Opti-Coat has been discontinued for consumers

[Mamala Bay]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Mamala Bay
I think Opti-Coat is making a wise business decision. Keep the pro stuff with the dealers and a high end consumer product with "higher gloss and slicker surface".

For the Opti-coat pro coat you will apply the Optimum Gloss-Coat for further positive results. I can see where they are aiming at...If the Optimum Gloss-Coat can last 2 years I hear all kinds of claims...I really believe it's a refomulated product with higher consumer demands.



Joking, right? So now not only do I have to apply a $495 product after 2-______ hours of prep work, so youre practically talking a $1000 job, and then you have to top it with another product?

Meanwhile lots of other products make a slick, glassy surface for orders of magnitude less money?!?

And we think that anyone with the funds to do a $1000 job is actually going to trust that stuff to stay in place, and not pay a pro to do something quarterly/half/yearly anyway?

Makes no sense to me. Perhaps I have more sense than dollars though.


I never said I AGREED on the detail pricing thats a personal choice. For example the top detailer here in 1988 charged $800 in 2014 thats $1600. Audi and BMW hired him to prep their vehicles for the annual car shows. Those who paid for that type of money weren't the average Joe but those who wanted the best. Averaging $300,000 a year in 1988 I'd say he did well he took his profession on a different level working in his garage.

The above average home user wants a glowing shine and slick surface what I would want...makes washing easy less buildup on the surface. You have your pros and cons...but if $ is the issue most will do fine what you are doing.

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
And we think that anyone with the funds to do a $1000 job is actually going to trust that stuff to stay in place, and not pay a pro to do something quarterly/half/yearly anyway?
I agree with you completely; I said the same thing. The guy who wants $1000 worth of coating is not going to leave the finish alone for years.

 

[The Critic]

This guy sums it up pretty well, though I still think the originally advertised lifetime claims was probably a recipe for disaster. But then again, you can't blame the novice consumer for listening to the product's instructions.
Quote:
My father in-law was pleased with the results of the Opti-Coat I applied to his daughter's mini-van, and asked me if I would do his cars, which I was happy to do. So, I head to optimumcarcare.com to replenish my stock of OC2 and find a new product, Gloss-Coat in its place. The description sounds very similar to OC2, but just to be sure I come here to check it out and find this thread. I have to say I'm very disappointed in OPT for their decision to stop offering OC2 to the public. Unless there is some mea-culpa from OPT, my recent purchase of power-clean will be the last product I buy from OPT.

I'm making this post in the hopes that OPT will reconsider. I doubt they will, but I'm putting in the effort any way.

IMO, this decision takes OC2 away from the market which it provides the best value - the non-enthusiast daily-driver market. I've used OC2 on three vehicles, my parent's cars and my sister-in-law's mini-van. None of them would spend $800 to have a pro perform the same service. Their lack of interest and time for car care means they don't do a proper semi-annual paint protection and they often use automatic car washes. My parents live on a dirt road for Pete's sake, any deep-gloss shine their car may have is ruined 30 seconds into the first time they drive it. To all of them the immediate value is that the car is easier to keep clean, OC2's lack of slickness is no issue and the "look" is immaterial, they're not bothered by minor spider webbing or auto-wash induced marring, but it's nice that the coating is more resistant than the typical asian-car paint. They like that the fact that OC2 should prevent clear-coat failure 8 years hence, but most of them have never seen the problem even on cars they've neglected in the past, so its just not an issue for them.

On the other end of the spectrum you have people like Dan. They're perfectionists and are going to detial their cars at least once a year, coating or not. While OC2 is more resistant to marring than some factory paint, it's not impervious, so the perfectionist is going to polish it any way, and reduce the life in the process. To them the benefits of a coating over a traditional LSP are quite minimal. So all we have left are car-guys (and gals) with lots of money but little time who are willing to pay pro detailers to keep their cars in excellent but not show-car shape. That seems a very small market, possibly the most profitable market, possibly not, OPT is about to find out. There are lots of companies who's products I like, but who's business practices prevent me from buying the product, OPT has just been added to the list. The fact that they have a superior product on the shelf which they refuse to sell me in order to control the market and protect other customers tells me everything I need to know.

Before any pro-detailers try to say their services are a "good value", that point can be debated, but it ultimately only matters what the owner believes is a good value at the time of purchase. As pros have stated in this thread $800 is a tough sell to many people who regularly employ their services, people like my SIL and parents who don't employ pro services at all are never going to see the value in it, the sticker shock is just too great.

I understand the dilemma for pro detailers, ultimately coatings are not great for their business as they reduce repeat business. An LSP that needs to be re-applied every six months has an inherent repeat business advantage. They have to charge more for the coating for it to be viable business. I also understand why most pros insist on paint correction before applying the coating. They want every car that leaves the shop with their name attached to be "perfect" as their reputation is on the line. But to people like my SIL, "perfect" has little value, they don't even notice the small flaws, let alone are bothered by them. The difference between a full correction and a simple paint cleaning likely doubles the cost of applying the coating. Most of what they're paying for is labor, not materials, and that labor is only valuble to a select few perfectionist enthusiasts.

I hope OPT reconsiders. I found OC2 to be no harder to apply than KSG, the consequences of poor application may be greater, but the difficulty is not. It's a great product for the car guy in the family (me) to apply to their relatives cars to help them maintain appearance and value over the long term. OPT's proffesional customers aren't loosing any business, the market segments are completely distinct, no overlap. There are other ways to discipline hack professionals besides removing the product from the market. Look at PPF, there is a well-functioning pro-installer market (though still with plenty of hacks), but the products are still available to DIY-ers. I'd even be willing to pay a bit more for the product with the understanding that pros get a big volume discount, but removing it from the DIY market entirely is very short sighted.

Just MHO.


http://www.autopia.org/forum/topic/13386...coat/?p=1442042