enjoying my Mustang.

CQuartz UK

Been over 5 months now since I did wet/sanding and paint correction before I applied this Coating. I have had a lot of Black cars in my lifetime! This Black beauty is such a breeze to keep clean! Still zero swirls or light scratches visible! It was a 3 day process but more than worth it. The car is glass !! Deepest Black shine I have ever seen. I use ECHO2 as a detailer and reload every 2 months. That's it!

Voo Doo said:

Been over 5 months now since I did wet/sanding and paint correction before I applied this Coating. I have had a lot of Black cars in my lifetime! This Black beauty is such a breeze to keep clean! Still zero swirls or light scratches visible! It was a 3 day process but more than worth it. The car is glass !! Deepest Black shine I have ever seen. I use ECHO2 as a detailer and reload every 2 months. That's it!

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Beautiful car.

What ever protection you use clay bar polish are good prep steps. The prep is what really counts here. There is so much debate on ceramic coatings here is how I look at it.

Wax 1-2 months protection
Sealant 5-6 months protection
Ceramic coating up to 5 years

My father in law just got his 2018 Stingray done with Opticoat pro. The car looks great, but honestly no better than my car that I did with Cquartz at home for $100.

Point is that you don't have to spend a G note to ceramic coating, it's easy enough to put on.

It's checkers not chess!

If your paint is good or brand new you should get a Ceramic and you will be glad. I used a sealant because my detail wasnt perfect and i now regret it because it continues to go down hill because a sealant doesnt have the mar/scratch protection. :(

Clay bar/wax for me, simply because of it being the lowest cost.

JKL1031 said:

continues to go down hill because a sealant doesnt have the mar/scratch protection. :(

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Neither does ceramic coating, that's a myth, so dont feel bad; at least you're up $$$$. Watch a few Youtube detail videos and buy yourself a DA polisher kit that comes with some pads and buy compound/polish for $200 or so all in. Fix that up many times over for a lot less than paying for a shop coating (and learn a new skill that you can use on any future or friends' cars). Something like a Porter Cable XP7424 is dummy proof, near impossible to ruin your paint with.

I did the detail myself and didn't want to remove too much paint and really you can't just polish over and over for ever.

i did cquartz soon as i got the car home a yr and a half ago.. me and a buddy did it at my work. shes garaged at night and i only put like 5k miles a yr on it but looks as good as it did when i first did it. i do a reload every 2 months also , and only hand wash 2 bucket system

o and cquartz only cost me 80 bucks and about 5 hrs of doing it.. and yes it does stop light scratches alot beter then any wax or sealant .
and by some shitty chance you get a bit scratch or some swirls, you can buff it out, polish and reapply the cquartz easy pezzy

I think I'm the only one that voted for Opticoat Pro +. I love it so far.

ahl395 said:

Clay bar/wax for me, simply because of it being the lowest cost.

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I guess if you don't value your time.....how often do you do it and how long does it take?? My total cost for CQuartz UK, paint prep and applied myself...$150 !! I have all my free time to drive and enjoy my Mustang! Yes, it's garaged kept and winterized...but it will last another couple of years before I have to do the 3 day process again!!

I guess if you have nothing else to do....washing, clay, wax and polish all day is ok...how's the scratches and swirls??

1. Clay bar
2. Wax
3. Sealant

Isn’t that the correct order?

Voo Doo said:

I guess if you don't value your time.....how often do you do it and how long does it take?? My total cost for CQuartz UK, paint prep and applied myself...$150 !! I have all my free time to drive and enjoy my Mustang! Yes, it's garaged kept and winterized...but it will last another couple of years before I have to do the 3 day process again!!

I guess if you have nothing else to do....washing, clay, wax and polish all day is ok...how's the scratches and swirls??

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I don't have any time to do it actually, lol. I get it detailed and waxed. But it's $120ish each time. So far i've only had it done once (about 2 months ago). And I get it hand washed usually once a week. About to get it waxed again unless I go another route.

I'm actually now thinking about a ceramic coating, mostly to help keep it clean and glossy becuase the nice waxed look doesn't last long. Have to compare the different options out there. I won't be doing it myself though, I enjoy working on my car in the small amount of time I have available but cleaning it, etc just isnt my cup of tea.

I don't have any issues with swirls or scratches, at least not any that I can see. I'd just like it to "look" waxed all the time after just a wash, and I think thats what a ceramic coating will do, what do you guys think?