Why isn't everyone using coatings if it is "better" than sealants?

[SirTanon]

The way I see it, there are 3 basic reasons why someone would stick with Waxes/Sealants instead of switching to applying a coating.. some of which have been covered..

1 - "Coatings are scary and I don't want to risk misapplying it and screwing up the finish, or at least wasting the $$$ I spent on the product."

2 - "Coatings are too expensive and I don't think they can deliver what they say"

3 - "I really enjoy waxing my car. If I use a coating, then I won't be doing that any more. Plus, I have this big bottle of 'xxxx brand' that I need to finish using first"


... Personally, I'm in the #3 camp right now. I actually am interested in using Cquartz on my Fusion, but I have a bottle of Collinite 845 that I've barely touched, not to mention the tub of Megs NXT 2.0 Paste Wax, and the free tub of Blackfire Midnight Sun that I got with my last order..

[pickles]

Could Reload be the answer for those who want a coating but are worried about the application process? I recently got some and have only used it on my windshield due to needing more time to do a full wash/decon/and lsp removal before I Reload the whole thing. Water and glass cleaner definitely behave differently after the reload is on. That's even compared to CG blitz which was was on my windshield before.

[AutowerxDetailing]

Could Reload be the answer for those who want a coating but are worried about the application process? I recently got some and have only used it on my windshield due to needing more time to do a full wash/decon/and lsp removal before I Reload the whole thing. Water and glass cleaner definitely behave differently after the reload is on. That's even compared to CG blitz which was was on my windshield before.

Reload is an awesome product and has many of the beneficial characteristics of CQuartz, even scratch resistance... although you'll never see that on any of their official marketing.

[BrutalNoodle]

1 - "Coatings are scary and I don't want to risk misapplying it and screwing up the finish, or at least wasting the $$$ I spent on the product."

^ This would be me.


Also, with sealants I get to cheat. I don't have to OCD myself to death with the prep. Some iron remover, light claying, sealant, and I'm all set until the annual big clean up.

If I don't get the results expected from coating, I would more than likely blame myself for not doing a proper job of prepping, even if the coating itself might very well be subpar. Am I overthinking this? Probably.

[57BORNTORUN]

Love the wife part lmao.I would not want a model of a wife who deosnt bring any value besides good looks.Beauty fades stupidity is forever.

The least costly part about housing a Model would be groceries.A simple TRISCUIT wafer and a peeled seedless red grape and she`s good for the day.

[Eldorado2k]

The least costly part about housing a Model would be groceries.A simple TRISCUIT wafer and a peeled seedless red grape and she`s good for the day.

Don't forget the Evian... God forbid she has to drink some Kirkland bottled water and ruin her skin and start looking for a plastic surgeon. Lol.

[Octopiston]

Why doesn't everyone jump on any change? Just look at history. There was resistance to using a metal plows vs. Wood, steam ships vs. Sailing, guns vs. Bows, rifles vs. Smoothbores, cars vs. Horses.
Detailing on the side, I tend to use sealants and waxes more. Why? Cost difference for the customer. I guess I could sell more coatings if I didn't include paint correction with it, but I want to do it right. I also recommend against spending the $ on a paint correction if they're going to use a drive through wash. I'd rather have a customer's trust than $ for doing something costly that won't last. I treat them how I want to be treated.

All I wanna know is: Do these coatings protect the paint from bonded contaminants for this so called 2+ yr. stretch of "protection"? If they do then I'll begin to show some interest.. If not that get the heck outta here with that crap. No excuses such as "oh but the contaminants are bonded to the coating not your paint" I don't wanna hear no lame excuses.

I could very well be wrong, and that's just an assumption based on lots of claims with holes in the fine print nowadays.. But if the coatings really do protect, then we can talk turkey.

Like any lsp, it is a sacrificial layer. So why would contaminants bonding to the coating be an issue? Its better than your clear taking the brunt of it. Longevity is dependent on too many factors to say it will always last X amount of time. Its that way with waxes and sealants too. Thats why they say "up to." The M37 paint coating says up to 1 yr. Its like performance parts. They all say "up to" a HP number. There are too many variables to guarantee a gain. That doesn't mean the part isn't worth it though.
People also maintain and layer of wax or sealants with less longevity, so whats the issue with maintaining a coating? Plus with m37's coating you can't complain about the price. Even if it only lasts 6mo, its no more expensive than some sealants and cheaper than some waxes people spend a small fortune on that only last weeks.

