My 85D is ordered!

[paulp]

Quite a few of us have got Opticoat done. I regularly get comments from my colleagues that the car looks like it came straight from a showroom that morning. They ask if I am constantly washing the car or getting it professionally detailed. In reality it gets a wash once a month at most. My main trigger to wash it is the wheels looking dirty (I didn't get them coated).

Should have got your wheels done. Made a big difference.
Cost in SA from a mobile chap that really enjoys his job is $700. Takes about 11 hours to polish all the fine factory / transport scratches out, and 30 minutes to apply the opticoat.

 

[PJF000]

Had Ceramic Pro 9H inc. wheels for just under $800. Worth every penny. Now looking to have 3M paint protection film to front area to reduce stone chips etc. Cost 1/2 of Xpel prices and supposedly better performing. A better way would have been to had the treatments done in reverse but I am having the 3M tested for adhesiveness on CP prior to having done.

 

[meloccom]

I've got opticoat on mine, no-one pressured me into it, and I didn't buy it to "protect" the paint for the next owner. Rather I bought it to make my life easier whilst cleaning, which it does spectacularly. For the record, no-one at tesla even suggested I do it. They certainly dont participate in margin squeezing activities.

I had my car Opticoated as well and it does seem to make the car easier to wash.
To maintain the warranty you need to have it topped up each year at a cost of about $100.
I called the guy at Reflect Effect who applied mine to organise the yearly service and put some clear film on the front as well and he is booked out until April.

 

[benflux]

If you're paying a guy to clean your car, does the main benefit go away then?

 

[paulp]

If you're paying a guy to clean your car, does the main benefit go away then?

Who said they were paying someone to wash the car? I paid someone to opticoat the car to make it easier for me to wash.

 

[meloccom]

If you're paying a guy to clean your car, does the main benefit go away then?

I only paid the guy once to clean my car. Every other time I did it myself which being a bit OCD is at least weekly.
I use a pressure washer and I can often get away with only washing with a mit or sponge below the door handles. In particular it seems to make it easier to remove bugs from the front fascia.
More recently I purchased a foam lance that allows me to wash the car almost touch free.

 

[benflux]

I guess I'm saying that I will pay someone to clean the car so making it easier for him doesn't save me any money so I'm questioning the need for me personally

 

[Dborn]

The car also looks amazing when clean bright and shiny and better than new! My car was actually about 3 days post wash and a bit grimy when I went to super charge in Sydney the other day, and while chatting to the staff one of them commented that it looked as if I had just had the car washed and waxed. It is so shiny that it looks wet. Brings out the colour depth too, especially on the darker colours. Mine is signature red.

 

[garyjac]

As noted above, a foam lance makes it soooo much easier to wash the car. What little dirt/dust is left either rinses off or easily drifts off with a mitt. Pressure washers have their place too, and that place is about 500mm away from your paint. Good for the wheels though. If anything else is left that you can feel on the paint then you need to polish/clay the car before re-waxing. Not entirely sure that opti-coat (or any coating) will stop stuff sticking to the car. They stop things sticking to the paint and stop bird poo (and worse, bat poo) eating into your paint though! btw, even with out a coating, something like Mother's Top Coat over a wax or Bowden's Own "Fully Slick" will give you that lasting "new car" look.

 

[paulp]

I guess I'm saying that I will pay someone to clean the car so making it easier for him doesn't save me any money so I'm questioning the need for me personally

I think I save about 50% of my time washing with opticoat, so if I was paying by the hour it would make a difference. Further the car definately has a deeper sheen and richness with the coating, although mine is black. Probably not as prominant on white.

- - - Updated - - -

As noted above, a foam lance makes it soooo much easier to wash the car. What little dirt/dust is left either rinses off or easily drifts off with a mitt. Pressure washers have their place too, and that place is about 500mm away from your paint. Good for the wheels though. If anything else is left that you can feel on the paint then you need to polish/clay the car before re-waxing. Not entirely sure that opti-coat (or any coating) will stop stuff sticking to the car. They stop things sticking to the paint and stop bird poo (and worse, bat poo) eating into your paint though! btw, even with out a coating, something like Mother's Top Coat over a wax or Bowden's Own "Fully Slick" will give you that lasting "new car" look.

Poorboys spray on the wheel barrels and you will never need to unwind your pressure washer again.
The opticoat makes it possible to lightly wipe off bugs from a country drive, a few days later. There is a wash product called 'reset' that has a serious foam up and cleans the pores of that roughness you are experiencing.

 

[garyjac]

Just a general sort of comment. I haven't had the car long enough for it to get any real dirt on it yet I've heard Poorboys is good stuff. Going to try Bowden's Own products too (Wheely Clean). They seem to have a lot of expensive (millions of $$) of collectors items up there at Budrim that they use these products on, and seem to have had a range of well accepted car products in the market.