Hi, @CarlK,
Sorry for the delay in responding to your query.
As I understand it -- and I am NOT particularly familiar about these issues! -- the OptiCoat, when applied to the car's painted surface, actually bonds with the paint. Supposedly, the Tesla's paint is "soft" because the car is manufactured in California and under their environmental laws "harder" paints are forbidden on the grounds of toxicity and risk to the manufacturing workers. If that's really the case, I'm certainly OK with better protection for the workers. But I liked the idea that I could better protect the paint itself. Then, of course, the paint protection film provides another layer of protection. And, in my case, the PPF doesn't cover the WHOLE car (yet, see below), whereas I had the entire paint job OptiCoated. (And OptiGlass for the glass parts, etc.)
I have seen reports of people doing all of the following:
+ no paint protection whatsoever
+ OptiCoat or similar ONLY
+ OptiCoat on the paint, then PPF
+ PPF, then OptiCoat or similar on the PPF
+ OptiCoat on the paint, then PPF, then OptiCoat on the PPF
I have seen no definitive reports comparing all of these options, with the exception of a thread on this forum where some guy left out samples coated with various protection chemicals (including OptiCoat) and observed them over a period of weeks and then months. I believe he found OptiCoat to come in at #2 or #3 in overall effectiveness; his report made me think that OptiCoat was a reasonable alternative. At this point, I forget why I didn't conclude that I had to go with his #1 result.
If I had felt like having the car out of my hands for another day or two, I would've done OptiCoat on the paint, then PPF, then OptiCoat on the PPF. As it is, I am finding that the car looks fantastic after two months and 3200 miles. I've certainly heard lots of objects pinging off the car as I drive around the less-than-stellar roads of Boston. The only thing I'm going to change at this point is that I'm going to go back for more PPF -- I covered the car from the front bumper to the rear passenger doors, but at some point soon I'll add the remaining rear and roof parts.
I hope this helps. Again, sorry for the delay in my response.
Alan
May I ask why you put clear film on top of the Opticoat? Isn't that defeat the purpose of why you want the Opticoat in the first place? I always thought Opticoat is to be put on top of the clear film if there is one.