I'm sure you've seen my posts. I have no qualms calling a turd a turd. My experience is that the m37 coating was as easy to apply as a spray wax. It was in March so I haven't messed with trying to apply midsummer. Now the M37 paint prep polish was a pita, imo. More difficult than it needed to be, plus it stains trim. A little about the car. Its an 09 Pontiac G8. It had over 85k miles at time of application. The M37 coating has been on the car since March. The car is fully exposed during work days work, and sees the most milage out of both of our vehicles. It is garaged at night mostly. It can go a month without being washed thanks to my wofe's busy schedule.
Pros: The car looks cleaner even when dirty because it doesn't get as dirty as before with the waxes and sealants alone. It has maintained a higher level of shine and protection for longer than any of the previous products used. The only coating maint I may do is using a spray wax as a drying aid which is something I did before. Bord bombs and bug guts are removed easier. Haven't noticed any etching from them, but haven;t had then bad this year either. It also didn't get the pollen and hasn't had dust cover it as I've experienced before. Even at the 6 mo mark it is still quite hydrophobic. The wheels are also coated, this is a Brembo equipped car, and they now come clean with soap and water with a little agitation. compare than to the m37 wheel glaze that is a cleaner/sealant lasted maybe a couple of weeks. I'm saving $ on wheel cleaning products.
Cons: We were going to repaint, and I did something lazy that induced micro-marring. Women being women, my wife changed her mind so now I need to fix it. It does bring on a level of scepticism for marring resistance, at least for the M37. I need to see how easily it can be removed compared to previous paint corrections. Not sure how I could tell if it is the coating that is marred or the clear. I would have to remove the coating anyway to do some touch up from the 85k miles worth of road rash anyway. I don't see a coating protecting from rock chips.

In comparison, I used BF midnightsun on my V in late April or early May. It isn't as glossy and needs to be reapplied, but I'm coating it with PBL diamond surface coating this week instead. I'm curious if its a better product than the m37. The BFMS application looked great when it was newer though, but it holds no candle to the m37 coating for maintaining the glossiness.

[BrutalNoodle]

Don't forget the Evian... God forbid she has to drink some Kirkland bottled water and ruin her skin and start looking for a plastic surgeon. Lol.

This is where you spray her face with silica and hose the broad down.

[Eldorado2k]

Why doesn't everyone jump on any change? Just look at history. There was resistance to using a metal plows vs. Wood, steam ships vs. Sailing, guns vs. Bows, rifles vs. Smoothbores, cars vs. Horses.
Detailing on the side, I tend to use sealants and waxes more. Why? Cost difference for the customer. I guess I could sell more coatings if I didn't include paint correction with it, but I want to do it right. I also recommend against spending the $ on a paint correction if they're going to use a drive through wash. I'd rather have a customer's trust than $ for doing something costly that won't last. I treat them how I want to be treated.




Like any lsp, it is a sacrificial layer. So why would contaminants bonding to the coating be an issue? Its better than your clear taking the brunt of it. Longevity is dependent on too many factors to say it will always last X amount of time. Its that way with waxes and sealants too. Thats why they say "up to." The M37 paint coating says up to 1 yr. Its like performance parts. They all say "up to" a HP number. There are too many variables to guarantee a gain. That doesn't mean the part isn't worth it though.
People also maintain and layer of wax or sealants with less longevity, so whats the issue with maintaining a coating? Plus with m37's coating you can't complain about the price. Even if it only lasts 6mo, its no more expensive than some sealants and cheaper than some waxes people spend a small fortune on that only last weeks.

I'm sure you've seen my posts. I have no qualms calling a turd a turd. My experience is that the m37 coating was as easy to apply as a spray wax. It was in March so I haven't messed with trying to apply midsummer. Now the M37 paint prep polish was a pita, imo. More difficult than it needed to be, plus it stains trim. A little about the car. Its an 09 Pontiac G8. It had over 85k miles at time of application. The M37 coating has been on the car since March. The car is fully exposed during work days work, and sees the most milage out of both of our vehicles. It is garaged at night mostly. It can go a month without being washed thanks to my wofe's busy schedule.
Pros: The car looks cleaner even when dirty because it doesn't get as dirty as before with the waxes and sealants alone. It has maintained a higher level of shine and protection for longer than any of the previous products used. The only coating maint I may do is using a spray wax as a drying aid which is something I did before. Bord bombs and bug guts are removed easier. Haven't noticed any etching from them, but haven;t had then bad this year either. It also didn't get the pollen and hasn't had dust cover it as I've experienced before. Even at the 6 mo mark it is still quite hydrophobic. The wheels are also coated, this is a Brembo equipped car, and they now come clean with soap and water with a little agitation. compare than to the m37 wheel glaze that is a cleaner/sealant lasted maybe a couple of weeks. I'm saving $ on wheel cleaning products.
Cons: We were going to repaint, and I did something lazy that induced micro-marring. Women being women, my wife changed her mind so now I need to fix it. It does bring on a level of scepticism for marring resistance, at least for the M37. I need to see how easily it can be removed compared to previous paint corrections. Not sure how I could tell if it is the coating that is marred or the clear. I would have to remove the coating anyway to do some touch up from the 85k miles worth of road rash anyway. I don't see a coating protecting from rock chips.

