Review: Pinnacle Black Label paint and glass coatings

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

OK, I would like to start with a big thank you to Nick and the Autogeek staff for sending me the new line of Black Label products from Pinnacle prior to their release for testing and review.

Last weekend I used the Black Label paint and wheel coatings on my daily driver, a 2013 Kia Optima with just under 9k miles. I had previously applied DP wheel coating to this car's wheels back in July so I did not use the new Pinnacle wheel coating.

Here are the products I used for this review:



And some "before" pics of the car:







I washed the car with CG Citrus Wash at high concentration (I had Pete's 53 wax on the car for almost 2 months) to remove prior LSP, then I decontaminated the paint with a Speedy Prep towel. Not sure if it really needed it, but I believe if you are going to be applying a coating you should start with the purest surface possible.

The paint on this car is in very good shape and did not require any correction:



On to DP coating prep polish. I did not receive any of the Pinnacle Black Label surface prep polish, but Nick tells me that DP coating prep will give me a surface that will allow proper bonding of the Black Label coating:



Here is my pad after about half the car, as I said, the paint was already very clean:



And now the car after prep polish, but before coating:





For the glass I used DP High Performance Glass Restoring polish to prep, applied with a new white LC flat pad on the Porter Cable:



I really like this polish because it has a noticeable abrasive quality to remove water spots, and it leaves the glass free of any road films and dirt, perfect prep for a coating.

On to the coating:



Applied with a soft foam applicator pad, and gloves for skin safety!

Same for the paint coating, just a new applicator:



I wanted to get some "mist" shots or product application shots, but as I was working by myself I just couldn't swing it.

I first used the DP paint coating a few months ago on my wife's car. I found it a little bit difficult to apply because it seemed to dry up and flash really fast. I found myself dropping the foam applicator because it would hang up on bits of uncoated paint and I would just lose control of it. I found the Black Label coating to be a HUGE improvement on this problem. I had plenty of working time, and if you angle your head down towards the panel, you can really see where you have applied coating and what spots you missed. There was very little residue, and what was left was buffed off easily with a microfiber towel. The paint had a noticeable slickness to it after coating application. If I took my gloved hand a twisted a finger against the paint where it was uncoated (just prepped with polish) it would squeak. The coated parts of the paint did not squeak, indicating the slickness the coating provides.

I don't know if I would say that Black Label coating is "better" than DP coating per se. The Pinnacle coating is $79.99 a bottle, while the DP coating is $49.99 a bottle. I think both products will get you the same amount of coverage, I didn't use more of the Pinnacle coating on my car than I used DP coating on my wife's car. I think the extra cost goes towards the extra refinement that gives the Pinnacle coating a higher working time and easier wipe off than the DP coating. I will certainly be hanging onto my bottle of DP coating and using it again in the future, it still has a very useful place.

Thanks for reading my thoughts on these products, stand by for a small photoshoot. I am going to update this thread in the future with a side by side of the Kia with the Pinnacle coating and the Civic with the DP coating once they are washed with the Black Label coating shampoo. I'll try for some beading and sheeting comparisons as well.

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

I went to the park for some beauty shots to showcase the Pinnacle Black Label paint coating. In these pictures, the coating had been on the paint (and glass) for about a week. I wiped the car down with CG Ecosmart before the pictures were taken:

[Meghan]

I love it when someone makes white pop! Nice review.

[Challynger]

Roll those windows up so we can see the window results!

[cleanmycorolla]

Nice review, I love the DP Coatings! I want buy these new ones, maybe for Christmas to myself.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Thanks for the review. That white paint surely pops.

[Caleb@ImpeccableImage]

Very nice! Thank you for providing your feedback on this product. Im really enjoying all the new writups of the Black Label line.

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Nice job. I have a new car detail this weekend, 2013 Honda Civic White and I think I'm going to use the same product, thanks for making up my mind.

[zerix]

Any chance at an update on the paint and glass coating?

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

Zerix, yes I have an update planned in the next week or so, I will be washing away the winter "blues" and using the PBL coating booster.

For now, I will say that I washed the car last Sunday after only doing high pressure water spray offs and the occasional rinseless wash during our exceptionally harsh New York winter. I actually used the coating shampoo (review on that coming too). At final rinse off, water sheeted right off and drying was super easy. The coating held up fantastically in the winter. The car had a lot of visible iron contamination, so I hit it with iron x (and it will need another round of iron x at the next wash, I just ran out).

So one of the questions that came up for me was whether this coating will make the car less susceptible to iron contamination.

Stay tuned and I'll get you a full review with coating booster and coating shampoo reviews.


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