The question from the OP is for rock chip protection.
Opti Coat is no better than the clear coat on the paint, it is exactly the same as clear coat rock chip protection wise.

Here you go; Mr I can spot that a mile away and it all looks like crap.

These pictures have bare paint, Opticoat and Film. All the same car.
- Care to try to ID which is which.











That is what correctly applied looks like ( if you can pick which picture is film )

 

wow, is there an emoticon for a opened can of worms? haha

agree'd on having the car clean, it was spit-shined when I brought it in, I left when they told me $550. told me to come back and do it on a week day for a discount, I plan on doing that. I'm not sure how much I need to "have the paint corrected", it's a brand new car. I think KMAC meant 6 feet? buddy has a lexus, can't see it until you're on it and looking for it. I think it also has somewhat to do with the color of the car... ***EDIT*** WTFUDGE?! That's some David Blaine clear bra action, maybe even David Copperfield?!

 

I meant 6 inches, but I've obviously seen them from 6 feet away too. I'm picky with paint and you can tell in person.

Both alter the look of the orange peel compared to the panels next to them, which is a huge pet peeve. If you're gonna Opti-coat, do the entire car. I didn't say I could spot it a mile away, but I can tell from a few feet and in person. It's extremely tacky to me to have plastic film on top of nice paint. I'll admit that I can't definitively tell from the pictures, but you also can't see the half dozen dents on my truck from pictures either. Can't see most blemishes from pictures. You can't see the edges of the panels clearly in pictures. But it looks good from the pictures. 3rd pic looks really funky.

Humor me and say which is which.

 

Cannot tell huh ?

I guess you have now seen correctly installed paint film and cannot tell any difference in the orange peel from one panel to another panel. Kiss that "tell tail" good bye.
- The lighting DD uses and pictures that DD takes, you can see swirl marks and OP in them, so blaming your not being able to ID them on the pictures, is BS.

Here is the unedited thread
- Guess you did not take the suggestion above and look at detailers domain's work, else you could have ID'd every picture correctly.

http://www.f150online.com/forums/car...m-install.html

Guess this puts to bed the "looks bad" and "uglier than sin" comments now that you have seen what correctly prep'd and installed looks like.

Pro Tip
Opticoat only on the panels being covered is not an issue. I have the roof, cap and tailgate on my '06 OC 2.0'd. I like to wax, that is why the remainder of the truck is not done in OC 2.0.

 

Depends on what you mean by "spit-shined"

Might want to take it out in direct sunlight and take a good look at it, to make sure the dealer did not put any swirls into the paint.
- That is where DISO comes from Dealer Installed Swirl Option.

Here is a garage queen that looks good from far, but far from good.
good from Far :


Far from good


At the very least you are going to want to remove the rail / manufacturing plant dust off the paint. It sits on there like a gritty film.
- Dealers usually grind it in with the same wash mitt they have had ( and dropped many times per day ) since the Regan administration.

Here is a new car job they did ( correction, OC 2.0 and film ).
Every purple run is paint contamination


Here is is after finished ( correction, OC 2.0 and paint film )


Here is their thread so you can look at all the steps that a good shop would do, before installing paint film.
- And it also shows the correct install of film, how to cut around edges and corners during the install process.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ca...tallation.html

Nothing magic about it, that is just correct prep and install of paint film.
- Without correcting the paint and doing the gloss enhancing, the OC 2.0 step would turn out like crap, and then the film looks like crap.

95%+ of the shops that claim to do film, do not do all the prep work or tell the owner not to apply film without doing it, resulting in crappy film application.
- DD only has 1 option on the price list for paint film, the correct way of doing it. They don't want crappy paint film jobs rolling around with their name on it.

If the film place offered you a discount, you might want to verify their references. Reputable shops that do top work; do not discount or do groupons.

 

I guess it really does have to be applied like the DD guy does it, cause every single one I've seen clearly shows the edges of where the film was applied on the fenders. Still like to actually see it in person though. I won't take back my comments, but will say that that looks fine from what I've seen.

It's still kinda like Plastidip versus actual paint to me - can't always tell the difference but because it's PD, it's gross.

 

Just about anything that covers the paint can be detected from somewhere.
I have used this and it gives a very reasonable finish and great protection. It is the same product that comes in sheets.......

http://3mauto.com/paint-defender-spray-film.html

 

Great post Sscully! I have to try that options coat this year.

 

Not according to 3M. . . I looked at using the spray Paint Defender when I got this truck. The installed sheets are good for 5 years. The spray-on is good for 1 year. I could not find a shred of proof that the spray provided the same level of protection as the sheets. You can pull it off and re-apply, but I didn't want to do that on the new truck.

I still plan to put the spray-on on my other snow car once I get it repainted.

 

There we go, you have seen crap install jobs to date.

Really, you could not ID the picture with paint film but you still think it is gross, just because it is there ( somewhere ).

Think that says a lot about you...

 

I am a fan of OPT products. There are a few others out there, but the others that I looked at have a reload of some kind.

Opti Coat 2.0 does not need a recoat or refresh on it.
Seem to recall Dr G said 5 years is what an authorized detailer applying has a warranty for. I could be wrong, I use the OC 2.0, DIY stuff.

Other nice part about it, Optimum No Rinse, mixed to QD ratio ( 2 oz to30 oz water ) is all it takes to put a shine back on it.
- No waxing needed. Actually the anti stick feature of the OC 2.0 makes it so wax will not stay on it, comes off faster than Carnauba wax on dark paint in the summer.