In comparison, I used BF midnightsun on my V in late April or early May. It isn't as glossy and needs to be reapplied, but I'm coating it with PBL diamond surface coating this week instead. I'm curious if its a better product than the m37. The BFMS application looked great when it was newer though, but it holds no candle to the m37 coating for maintaining the glossiness.

I take issue with contaminants bonding to the coating because I guess I have certain standards for what should be paint protection these days.. I know for a fact there's some products out there [and that means there's gotta be alot more that they don't release] on the market that can perform at a higher level and protect from contaminants bonding to it at all.

The evidence for superior technology in the what could and should be available is actually smack dead in the face of the mainstream OTC consumer products but somehow lives a life unbothered and completely ignored and I don't get it... What am I talking? This of course is going to sound absurd but it's the truth, Armor All Wheel Protectant. Yea, that's just 1 product that simply based on what it's able to achieve is somewhat of a slap in the face to all kinds of so called "superior" detailing products available. Armor All catches a ton of crap, but it's pretty crazy how they've come out with certain things like that when no other manufacturer could even figure out how the heck they made that product. That's actually a true statement because I read Meguiars own representative admit those same words when people were asking how Megs Brake Dust Barrier compared to it. That was years ago... But just look how long it took for "superior" detailing brands to catch up to something like that. And there's other stuff very similar by comparison, there's always been.

Point is it can be made and the contaminants don't have to bond to nothing in 2016. Especially if it's going to cost a super premium price to pay for their fancy marketing.

BTW, when I mentioned my stance against the high claims of certain coatings I wasn't including a coating such as McKee's and other fairly new entries to the marketplace which seem to be a bit more fair in regards to both price and application process. In other words if you don't have to nearly be an M.D. just to apply a coating then right on, that sounds a bit more back to reality.. But some of these crazy requirements along with it can't even prevent contaminants from bonding to it for the so called 2+ yrs. is just a cheap excuse or poor execution on their part. But that's my opinion as a paying consumer. I'm sure they don't care nor do I affect their bottom line so it's all good.


1 more thing that I'd like to say since the topic of the swirls are on the coating and not the paint came up earlier in the thread: Ok if that's the case and that's supposed to be a super great perk of a coating.. Lets say you buy a brand new car and all of sudden you're an autogeek and you learn about the best and latest methods. You bought a Nissan Maxima, it's a freakin Nissan Maxima! Lol. What in the world are you "preserving" anyways? Lol. It's not like it's going to be a rare classic and be preserved thanks to a coating 70yrs. from today... It can't even resist bonded contaminants for crying out loud.

And as far as the swirls being on the coating and not the paint, why the heck would any of us reading this be instilling swirls on our paint anyways?? Who the heck does that? None of us! [yes I read about your vehicle you were going to sell but your wife changed her mind, but that's a rare exception] Othewise why the heck would any 1 with a detailers brain want or need that so called great feature? I sure don't need it. That's like buying a nice couch and leaving the clear plastic over it the whole time you own it because why? Afraid something might happen and actually stain the actual couch? There are no swirls coming our way... Might as well put a clearbra on the vehicle if your washing technique is so bad. [not you, but the people who tout that as some great feature of a coating] It's a dang Nissan Maxima not a 1958 Eldorado Biarritz.. Now that rare piece of automobile deserves a higher degree of protection.

This is where you spray her face with silica and hose the broad down.

I had just got done reading every word in Octopiston's highly detailed post... And it was followed up with this.^ Just hilarious.😂Lol.

[PiPUK]

Riddle me this...

When did you last see proof of the second called 'maintenance' products boosting protection?

Assuming the coating actually is a coating (some, in my view, claim to be coatings yet look much more like sealants), it will have something fairly clever going on with chemistry. As far as I can tell, every maintenance product I've looked at falls back on sealant chemistries. They are not adding more ceramic (or similar), they add something that boosts the water repellency to make a user THINK that there is more protection. The fact is that there probably is not. Furthermore, if the coating is good, the booster product may actually make the paint MORE prone to soiling.