Glass Coat

[Rico]

Hi Guys,

The other day while watching History channel's "Modern Marvels" they did a segment on "GlassCoat" by Simoniz, seemed to good to be true. They offer 7 year guaranteed protection! The products does not seem to be ready for release to the public, but is being offered at new car dealerships, as an expensive option. Glasscoat is some sort of sealant, I guess the final products NxTech etc. are sealants as well, so it comes down to how long a sealant lasts? What's Mequiars take on this type of product? Is this the future, for car care products. I have a garage full of Meg. products & believe in: 2 bucket wash > clay > polish > wax method Every 6 months. My Audi's are gorgeous, using the Meg. way, I guess I'm just getting old, it's allot of work.

Take Care
Rico

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Glass Coat

These dealer applied coatings discussions pop up from time to time, and there are several different coatings being used. While these coatings are rarely true junk, their claims are often a bit hard to swallow. If you've been taking care of your cars yourself, we can only assume that means that you've been removing swirl marks and other defects that develop over time, and that sort of defect is not something these coatings tend to protect against. Several years ago we had a gentleman from one of these companies come onto MOL and offer to any questions we might have. I kept pressing him about the possibility of swirls still developing if I had a car coated with this and then just ran it through a commercial tunnel car wash. He kept dodging the question and finally declared that I, perhaps, wasn't the ideal customer for this sort of coating. Yes, I am rather particular about these things!

A few months ago I received the following email:



Have been using Meguiars for about 15 years and love your stuff.
I just purchased a new 2011 Chrysler 300C that is painted with "black
crystal pearl" paint (car built in April 2011). As soon as I got it
home I washed it with dawn and clay barred the body.
The dealer wants me to purchase a sealant known as -------. All the
people in the dealership and two body shops I called seem to think the
stuff is great. I have a DA machine and a rotary and know how to use
them. Plus, I like to take care of my vehicles and do not consider it
to be work.


From what I read on the forum, it appears that all recommend your
Ultimate Wax for the best protection. I used Gold Class and NXT on our
previous car (black) and it looked like new after ten years.


So my question is would you go with the dealer or would you suggest wax
and if so, which one?
I know you can't beat up the competition but you can comment on your
observations of products.


Your suggestions appreciated.


Regards,


My response was that, since he owns and knows how to use these tools, that tells me that he's rather particular about his vehicle's appearance and that in the long run he probably won't be happy with the dealer applied coating. So I recommended a thorough evaluation of the paint and then perhaps nothing more than M205 applied either by DA at speed 4 max, or rotary at no more than 1000 rpm and light pressure, then apply a coat of Ultimate Wax. The M205 would do wonders for the clarity of that Black Crystal Pearl paint, and UW would just enhance it even further. He took my advice and a couple of weeks later sent the following email as a follow up:

Just got the car finished, I was out of town and had to play catch-up.
Followed your suggestions and had a good workout with the car. Must
say that Barry has produced some very good stuff and it did an amazing
job. Car looks like it should. Went to dealer last Saturday and they
asked me how I made the car look so good even in rainy Seattle. A
customer even wanted to know how I did it. HeeeHeee.


Thanks again for taking time to reply to me and for the good advice and
great products, I am very pleased. Please tell Mr M. to keep it coming,
we are all car crazy.


So, even the dealer was impressed and a customer inquired about it! And the owner of this new 300C (and yes, he gave me permission to reprint his emails here on MOL) will ultimately be happier in the long run with his car - not to mention he saved several hundred dollars.

This all begs the question - what do you want out of your car's finish?

You get what you put into it, no doubt, but proper maintenance following a major correction is actually quite easy and can keep a car looking fantastic for a long period of time. You really shouldn't have to be doing a major correction every 6 months, or even every year, if your maintenance routine is top notch. And let's face it, frequent car care is easy car care.
so,

[Marine Toys]

Re: Glass Coat

Mr Stoops Thats a fantastic summary and really puts it into perspective.
What are your thoughts on glass ( window ) coatings.
Living in rainy Vancouver, the glare and such on the windshield is unbearable, I have tried waxes on the windscreen, they do work but ware very quickly, Thoughts?

[Blueline]

Re: Glass Coat

Living in rainy Vancouver, the glare and such on the windshield is unbearable, I have tried waxes on the windscreen, they do work but ware very quickly, Thoughts?

I use M16 and it seems to last forever. That is mainly due to the fact that I drive mostly on the highway, and the wind simply blows the rain off, and I rarely use the wipers. Unfortunately, M16 is darn near impossible to find these days but thankfully I have a good supply. In my opinion, nothing will last very long if you use the wipers all the time, as they will be doing their job and doing their darnedest to wipe the coating off.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Glass Coat

Applying anything to glass in hopes of forcing rain off of it can be a double edged sword. As Blueline points out, anything not specifically made for that purpose (ie, any typical car wax or sealant) is going to get hammered by the wipers. It may work great on side glass, but side glass is never the issue that the windshield is, now is it? Plus there's the risk of over using the product (who does that??????) and then having it streak and smear at the worst possible time - in the rain, at night. Even RainX, admired and recommended as it is, will cause problems if you apply it wrong.

Keeping your glass clean and free from road grime when possible, and keeping the wiper blades clean and replacing regularly, will do more to improve visibility than almost anything else. A good glass cleaner really helps to keep the build up of filth off the glass, whether you're in a dry area like SoCal or a rain fest like the Pacific North West. In all honesty, if it were me, I'd clean my glass almost daily when I got home to help with this (I actually do this now, here in SoCal, where it's been 70-80F and sunny for the past couple of months).