If you're interested in paint coatings I'll get you sorted

[dillard09]

What do you know about the Always Dry 9H-LDC-Pro?
Thanks!

 

[Wolfeman]

Thoughts on Adam's Paint Coating vs others?

 

[TRIMMELL]

Thanks again very helpful! Living in MI. I do use a car wash about 2 times a month in the winter because it's so cold I can't hand wash at home and it's to dirty for a waterless wash. Also the 3-5 times a year I run down some narrow trails I get MI. Pin striping (fine scratches) that need to be polished out. I am having a hard time getting on board with the coatings craze.

Here is my routine:
3-4 times a year wash and polymer sealant 1-2 times a year polish/wheel out
Weekly waterless wash/ detail spray
Winter time (4 months) 2 times a week ether power spray or a Raptor safe car wash with harsh soaps.

It looks like a lot of work but my truck looks good most of the time. I think a good coating would cut down on some of the time I spend but worry that the pin stripping and car wash soap in the winter would lessen the benefits of the coating. I have some thinking to do.

Coatings certainly aren't for everyone. They will help minimize marring, will make washing easier and they will give you the longest lasting protection for sure. Most of the coatings can be polished.

Car Pro for example has a product called Essence that that I use for final polishing as it is AMAZING but you can also use it to polish coating. It will polish the coating and rebuild it to a certain extent as it has some of the same ingredients. I've polished a few scratches out on my motorcycle that is coated with no issues.

---------- Post added at 10:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------

What do you know about the Always Dry 9H-LDC-Pro?
Thanks!

I haven't heard of Always Dry to be honest. Honestly, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of brand of coating and a lot of them have very similar ingredients.

 

[dillard09]

I'm going to drop it off on Tuesday morning for 9H-LDC-Pro and ceramic tint. He has some very high end car there that he uses it on. (Bentley, RR, Lambo, Ferrari) So I think my Raptor will be in good hands. Ill post pics when I pick it up in 2 week. Will be out of town and he will hold it in his climate controlled 8000 sqft storage building for me.
Thanks for taking the time!

 

[TRIMMELL]

Thoughts on Adam's Paint Coating vs others?

Adam's has a great range of products. I haven't personally used their coatings by just from what I know there coatings seem to be a lot more end user friendly. By that I mean anyone could install them with a little bit of studying and watching some videos to get an idea of what's going on. There is a lot of talk about hardness, longevity etc. It's extremely hard to judge hardness between brands of coating especially when customers are the ones giving the feedback. I don't have hardly any scratches after a year of using waterless. Does that mean Car Pro's CQuartz UK is harder than the rest? Not necessarily, maybe I'm just a ninja and have excellent technique for preventing scratches. Or maybe it's extremely hard. It's hard to say.

Anyone you're getting a coating applied by that is offering you a warranty just means they have jumped through some hoops and the manufacturer knows they are prepping the paint properly before applying the coating. THAT is why there is a warranty. Preparation is key.

For example, Car Pro has what's called CQuartz Finest. It's supposably the best coating they offer as they sell CQuartz Finest (only available at Finest authorized installers), CQuartz Classic (very good working time, great hydrophobic properties and it will last for years) and CQuartz UK (Rumored by even CQuartz Finest installers to be the hardest coating and longest lasting, designed for application in colder temps as it flashes insanely fast and will cure before you're ready to level it unless you're quick and it looks fantastic). I most likely will never try to become a Finest installer as the regular CQuartz Classic and U.K. have worked fantastic for me.

Ceramic Pro has a weird reputation. Kind of like Opti Coat. Fading, yellowing, chalking and cracking are just some of the things that have been going around for years. I have heard that they have improved their formula a lot and those things are things of the past. Like I said, there are hundreds if not thousands of coating brands and most don't seem to have any serious issues anymore.

 

[RAPTORSV]

In all fairness those of us that live in Southern California have a huge advantage in keeping our vehicles looking nice with or without ceramic coatings. The real test would be how they stand up in harsh climates, snow, ice, salt and sand on the roads. I have cars that water sheets off just like in your video that have never been ceramic coated. Only using sealants and wax once or twice a year.

 

[TRIMMELL]

In all fairness those of us that live in Southern California have a huge advantage in keeping our vehicles looking nice with or without ceramic coatings. The real test would be how they stand up in harsh climates, snow, ice, salt and sand on the roads. I have cars that water sheets off just like in your video that have never been ceramic coated. Only using sealants and wax once or twice a year.

Out of all of the sealants and waxes I've used in my life I've never had anything compare to the hydrophobic properties of coatings. I've had water sheet yes but the panel wasn't dry afterwards. That's the difference. When I was my car at the car I wash and don't dry it off within a few blocks of leaving the car wash most the water is already gone. Nothing compares to coating. Car Pro's Reload Sealant is really really good but coatings and sealants/waxes are completely different technologies and they perform as such.

 

[RAPTORSV]

Out of all of the sealants and waxes I've used in my life I've never had anything compare to the hydrophobic properties of coatings. I've had water sheet yes but the panel wasn't dry afterwards. That's the difference. When I was my car at the car I wash and don't dry it off within a few blocks of leaving the car wash most the water is already gone. Nothing compares to coating. Car Pro's Reload Sealant is really really good but coatings and sealants/waxes are completely different technologies and they perform as such.

I understand and I'm sure your right, I just hate the thought of putting something on my cars that I has to be removed with a rotary buffer and compound. I wash my own cars and use a CR Spotless, it is amazing you can let your car dry in the hot sun without any water spots.

 

[TRIMMELL]

I understand and I'm sure your right, I just hate the thought of putting something on my cars that I has to be removed with a rotary buffer and compound. I wash my own cars and use a CR Spotless, it is amazing you can let your car dry in the hot sun without any water spots.

I definitely understand. I waited for the coatings to become much more mainstream before I got into them as some of the older formulas were super sketchy. The CR systems are very nice. The only downside with them is how expensive they are to operate, especially if you wash/rinse with the thing. The last commercial DI water system I had quoted for a guy for his shop was down to about $.06/gallon and they charge $15/month rental for the tank/sensor and they do about 600-700 gallons on one tank of resin. The CR Systems are in the $.40-$.50/gallon range which isn't horrible if you're not using it daily. They are definitely worth every penny if you want to wash your vehicle at home on a somewhat regular basis.

 

[RAPTORSV]

I definitely understand. I waited for the coatings to become much more mainstream before I got into them as some of the older formulas were super sketchy. The CR systems are very nice. The only downside with them is how expensive they are to operate, especially if you wash/rinse with the thing. The last commercial DI water system I had quoted for a guy for his shop was down to about $.06/gallon and they charge $15/month rental for the tank/sensor and they do about 600-700 gallons on one tank of resin. The CR Systems are in the $.40-$.50/gallon range which isn't horrible if you're not using it daily. They are definitely worth every penny if you want to wash your vehicle at home on a somewhat regular basis.

I use just for rinsing, not for the wash, run it through the pressure washer and it works well. Even though I could let it dry on its own, I use the Master Blaster and then touch up whatever I need to and inside the door jambs with a microfiber.