If marring happens in the OC 2.0 layer, it can be polished / compounded out and applied over that section.
- Most of the defects would be in the OC 2.0 layer, not in the clear coat.

 

Still not necessarily true, but certainly possible. The odds of nearly 100 installs all being bad is low. Maybe I couldn't even spot the "superb" installs in order to count seeing them. Ooooh self-incrimination

Rolling Rock recommended removing and re-applying the Opti every 18 months when I asked him about it the other day, but I'm merely sharing that tidbit. Has it even been around, the original version, long enough to say it last 5 years? Not being inflammatory, just asking.

And yes, I still think it's tacky and gross. It's an opinion, one which you don't share, and that's fine.

 

Where do you come up with this wild guess ( nothing scientific about it, just pontification ).

If you do not have a good film installer in the metro area, then the odds are high.
- Then again you posted you might have looked at a vehicle with a good film install job, and had no clue, just like the pictures above.

I do not know what the remainder of the question(s) was, to even address that.

When Dr G designed the product, there was not a time count down on it.

The other manufactures ( Gtech ) have a 18 month life span, are you quoting a different mfgr and signing his name to it ?
- Considering how well informed you are on OC and Paint film, I am not even giving your statement a gain of salt measurement, it is more at the quark level.

Have you done any research into Opti Coat ?
- You recommend it, but seem to know less than the marketing material about it.

Yes OC has been released to the public for 5 years this month ( not counting the years of testing and modifications before release ).
The 5 years in question is an authorized installer can offer a CoOp 5 year warranty on it. That is how the product was designed.
- You need to pay attention to the thread. Warranty I guess that says a lot about the product, if the pro version has just now been out 5 years, and Dr G was offering up a warranty system.

Enough with yet another one of your trys at changing the topic, more on that down the thread.

The only reason you know paint film is on the cars above, is you were told it was there, else you would have had no clue.

Are you really going to tell me the VW and Audi up the thread are tacky and gross ?

Let's compare the finish on them to the finish on your paint. You said you are picky about paint, so it should be a non issue.

Keep in mind, you need to take real pictures, not the good from far, far from good pictures with a 1 MP camera ( your PTM project ) or pictures after the sun went down ( the "good pictures" ).
- Those are Beachkid pictures, that hide every sin in paint.

 

1) I work at a car dealership that sells 2k+ cars every single year, many of which are high end cars. 100 is not an exaggerated guess. If anything, I may have seen more than that.

2) I did not recommend it, I said I'd rather have it and it's not as ugly as film. Never a recommendation. I didn't even know it existed until recently, but I know what it is now. I would rather see scratches and a ding on the front of a car than cheap, nasty film. Does that make sense? Probably not, to most folks. My opinion, one last time, it's gross to me. It's personal taste. I will never like film on paint. Put the Opti on it, buff it down when it gets imperfections, re-apply. No ugly-*** film.
2. a. Nope, talking about Opti-coat. Not confusing it with anything.

3) I refuse to make any further comments on pictures of a car with film on it. Pictures, even superb ones, hide things. Nothing is as good as actually looking at it.

4) Those pictures I took are absolutely horrid, especially compared to pro, no doubt about that On the other ones, the sun setting looks(ed) "good" in the background

5) I have an 8 year old truck covered in scratches and dents (was when I bought it, and as most trucks are) and is worth maybe $12k . If I had an $80k car, or something new, I wouldn't want plastic wrap on it. I see new cars all the time with resprayed body panels and that would annoy the crap out of me. On my old truck, meh, not as much. But, if I got into an accident, I would never be content with it until the whole truck had a respray with complete matching paint. My door handles, definitely not a perfect match, far from. I'm holding out on getting new painted bumpers because I know they won't match and it'll get under my skin.

6) I have tried to diffuse this a little bit, but no bites there. I have voiced my own opinion, I don't like the idea of having plastic wrap on a vehicle and the ones I have seen in person with my own eyes look like s*** TO ME. I even tried to make myself look bad and say maybe I haven't seen the job done properly, but I'd still like to see it IN PERSON. Jesus H., buddy.

You've sure spent a lot of time trying to prove me wrong, when all I said is that I think it's ugly and I don't like it. I usually don't repetitively comment negatively on something someone wants to do, cause people should do what they want, and I'm being reminded of why it's better to voice an opinion once and let it go.

P.S. I'm very particular about certain things with paint, and not so much with others. Being particular doesn't necessarily mean classically particular, but does, admittedly, infer it. I'd rather have a mildly scratched body panel that a repainted one; non-matching orange peel drives me nuts. Most folks would prefer the other way around.

Been a while since I've been in a little interwebz argumint (actually no, not really . . .), almost as fun in person. I sure do like to start them, so it seems.

 

Look at the black BMW pictures up the thread. What are those pictures hiding ?
- Nothing in case you are confused. This shows, you do not know what you are talking about. The way you take pictures, but not someone that is truely picky about paint.

I am answering your line of thinking that you stand by like some ignorant person that believes the moon landing was faked.
- Tacky and gross because it is on there, not that you can see it or ID it, just because it it there.

The VW and Audi paint up the thread I am sure would put your paint to shame.
If those are ugly and gross, what does that make your paint ?
Sorry, I get it now, the paint on them is flawless so it is ugly and gross, but your truck with scratched up paint looks so much better.

That is not picky about paint. You might want to give up that self applied moniker.

Here is your line of thinking:
There is rat pee in the water you drink.
- You cannot see it but it is there, because I told you it was.

That is gross, I do not know why you drink that water.

Go on about your line of thinking.
- It will serve you well in life to make judgements about something you cannot see, just because the name attached to it.