To Opticoat Pro or not to Opticoat Pro, that is the question.

[CHG-ON]

+1 here. I am very happy with CQuartz Finest. The car is a breeze to maintain and always looks fantastic. I thought about doing a full wrap, but the dollars were high and I just had a thing about the car being wrapped in plastic. I just couldn't wrap (sorry..) my head around it for some reason. Though I would love the rock chip protection. Maybe later...

Paint correction is a must, and a coating makes cleaning and keeping it looking good between washes a breeze. I had mine coated with cQuartz Finest, and was very happy with the result. You definitely want a reputable and professional detailer handling the job.

 

[Jean-Claude]

I would like to add that whatever installer you speak with should take the time to educate and qualify you for your protection services(clear bra/coatings). Not everyone is a good for every service and it's up to an expert to ask the right questions to find out if you are a good fit for said service.

 

[Cyclone]

And here I thought that Xpel was a "must" limited only b/c of budget, and OptiCoat Pro or cQuartz Finest was an "absolute" must. Another forum member in my area had paint correction, full front, and mirrors, OptiCoat Pro the entire car, plus Air80 tinting for all windows (body colored roof) for $2,800. The work looks good. The guy uses in-shot computer cutouts of Xpel to eliminate/minimize the knife near your car. I'm tempted to do the same, consider a full wrap if only a little more, or just go with OptiCoat Pro. My car is already 2 years old with 30k miles (I'm buying used), so the value proposition of the Xpel is diminished. That said, I'm the type that doesn't wash regularly and when I do, I take the car to a car washing place that does use a brush system. My Toyota paint has held up fine against that, but I hear I won't be so lucky with Tesla's low VOC paint.

I want to follow up on this and get other's opinions. I'm currently shopping around for the work and getting personal opinions from other Tesla owners about specific shops to make sure I get an installer people have been happy with. I've narrowed it down to three choices:
Shop A - Xpel Ultimate Full Front + OptiCoat Pro. Nice guy, I've seen his non-wrapped edge work. While I like the wrapped edges, I have to ask how that will affect pricing. The OCP application portion is $500.
Shop B - Choice of Modesta or cQuartz Finest while sublet XPEL Ultimate. Modesta part is $1,400 or cQuartz Finest part would be $850.
Shop C - Hasn't seen my car yet, so no pricing yet. This one also sublets XPEL and would do cQuartz Finest

As you can see in my quote above, I'm more of the hassle free person. For tinting, I went with Llumar Ceramic instead of Crystallize or Photosync since it was "good enough" and a better value. I am not a person that babies his car nor do I do the best job in keeping it clean. As such, I have no expectation that the car look like a collectors item while it's also my daily driver. Anyways, I wanted to get people's thoughts on the long-running debate between OCP vs. cQF. Modesta is out of my budget. I get the cQF would be slicker and glossier, but is it worth the higher cost for someone who having the best, slickest shine isn't the most important factor. I'm not worried about spending more and getting the better coating, but I'm on the value of what I'm getting. For instance, I would not have saved a couple hundred more in my tinting and gotten a non-ceramic tint instead. As Moe put in one post, I paid to get from H -> Z tires, but between the Z tires would I as amateur really see a difference? Bringing it back to paint protection, another point to consider is my car already has 32k miles on it and some rock chips and such. The point would be to provide good, quality protection for long-term going forward. Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[Khatsalano]

Price was not a concern for me, only good looks.

I have my MS waxed and washed by hand every 1,500 miles or 3 weeks, whichever comes first, here in the Bay Area arid climate. I have synthetic wax (also called paint sealer by some detailers) done at 6 month intervals with a triple coat of regular wax on top, with regular wax done as needed in between the 6-month intervals. The result is nothing less than showroom bam-in-the-face sexiness.

Opti-coat also gets similar results, but when there is a chip, you have to buff out all of it and reapply to the entire car. So it's just harder to deal with if you drive the car in real-world conditions. This does not protect against rock chips.

XPEL and other films are just not for me. I also don't use a screen cover on my phone either because it doesn't look as good as the original glassy-look. I think someone else on this forum said it best: yes, the extra layer protects, but it ain't as fun. I'm pretty sure that owner was talking about the car, but can't be sure.

- K

 

[kevincwelch]

Price was not a concern for me, only good looks.

I have my MS waxed and washed by hand every 1,500 miles or 3 weeks, whichever comes first, here in the Bay Area arid climate. I have synthetic wax (also called paint sealer by some detailers) done at 6 month intervals with a triple coat of regular wax on top, with regular wax done as needed in between the 6-month intervals. The result is nothing less than showroom bam-in-the-face sexiness.

Hmm. Triple coat. Good thing you got that extra nanometer of protection on top of that "synthetic wax."

 

[Anthony7]

I'm getting opticoat applied right now. Body, glass, and wheels. I've read all great reviews (local Tesla club) and this guy works on Teslas every week. I feel the price was pretty good and confident I found the right installer. I opted out of the clear front bra due to costs.

 

[scruzloose33]

I decided to go with full frontal (as well as the rear luggage panel to prevent scratches from the kids getting out of the 3rd row seats) XPEL Ultimate wrap and Opti-Coat Pro. I had the work done by Chicago Auto Pros in the Chicago area (Glen Ellyn) and couldn't be happier with the results. I commute about 25 highway miles each way to work and, after much deliberation, convinced myself that I would be peppered with rock chips in six months if I didn't get a paint protection film. I also have two young kids and have to deal with the Chicago weather, so I don't expect to have as much time as I would like to apply a carnauba or synthetic wax as frequently as I should. This is one of those things that I definitely don't feel is necessary, but it helps me sleep better at night. I think it really is a personal preference and many are completely happy without it.

If anyone is in the Chicago area and wants to learn more about these various paint protection options, I would highly recommend speaking to Jason Otterness at Chicago Auto Pros. They have worked on a lot of Teslas and other high-end vehicles and really know what they are doing. They are not pushy at all and Jason would happily walk you through the various options to help you better understand what would work best for you. They also did my 35% Llumar CTX tint and I am very happy with the results. I have no affiliation with the company, but it took a lot of courage for me to drop off my MS the day I received it and it helped that I received encouraging recommendations from other Tesla owners who have used them. I figured I could share this information in hopes of helping someone else in the area.

 

[russman]

I went with Opticoat Pro, then front wrap, then Opticoat pro again. I worked with an awesome person in the Bay Area near the factory when I picked up my car, so went straight to him. He did some paint correction and did a great job. He's done a ton of Teslas.

http://distinctivdetailing.com/

 

[JPP]

FWIW, when I picked up my multi-coat red S85 at the factory in May 2013, I got OptiCoat Pro, and have been more than happy. Just had a minor 'tune-up' recently with application of OptiGloss. Looks better than new. My local professional (Joe Torbati @ OCDetailing), who has done almost 600 Model S, just finished working on my wife's new Obsidian black S70D (we went straight from the factory to his shopping left it with him for a couple of days). For her car, he chose Quartz, which in his opinion is better for a black car. He did the paint, plastics, glass, wheels--the whole bit. Looks fabulous, and will be easy care. I'm a very happy customer, and totally sold on aftermarket coatings. But of course please talk to your selected pro to find out what is best for your location, driving style/location, lifestyle, etc--I have learned just enough about it to be dangerous. YMMV.