Paint-Coated, Trim-Coated, Wheels-Coated... '14 Optima SX-L New Car Prep

The owner of this car contacted me because he wanted to have this new car properly cleaned and protected. He opted for the premium CQuartz Finest Coating for the paint, and since the car would require only a quick polish, I offered to coat the trim and wheels at no additional charge. The trim was coated with CQuartz DLUX and the wheels were Opti-Coated.


Process

Exterior
- Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner & Tire Brush
- Wheels: Meguiar's D103, Wheel Woolies, EZ-Detail Brush, ATLASTA Soft Tip Brush, and more.
- Foam Pre-Soak: Chemical Guys Citrus Wash via Gilmour Foamaster II
- Wash: Chemical Guys Citrus Wash
- Decontamination Step 1: CarPro IronX
- Decontamination Step 2: NanoSkin Autoscrub Wash Mitt (fine grade) with Nanoskin Glide as Lubrication
- Dry: DI Waffle Weave Towels
- Tape: 3M Painters Tape
- Paint Thickness Readings Taken: Digital paint thickness guage
- Polish: CarPro Reflect on Black LC Finishing Pads via 5" Pads on Rupes LHR21ES & 3" Pads on PC7424XP
- Polish & Oil Removal: CarPro Eraser
- Paint Coating: CQuartz Finest (2 coats)
- Trim Coating: CQuartz DLUX
- Wheels Polished: CarPro Reflect (by hand) via all purpose microfiber towel
- Wheels Wiped down with CarPro Eraser
- Wheel Coating: Opti-Coat
- Exhaust Tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection
- Tires: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel


Interior
- All leather, vinyl, and plastic was wiped down and dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- Seals were cleaned and protected with Einszett Gummi Pflege Stift Rubber Care Stick


Engine
- All plastic components were wiped down and dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- Rubber hoses were dressed with CG black on black





I do not have nearly as many pictures to share as I typically do. This is because the car was already in very good shape. The owner asked the dealership to not wash or 'prep' the vehicle as they usually would, and he declined their paint protection package. Since no one had touched the paint yet, there were very little defects to deal with. I highly recommend that anyone purchasing a new car refuse any dealership detailing or prep work... it is highly likely that your paint will be damaged from this service.





During


Even though the car was brand new, there was still contamination that had bonded to the surface. Iron X was used to remove the iron contaminates. You can see the iron x turns purple as it reacts with iron particles. This is then carefully washed away to remove it from the surface.

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After a thorough decontamination, the paint was polished to bring out the metal flake and extract the full amount of gloss from the paint.
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Even new cars can benefit from a trim coating. You can see the left hand side of the wiper cowl has been treated with CQuartz DLUX and has a slight sheen to it which looks great once it has fully dried.
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The temps inside the shop were perfect for installing the coating.
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The wheels were removed for a proper cleaning. The barrels were cleaned and then coated for maximum protection and to make future cleaning much easier.
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The faces of the wheels were then hand polished, wiped down with eraser, and then coated.
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As always, the exhaust tips were polished. This is before polishing.
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After polishing they looked great.
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After



The engine was in near perfect shape, but I dressed all plastic and rubber components to take it up a notch.
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The fog lights are very unique on this car. They were hand polished and coated as well.
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The grill was cleaned and blown dry. The painted finish looks great and adds a nice contrast against the bright white paint.
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The white paint was nice and glossy. The paint looked phenomenal in the sun, too.
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Even white paint can produce dramatic reflections.
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Car was bright and white. It looked great!
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The metal flake in the paint was some of the best I have seen. There were hints of green, blue, & purple that really brought the white to life.
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As always, thanks for looking!

Great stuff as usual man. That car looks killer!

Stunning work Zach! That paint looks incredible now.

Great work. Kia's SWP paint is amazing.

nice job, those Optima's are nice. i see at least one brand new one out on the road whenever i'm out...

Great work as always Zach!

Looks super!

Thanks guys :)

Nice work man, good to see more and more owners from Kia's to Ferrari's hiring detailers for new car prep. Owners taking care of their cars, detailers getting paid-- good stuff.

Beautiful work, Zach. The owner must be really proud of the job you did on his car! :xyxthumbs: