Torn on decision for 2016 Suburban.

[gsmarquis]

First post on this forum.

I have a 2016 Suburban in black. Its two years old with about 15k miles on it. I have limited time to do paint maintenance and need help making a decision on what to do. I have a ton of products in my arsenal but dont know which way to take it. I have all the pads, DA, product, etc. I cant decide between these two. One seems like a 8-12 month life and the other two year. Paint is almost perfect minus the hood. Neighbor was sawing lumbar in her driveway and dust got all over my Suburban. She felt that she needed to get it off by dry wiping my hood with a cotton towel. Grrrrrrr. Micro swirls but very hard to see. I already have all the below products including two 50ml cquartz kits.

1. Stripper wash (clean slate)
2. decon (ironx)
3. Wash
4. Clay
5. IPA wipe
6. glaze (blacklight)
7. Sealant (3rd party not sold on this site)
8. Wax (Butter Wet wax)

The other is:

1. Stripper wash (clean slate)
2. decon (iron x)
3. Wash
4. Clay
5. Polish with very light optical finishing polish
6. IPA wipe
7. Coat (cquartz uk)

I know the polish/coat process is very long but I was looking for a lower maintenance finish.

[Goonie75]

Good morning and welcome to Autogeek and the forum. It's a cool place to check out and the folks here are great. Share knowledge!!! I'm not a professional but have been doing this for many years. Most of what you talk about sounds pretty good. Not sure how much clean slate actually 'cleans the slate' at times. I like the polish idea. Maybe after the polish go with the sealant and the wax. Some might say the wax is redundant but that is pretty subjective if you want my 'opinion'...

some might say IPA or some other kind of 'wipe' is good. Some argue more for dedicated 'wipe' products and others don't. The glaze might also be redundant if you do option 1. The glaze will 'hide' the swirls more and the polish will most likely 'correct' them. As far as the coating, i'm not a fan myself but others love them. They do seem to make for washing cars or how well the dirt is removed, a little easier from what I've read.

I remember Mike saying something like coatings or waxes or sealants are all great depending on what you are after but no matter what, paint will still get dirty, as in 'embedded' kinds of dirt that will need to be 'polished' and that means polishing those coatings right off of that paint. IDK, to me, sounds like one would have to reapply anyway. I enjoy applying things to our vehicles. Waxes, a good sealant, etc. Again, there are others that are way more involved and knowledgeable than myself.

Otherwise, the options sound pretty good just depending on what your pleasure might be!...

Good luck!

[Desertnate]

Do you want the finish to look good temporarily, or do you want to fix it in the long term?

The first option will hide the imperfections for a while, but as the sealant and the glaze degrade, they will return in a few months (depending on the durability of the sealant). With the second option, the imperfections will be gone and if you take care with your washing, should look really good for a long time whether you apply a sealant or a coating.

If you're not quite sure you're ready for a coating, you can still polish the vehicle and then apply a highly durable sealant which will look good and protect the paint. I've gone the glaze route in the past as a band-aid solution, but did it with full knowledge paint correction was coming in the future and I was only using the glaze until time/conditions were right.

[gsmarquis]

Is there any bonding issues with the new synthetic poly type sealants to a glazed surface? Like the oils from the glaze not allowing a bond. The sealant I have I used when I got the Suburban two years ago applied twice so far. Last coat was in september and it still beads great, id say about 60% of original bead. Nothing else was applied underneath. The super shine however lasted about 3-4 months.

Sealant company claims 12 months so I figured 6.

[JCDetails]

IMO, with GM black on such a large vehicle (read: nightmare to wash...ask me how i know...17 sierra denali CC) you'd be crazy not to coat it.


You'd be even crazier to waste your time on the Chem guys product combo. I definitely would not put anything over Blacklight. With the waffling CG does on what the hell the stuff actually is I would have very little confidence in anything being able to bond to it. The combo in Option 1 IMO would probably last about a month, maybe two at the most before you're back to square one.

Clean slate IME doesn't really do anything. The only chem guys soap that I've used that really qualifies as a 'strip wash' is citrus wash red, which is hard to find nowadays. You could always add a bit of APC to the clean slate if you wanted to really ensure you're breaking down road film and the like.

If it was dry wiped with a cotton towel and sawdust, I think you'll find you'll probably need more than a very light finishing polish to clean it up. No sense coating over imperfections, you may as well put the time in.

The only glaze/sealant combo that I've tried that has actually worked well was power lock over top of Jescar Top Finish Machine Glaze. And even then, I don't believe power lock lasted as long as it did on the cleanly polished and prepped panel without any glaze under it.

[Desertnate]

Is there any bonding issues with the new synthetic poly type sealants to a glazed surface? Like the oils from the glaze not allowing a bond. The sealant I have I used when I got the Suburban two years ago applied twice so far. Last coat was in september and it still beads great, id say about 60% of original bead. Nothing else was applied underneath. The super shine however lasted about 3-4 months.

