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I agree to a point. Maybe reapplication is not needed, but as you said it is still just a clear coat. If Opti- Coat is so tough, why are special wash methods needed, or light polishing either? What does the deterioration look like, and what are the causes of it?
Again, re-read what I’m saying because you’re taking things out of context. I never said “special wash methods are needed”. My statement was “if proper wash methods are carried out”. That’s totally different. Nothing special or different is *needed* for a finish that is Opti-Coated or one that isn’t for that matter. And yes, because OC has similar properties as clearcoat paint it can also be scratched and marred (just like paint), but not as easy. As a matter of fact, it will scratch less because of its hardness and also it’s ability to shed dirt that could cause harm during the wash process. But, the big thing here is (now listen and follow this) is that if someone wishes to polish away light scratches/marring, you do it to the coating, not the paint, so you’re not wearing down the clearcoat. (again, sacrificial layer)
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Sorry, but you are wrong here. The marks you bring up are not from improper washing, and they are actual scratches in the paint. I did not do these cars brand new, so I do not get your point here. I never said AT-5 fixes problems, it prevents them.
Keep in mind that one of the key differences between scratches and swirls are that swirls can be polished out (removed with polishing) and scratches cannot because they are though the surface of the finish. Unless someone intentionally put scratches into most of these cars in hundreds, if not thousand of places, those are classic examples of car wash swirls. Whether they were there before or after you applied AT-5 makes no difference because they are there. And, they can be polished out. I bet you’d be amazed if you actually saw how dramatically better these cars could look if they were correctly polished instead of just AT-5’d.
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None of my videos remotely look like this car for example. [www.autopia.org]. Look closely at the Jeep, Tahoe, White lexus , and even the Red Lexus video and tell me that they look like this example. Even the green Ford SUV after a year looked nothing like this.
You’re might be right? But you’re also not using a high end video camera in a properly lit detailing studio to accentuate all the defects that this person did. Remember when I mentioned something about pulling your client’s vehicles into a dark garage and looking at the finish with halogen lights? You might feel differently if you did.
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That pickup truck was not done new , so I do not get your point here about me being contradictory. Look at the Jeep and Tahoe I did when new. There is no damage on the paint form tree sap or bird crap either. I washed the vehicles with Dawn,
but do these vehicles look anything like this black alpha spider? Where are the swirl marks on these 2007 vehicles that you say you see?
Maybe bird crap didn’t sit on the finish long enough to cause problems on the other cars you filmed? Bottom line is that the Toyota pick up was treated with AT-5 (a multi-year lasting product) and there is permanent poo etching as well as paint failure and “water spots”. You never mentioned anything about these defects being there before you AT-5'd it. I don’t know how you can say that AT-5 protects (long term) against this stuff and show an example of how it obviously didn’t and not see how that is contradictory?