Vehicles go through a lot of abuse year round, especially in climates like here in Chicagoland, so the paint is constantly exposed to contamination like bird droppings, rail dust and road debris. This results in more embedded contamination, swirl marks appearing sooner and overall gloss of the paint quickly diminishing. The need for enhanced durability led to manufacturers producing long lasting paint protection coatings, which act as a secondary clear coat, creating a protective barrier between the outside elements and the vehicle’s paint. These coatings create a hydrophobic surface that is easier to clean than factory paint and stays cleaner longer by preventing dirt and other contaminants from easily sticking to the paint. When treated with care, these coatings offer protection anywhere from 1-1.5 years to upwards of 2 years. All this leads to having a vehicle that is easier to care for, stays protected for a longer time and maintains a glossy paint finish.
Long term protective coatings have become extremely common over the past few years for their great looks and amazing durability. Many manufacturers are producing these coatings to compete with each other, thus the options available get better and better.
22PLE
As most of you know, we’ve had great success with the impressive 22PLE Glass Coatings over the past couple of years. 22PLE has easily lasted over a year on some clients’ vehicles and kept them in great shape overall. Not to worry, we are surely not planning on eliminating 22PLE from our services in the foreseeable future. Rather, just like with all of our car detailing services, we always strive to improve and offer various quality options to our diversified clientele. When it comes to coatings, these additional options will include two of the best products available: Optimum Opti-Coat and CQuartz Finest. We believe these two coatings will greatly supplement 22PLE due to their quality, looks and durability.
CQuartz Finest
CQuartz Finest is an updated and improved version of the original CQuartz, featuring better durability, gloss and scratch resistance. This coating option is very similar to 22PLE that we currently offer, but will carry a higher price tag due to the more involved application process and warrantied install for up to two years. This warranty states that Finest will not bubble, yellow, peel, oxidize, or lose any more than 20% of gloss over the course of two years. We believe this will be a nice option for clients looking for something that is guaranteed to last for two years and makes the paint look rich and glossy. More info and specs on CQuartz Finest can be found on the CQuartz Finest website.
Optimum Opti-Coat
Optimum Opti-Coat, aka Opti-Coat Pro, has been around for a while now and is well-known for its great durability, which is the main reason we have decided to add it to our coating lineup. While 22PLE has been known to easily last anywhere from 1-2 years, Opti-Coat has an indefinite life span when maintained properly and is known to last upwards of 3-4 years. This coating option is best for those daily driven vehicles looking for the longest durability and protecting the factory clear coat from the elements. Opti-Coat does add gloss to any painted surface and offers great resistance to swirlmarks, environmental fallout and general dirt attaching to the surface. More info and specs on Optimum Opti-Coat can be found on the Optimum Car Care website.
All of the paint protection coating options will protect the original paint finish for well over one year, which is a remarkable step up from the typical paint sealants and waxes that last anywhere from two to six months. We’ve decided to use the three coatings mentioned above because as a whole they provide great looks, protection and scratch resistance, and individually each has a set of quality characteristics that separates it enough from others in terms of value and versatility. With that, we look forward to fulfilling all your coating needs!