Sealant company claims 12 months so I figured 6.

If you use the right glaze you shouldn't see any issues. Poorboys Black Hole and White Diamond along with Prima Amigo were designed to be topped with sealants. I've personally topped both with Collinite 845 and seen no difference in the longevity vs when it was applied over a non-glazed surface. There may be a couple others out there which were also designed to be used in the same way, but I've not used them.

[gsmarquis]

While cleaning it today I did find a paint chip on the corner of the room bumper. If i use touch up paint will cquartz bond to it?

[JCDetails]

Shouldn’t be an issue.


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[gsmarquis]

Any suggestions on prep polishing the roof for coating? Its ridged all the way down from the sunroof to the tail. Im guessing small hand pad and doing it all by hand?

[JCDetails]

Any suggestions on prep polishing the roof for coating? Its ridged all the way down from the sunroof to the tail. Im guessing small hand pad and doing it all by hand?

On a Burban? Wouldn’t be caught dead. 3” polisher is your friend here.

Did a 14 Escalade and a 12 GLK last weekend. 5” fit between the ridges and a 3” on top of them. I would probably put a little product on the edge of the pad and scrub up against the vertical sides of the ridges just to hit them and shine them up but in reality they’re so small and out of sight the impact is small.


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[TMQ]

-----I have limited time to do paint maintenance and need help making a decision on what to do.------

Your statement above is key what you need to do.

I'm in same boat as you regarding a customer's F-250. It's a frickin large truck, too large to try to wash on regular basis. And it is a working truck as well.

Trying to decide on spray on wipe off sealant or just coat it.

A good sealant can last up to 6 months and then spray again. Be good for the year. Prep time is shorter.

or

A good coating lasts up to a year, if kept up well with boosters, may push it out up to 2 years. Stays cleaner, longer but it'll take long time to prep the truck for a coating...

I'm not sure what to do either!!!

Tom

[Eldorado2k]

On a Burban? Wouldn’t be caught dead. 3” polisher is your friend here.


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It’s not That bad... I actually chose to apply McKee’s Coating Prep Polish on the roof of the Kia by hand before laying down sealant. I used a foam applicator and it didn’t take very long at all. I know a Suburban is larger, but it’s not That much larger. It’s fairly easy.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180404/8543f998fb9c12b45cd7cd76eaf6212c.jpg




I'm in same boat as you regarding a customer's F-250. It's a frickin large truck, too large to try to wash on regular basis. And it is a working truck as well.

A good coating lasts up to a year, if kept up well with boosters, may push it out up to 2 years. Stays cleaner, longer but it'll take long time to prep the truck for a coating...


Tom

I’m not sure how realistic this would be compared to going with a sealant.. I really wish someone would do a definitive test to prove the whole “stays cleaner longer” claims. [50/50 on a daily drivers panels would be ideal]

So far I’ve only seen 3 tests, but I still think a real world definitive test is lacking.

IMO you’re still going to have to wash it frequently if you expect it to look clean. And you’re still going to have to wash it prior to using the “boosters” the same way you could use “toppers” for a sealant. —-If you decide those kind of products provide positive benefits.

[TMQ]

Eldo...

I think you're right---coating or sealant, still need to clean. I know coatings have their own issues.

Hummm...if I'm going to have to clean truck one way or another---I'm thinking a high quality sealant may just be the way to go. Not that big a deal to spray on and wipe off. Only need to do it 2X a year---done!

Tom

[TMQ]

Did the McKee's Hydro on my Lexus---And doesn't look like it did any thing worth having.

Car seems dirtier, tried power washing off the dirt and yet dirt is still imbedded in paint. Hydro didn't do a thing!

Only good thing that appears to help was the windshield. The coating on the glass was getting weak and a hit of Hydro helped with the water shedding. But other than that---dunno if it was worth anything.

The sealant I have on it works really well.

I think maybe Hydro blue just might be overrated??

Tom

[JCDetails]

Did the McKee's Hydro on my Lexus---And doesn't look like it did any thing worth having.

Car seems dirtier, tried power washing off the dirt and yet dirt is still imbedded in paint. Hydro didn't do a thing!

Only good thing that appears to help was the windshield. The coating on the glass was getting weak and a hit of Hydro helped with the water shedding. But other than that---dunno if it was worth anything.

The sealant I have on it works really well.

I think maybe Hydro blue just might be overrated??

Tom

I like hydro blue as a maintenance/sacrificial product. I did powerlock on my truck and then hydro blue after a maintenance wash a couple weeks later. Great for wheel protection in lieu of a full on coating or sealant applied to them.

I would not use it as a standalone product, however.