new addition, should i opti-coat now?

[easton11]

My wife and I had to trade in our 11 Explorer for an Odyssey the other night. Mainly due to a growing family, we had our second child back in november and with 2 large dogs it was getting tight.

So I have some opti-coat i was gonna use on my truck & boat last spring. it never made it on the truck, so planning to use it on the odyssey now. What are your guys opinions about doing it now or waiting til the weather clears. I live in Pittsburgh and we just got light snow with salty roads last night. I have mixed opinions, I know they waxed it cause they left some nice looking white residue on the wiper cowling (THANKS!). The paint looks decent so I was planning on clay and light polish.

This was my first post after years of lurking. Thanks in advance guys.

[Flatlander]

My suggestion would be to give it a good wash/strip to really see what the paint looks like. One bonus I see that a lot of dealers provide with your brand new car is "dealer installed swirls". They simply fill them in with their delivery prep and call it good. Many people then find the swirls coming through as the wax wears off and assume they put them there. I bet if you dawn wash or paint clean the car and really inspect the paint, the swirls will be there.
I'm saying all this b/c you need to have PRISTINE paint first, THEN apply opti-coat. Also, of course you need to get the wax from the dealer off. If you don't have good lighting to evaluate the paint properly, I would wait until spring. The salt isn't a concern for the application if you give it 24 hrs to cure. You're just potentially locking in swirls.

[easton11]

ya my plan was dawn, clay, then hyper polish with gg6, ipa wipe & opticoat. I know there will be swirls, lol. i have 105 & 205 also if need be but hope i dont have to. I do have very decent lighting but as we all know the sun is best, and we dont see it much this time of year.

maybe i will just put it off. do an ONR and hit it with some OCW and call it good for 2 months hopefully