Help in Choosing a Sealant/LSP

[Blackdevil77]

I haven't done a complete paint correction and polish on my car yet (2016 Chevrolet SS) and plan on doing it sometime in September when the heat breaks a little bit. I was dead set on a ceramic coating, but am starting to second guess myself. The biggest reason I wanted a Ceramic coating was for it's slight resistance to light scratching/marring. As far as maintenance, I don't mind working on my car at all. I actually enjoy it, assuming it's not hot as hell or extremely humid, so I am indifferent to that aspect of a ceramic coating. The car will also be garaged also, so it's not constantly exposed to the elements, but I do drive it so it is, by no means, a "garage queen."

So my question is, what LSP would you recommend for me? Does a ceramic coating really resist marring from washes that it would be preferable over another sealant? If so, then I was set on Cquartz.

If I go the sealant route, right now I am undecided between the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0, Menzerna Power Lock, or Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax #845.

So basically my question is, what LSP would you recommend for me based on my information? How does the appearance of a coating such as Cquartz compare to the appearance of a sealant such as the ones I listed, and out of the ones I listed, which do you recommend and why?

[Knozzmoeking]

This isn't an answer to exactly what you asked but I'll throw in my two cents based on personal experience.

We have 3 new 2016 Hondas in my extended family. All three are daily drivers.

The 2016 HR-V was polished with McKee's Coating Prep Polish and finished with McKee's Paint Coating. Total cost in raw materials - $55. Enough Prep Polish left over to do most of the cars in my neighborhood and enough Paint Coating left over to do at least 4 more cars. So figure about $10 in materials. Results were fantastic. The silver metallic looked better than when it was picked up from the dealership.

The Pilot and CR-V were done with Polish Angel Invincible Primer followed by Cosmic Angel and finished off with Cosmic Spritz. The look on both was fantastic. Raw materials, quite a bit more costly. BUT, enough left over to do quite a few more cars.

So one really inexpensive route and one that is more expensive.

In both cases the finished look and feel give me confidence that minor abrasions will be resisted in both cases.

I've used Collinite 845 and I love it but it is a wax and not intended to do the job of either product I just described.
Hope this helps.

[MarkD51]

Nothing is of course bulletproof, but to answer your specific question, yes, the better coatings made today are definitely more resistant to wash induced marring than any wax or sealants made.

As a side effect of many of these coatings, the applicators, and sometimes even the final wipe towels have to hit the trash can. They turn rock hard.

Many of us feel as you do, wish to sample new products and lovingly caress our vehicles, and while the initial cost of coatings are more expensive, in the long run they then appear quite economical and also save labor. Plus the better protection they provide.

There's always many other things that need doing on vehicles.

You mentioned CQuartz, and yep, that's one coating that if you took the cap off the bottle and let it sit, what you'd have is a rock hard slug of product in short time.

[MarkD51]

There's fans of the many various coatings. Best way they can probably be described as far as look, is a glass like highly reflective gloss, and look, like a candy apple.

Many are tough to the degree that nothing can take them off short of abrasive polishing, or a quite long time of exposure and wear.

My Tahoe in my Avatar is currently wearing CQuartz UK. And all Exterior Trim is protected with CQuartz DLX, another great product.

[Blackdevil77]

Right now, Cquartz sounds the most appealing then. I drive my car, and like it to be clean at the same time. Only way that's possible is frequent washes and if Cquartz is truly more resistant to wash induced marring, then Cquartz sounds like the winner.

[The Guz]

It depends on what your goals are. If you are going to want to polish often and try out different combinations then stick with a sealant.

If you are looking for something that offers longer protection then the coating suits you. You may want to consider some other coatings that maybe more user friendly for your first time. Optimum Gloss Coat comes to mind. User friendly and forgiving. No need to toss your towels or applicator(s) in the trash. Pinnacle Black Label V2, McKee's 37 and Wolfgang Uber are the others that are just as user friendly. I've personally used PBL V2 and Gloss Coat. Both are very forgiving.

[Blackdevil77]

It depends on what your goals are. If you are going to want to polish often and try out different combinations then stick with a sealant.

If you are looking for something that offers longer protection then the coating suits you. You may want to consider some other coatings that maybe more user friendly for your first time. Optimum Gloss Coat comes to mind. User friendly and forgiving. No need to toss your towels or applicator(s) in the trash. Pinnacle Black Label V2, McKee's 37 and Wolfgang Uber are the others that are just as user friendly. I've personally used PBL V2 and Gloss Coat. Both are very forgiving.

I may stick with a sealant for now and go to a coating in the spring. It's not the longevity of the coating that appeals to me (while it is a very cool characteristic of coatings), it's the resistance to marring from washing the car. Typical sealants don't offer any kind of resistance to very light scratching. Would a sealant like the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant, "look" nicer (deeper, more gloss/wet look) than a coating such as Cquartz?

I'm relatively new to coatings, but it would actually be my second time. Unless I do another car before mine. After I did a paint correction on my Girlfriends car, I put Cquartz UK on it. At first I was having problems with high spots as it dried, but I eventually got the hang of it. Took a little trial and error. It didn't help that it was hot and humid.

My girlfriends S5 I did

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk98/Blackdevil77/Audi%20S5%201_zpsklzhyeqk.jpg (http://s278.photobucket.com/user/Blackdevil77/media/Audi%20S5%201_zpsklzhyeqk.jpg.html)
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk98/Blackdevil77/Audi%20S5%202_zpsjpwhad2i.jpg (http://s278.photobucket.com/user/Blackdevil77/media/Audi%20S5%202_zpsjpwhad2i.jpg.html)

Here's some crappy cell phone pics from the next morning.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk98/Blackdevil77/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20160808_091451_zps1bud865a.jpg (http://s278.photobucket.com/user/Blackdevil77/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20160808_091451_zps1bud865a.jpg.html)
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk98/Blackdevil77/Mobile%20Uploads/S5_zpskdmo6k9p.jpg (http://s278.photobucket.com/user/Blackdevil77/media/Mobile%20Uploads/S5_zpskdmo6k9p.jpg.html)