CQ Quartz 3.0 + Gliss After Two Years

[OldRed65]

Hi All,

Two years ago, we had had the front of our 4Runner wrapped with Xpel and then and then had the shop apply CK Quartz 3.0 and Gliss over the entire car. It's held up pretty well and still looks nice from 3 feet away. The hood and and sides still bead up well. The roof looks the least spiffy and beading has never been great there. Overall - there is some spotting (water, foliage fallout) that don't seem to come out using Reset as the shampoo. Any suggestions? Elixr doesn't seem to help. And sometimes Elixr leaves the shine sort of smudgy.

Also, someone scuffed the rear panel behind the rear tire. It's a plastic part. The shop said they could buff at that section and reapply CK Quartz and Gliss. They offered to "clean the whole car with Essence Plus and treat with ceramic spray." I hadn't heard of this.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

[dlc95]

Maybe try hitting it with IronX and Spotless, then Reload / Elixir.

Maybe even claying it with something like Meguiar's C2000 Fine clay.

[evo77]

Hi All,

Two years ago, we had had the front of our 4Runner wrapped with Xpel and then and then had the shop apply CK Quartz 3.0 and Gliss over the entire car. It's held up pretty well and still looks nice from 3 feet away. The hood and and sides still bead up well. The roof looks the least spiffy and beading has never been great there. Overall - there is some spotting (water, foliage fallout) that don't seem to come out using Reset as the shampoo. Any suggestions? Elixr doesn't seem to help. And sometimes Elixr leaves the shine sort of smudgy.

Also, someone scuffed the rear panel behind the rear tire. It's a plastic part. The shop said they could buff at that section and reapply CK Quartz and Gliss. They offered to "clean the whole car with Essence Plus and treat with ceramic spray." I hadn't heard of this.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Sounds like their offering a more cost effective way for protection rather than pay to have them reapply a fresh coating. I imagine the price they quoted you was cheaper right?

You got your moneys worth out of Cquartz. Its time for some new protection!

Did they say exactly what "ceramic spray" they would use? I think the only one worth opting for would be Gyeon Evo Cancoat. If its anything else then I would not expect anything near 12 months. If your ok with spending the coin, you could just go back again to CQUK.

[The Guz]

Hi All,

Two years ago, we had had the front of our 4Runner wrapped with Xpel and then and then had the shop apply CK Quartz 3.0 and Gliss over the entire car. It's held up pretty well and still looks nice from 3 feet away. The hood and and sides still bead up well. The roof looks the least spiffy and beading has never been great there. Overall - there is some spotting (water, foliage fallout) that don't seem to come out using Reset as the shampoo. Any suggestions? Elixr doesn't seem to help. And sometimes Elixr leaves the shine sort of smudgy.

Also, someone scuffed the rear panel behind the rear tire. It's a plastic part. The shop said they could buff at that section and reapply CK Quartz and Gliss. They offered to "clean the whole car with Essence Plus and treat with ceramic spray." I hadn't heard of this.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

First off are you happy with the appearance of the paint as is at the moment? If you are not then it’s time to polish and re-coat. If you are there are some temporary things that can be done until you are ready to polish and re-coat.

Elixir is not desinsectación to remove water spots. More of a maintenance product.

Let’s start with your last statement of Essence Plus. CarPro came out with it years ago. They state it is a non-abrasive polish. It is actually a ceramic sealant with minor filling capabilities. And I mean minor filling. It is recommended to be used with a pad like the CarPro Gloss Pad as it has no cut. A pad with cut will remove the coating to a degree.

Essence Plus is not going to last very long. I’ve tested it and about 3 months before it loses its hydrophobic behavior which is rather lack luster. Hence the spray topper such as Elixir or a more durable spray sealant.

Now let’s talk about a chemical decon process to deep clean the coating.

First off don’t clay unless you plan to polish as it will leave marring. Especially on soft Toyota paint. And here comes everyone that states claying doesn’t marr paint. Well in my experience it does as it’s abrasive and can remove an aged coating on top of that. I’ve only been using coatings for over a decade so I may not know much lol.

Now let’s get to the chemical decon process. Invest in the following products. Lift, Reset, Descale, iron Remover, spray topper. We are going to start of with a 3pH wash to deep clean.

1. Foam with CarPro Lift
2. Rinse
3. Foam with CarPro Descale - this should remove some of the water spots as it’s an acid wash
4. Contact wash with CarPro Reset
5. Rinse
6. Iron Remover - I would recommend to take a damp towel and work the iron remover into the surface.
7. Rinse
8. Dry
9. Top up with your spray topper of choice such as CarPro Elixir

If you want to fill in defects then Essence Plus topped with Reload will do that temporarily. Reload is not great with hydrophobic behavior.

To fix that scuff it’s best to polish the entire panel and re-coat it. Certain colors will show an inconsistency in a spot fix.

My personal recommendation would be to start fresh by polishing off the aged coating and reapply the coating of choice. It’s a good opportunity to try a new coating.

Good luck.

[OldRed65]

Sounds like their offering a more cost effective way for protection rather than pay to have them reapply a fresh coating. I imagine the price they quoted you was cheaper right?

You got your moneys worth out of Cquartz. Its time for some new protection!

Did they say exactly what "ceramic spray" they would use? I think the only one worth opting for would be Gyeon Evo Cancoat. If its anything else then I would not expect anything near 12 months. If your ok with spending the coin, you could just go back again to CQUK.

The offered to try to clean up (buff out and reapply CK Quartz and Gliss) the damaged area for $50. There is one small spot where the black plastic is visible. They think I should use touch up paint after their service. Sounds backwards to me. The quoted $50 for this.

The offered to treat the entire car with Essence and spray with GTechniq Liquid Crystal for $250.

[OldRed65]

Thanks Guz! The green paint still looks good. I was really skeptical of the color treatment in preparation for the Xpel and ceramic - but the paint really did pop after they did that. It still has a noticeable gloss to it and I get comments like "Is that brand new" all the time. Since the car sits outside 100% of the time, it's just developed spots from what I would call fallout. (Maybe I am not using Elixr correctly.....).

I'll try to treat the car with yours and the other fellow's advice and see if I can get rid of the spots. But maybe it's time to recoat. I think I would stick with the CQ Quartz and Gliss (I have been very satisfied with the results and the price point); unless there is something else you guys recommend I try.

[OldRed65]

Maybe try hitting it with IronX and Spotless, then Reload / Elixir.

Maybe even claying it with something like Meguiar's C2000 Fine clay.

Thanks dlc.

[dgage]

The offered to try to clean up (buff out and reapply CK Quartz and Gliss) the damaged area for $50. There is one small spot where the black plastic is visible. They think I should use touch up paint after their service. Sounds backwards to me. The quoted $50 for this.

The offered to treat the entire car with Essence and spray with GTechniq Liquid Crystal for $250.

We’d have to see pictures but the final treatment they offered was essentially, we’ll polish off all of the CQuartz and use a sealant that will last 4-6 months. $250 doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad deal for that and from that point forward you could use similar sealants to protect your car but those are most certainly a step down from a ceramic coating but cheaper too. There are a ton of sealants out there to choose from that will give you near 6 months of durability and are incredibly easy to apply. Or you could step up to coating lites like CQuartz Lite or Gyeon CanCoat, which will give 12-18 months of durability. Just depends on what you want to do next.

[DFB]

First off are you happy with the appearance of the paint as is at the moment? If you are not then it’s time to polish and re-coat. If you are there are some temporary things that can be done until you are ready to polish and re-coat.

Elixir is not desinsectación to remove water spots. More of a maintenance product.

Let’s start with your last statement of Essence Plus. CarPro came out with it years ago. They state it is a non-abrasive polish. It is actually a ceramic sealant with minor filling capabilities. And I mean minor filling. It is recommended to be used with a pad like the CarPro Gloss Pad as it has no cut. A pad with cut will remove the coating to a degree.

Essence Plus is not going to last very long. I’ve tested it and about 3 months before it loses its hydrophobic behavior which is rather lack luster. Hence the spray topper such as Elixir or a more durable spray sealant.

Now let’s talk about a chemical decon process to deep clean the coating.

First off don’t clay unless you plan to polish as it will leave marring. Especially on soft Toyota paint. And here comes everyone that states claying doesn’t marr paint. Well in my experience it does as it’s abrasive and can remove an aged coating on top of that. I’ve only been using coatings for over a decade so I may not know much lol.

Now let’s get to the chemical decon process. Invest in the following products. Lift, Reset, Descale, iron Remover, spray topper. We are going to start of with a 3pH wash to deep clean.

1. Foam with CarPro Lift
2. Rinse
3. Foam with CarPro Descale - this should remove some of the water spots as it’s an acid wash
4. Contact wash with CarPro Reset
5. Rinse
6. Iron Remover - I would recommend to take a damp towel and work the iron remover into the surface.
7. Rinse
8. Dry
9. Top up with your spray topper of choice such as CarPro Elixir

If you want to fill in defects then Essence Plus topped with Reload will do that temporarily. Reload is not great with hydrophobic behavior.

To fix that scuff it’s best to polish the entire panel and re-coat it. Certain colors will show an inconsistency in a spot fix.

My personal recommendation would be to start fresh by polishing off the aged coating and reapply the coating of choice. It’s a good opportunity to try a new coating.

Good luck.

This was exactly what I was about to type. Great advice.

[dlc95]

Thanks dlc.

No prob man.

Be advised that I haven't tried any other clay than the Megs C-2000.

I've clayed Gloss Coat, CQUK 3.0 + Gliss, Ceramic Pro 9H + Top Coat, and Xpel Fusion Plus. No pressure, plenty of lubricant and they've all been fine. It actually revived them. You'll have to test a spot to see how your paint may react.