Carpro quartz vs 303?

[DukeCanBuildit]

Where is @AzScorpion when we need him???

I think he’s still in Chicago doing girlfriend stuff. Whatever happened to “Bros before…” uh, never mind, just saw Dave logon, and, er, ah, my wife just walked in the room, gotta go….

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[AzScorpion]

So I am in the Florida keys now which has been a ton of rain. One the first day I got my ranger I decontaminated the paint, prepped and applied the 303. It seems like it is not beading after only a few months.

Is this simply a matter of needing to stay on top with regular recoating or will going to something like the carpro quartz offer more protection and last longer?

And I'm the one responsible for that....I pulled out the bottle, it is the 303 graphene nano spray.

First a couple of questions. Did you strip off any old wax before applying the Graphene and how many coats did you apply? While it does say you can go over any other product it does say (in one of their videos) that it lasts the longest when used by itself and not over another finish. I use Optimum Paint Prep and just wipe the truck down with that before I used the 303 the first time.

I do 3 coats (they recommend up to 3 coats) once a year and hit it with the Graphene detailer every 4-5 weeks and even after 1 year mine still beads up like the day I did it. Now mine is garaged while home but when I'm at work it'll sit baking in 110+ heat all summer long. Ceramic coating (a real ceramic not a quick spray) will last a whole lot longer and give you much better protection. But most are not user friendly and will cost several hundred for a professional job. That's the bonus of the 303 Graphene Nano Spray as it's super user friendly and the only thing you can mess up is putting to much on and having to use a little more "elbow grease" to buff it out. Try doing 3 coats and touching it up with the detailer and I'm sure you'll see a huge difference. You can even tell when doing the 2nd and 3rd coat how each coats "glides" on easier than the previous one and how much deeper the shine is.

I just did my girlfriends Honda Civic last week. The car is 2 years old and has never seen a coat of wax and was dry as a bone! Here's the hood after doing 3 coats of the Graphene Nano Spray and 1 coat of the Graphene detailer. It too sits outside 24/7 so it'll be interesting to see how well and long it lasts.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

First a couple of questions. Did you strip off any old wax before applying the Graphene and how many coats did you apply? While it does say you can go over any other product it does say (in one of their videos) that it lasts the longest when used by itself and not over another finish. I use Optimum Paint Prep and just wipe the truck down with that before I used the 303 the first time.

I do 3 coats (they recommend up to 3 coats) once a year and hit it with the Graphene detailer every 4-5 weeks and even after 1 year mine still beads up like the day I did it. Now mine is garaged while home but when I'm at work it'll sit baking in 110+ heat all summer long. Ceramic coating (a real ceramic not a quick spray) will last a whole lot longer and give you much better protection. But most are not user friendly and will cost several hundred for a professional job. That's the bonus of the 303 Graphene Nano Spray as it's super user friendly and the only thing you can mess up is putting to much on and having to use a little more "elbow grease" to buff it out. Try doing 3 coats and touching it up with the detailer and I'm sure you'll see a huge difference. You can even tell when doing the 2nd and 3rd coat how each coats "glides" on easier than the previous one and how much deeper the shine is.

I just did my girlfriends Honda Civic last week. The car is 2 years old and has never seen a coat of wax and was dry as a bone! Here's the hood after doing 3 coats of the Graphene Nano Spray and 1 coat of the Graphene detailer. It too sits outside 24/7 so it'll be interesting to see how well and long it lasts.

See, told you he was doing girlfriend stuff. ?

 

[subquark]

First a couple of questions. Did you strip off any old wax before applying the Graphene and how many coats did you apply? While it does say you can go over any other product it does say (in one of their videos) that it lasts the longest when used by itself and not over another finish. I use Optimum Paint Prep and just wipe the truck down with that before I used the 303 the first time.

I do 3 coats (they recommend up to 3 coats) once a year and hit it with the Graphene detailer every 4-5 weeks and even after 1 year mine still beads up like the day I did it. Now mine is garaged while home but when I'm at work it'll sit baking in 110+ heat all summer long. Ceramic coating (a real ceramic not a quick spray) will last a whole lot longer and give you much better protection. But most are not user friendly and will cost several hundred for a professional job. That's the bonus of the 303 Graphene Nano Spray as it's super user friendly and the only thing you can mess up is putting to much on and having to use a little more "elbow grease" to buff it out. Try doing 3 coats and touching it up with the detailer and I'm sure you'll see a huge difference. You can even tell when doing the 2nd and 3rd coat how each coats "glides" on easier than the previous one and how much deeper the shine is.

I just did my girlfriends Honda Civic last week. The car is 2 years old and has never seen a coat of wax and was dry as a bone! Here's the hood after doing 3 coats of the Graphene Nano Spray and 1 coat of the Graphene detailer. It too sits outside 24/7 so it'll be interesting to see how well and long it lasts.

Three coats, nah, be like Kate, use up most of a bottle and put it on so thick that it takes a lot to buff it out. Her single layer is probably an inch thick! =D

I do have a fresh bottle of 303 Graphene and plan on being very meticulous with how much I use on the Chemical Guys application pads.

I won't say I'm cheap, economical perhaps, but I salvaged these from the trash—Kate was tossing them so I washed them and they're plenty good enough for Soupie.

 

[Graybeard]

Ok, quick update. I went ahead and stripped it down with a complete prep, iron remover and clay mitt.

Played out two coats on the same day and a third the following day. Already had plenty of rain and it is beading up much better than before. I'm willing to chalk it up to over reliance on the claim of "no prep required". I took some quick videos on the pouring rain so I can have some sort of qualitative evaluation of how it is doing a few months from now.

 

[YaBoiNewton]

Ok, quick update. I went ahead and stripped it down with a complete prep, iron remover and clay mitt.

Played out two coats on the same day and a third the following day. Already had plenty of rain and it is beading up much better than before. I'm willing to chalk it up to over reliance on the claim of "no prep required". I took some quick videos on the pouring rain so I can have some sort of qualitative evaluation of how it is doing a few months from now.

You will likely have diminished performance in a few months outside in the Keys regardless of the coating. My folks had their professionally ceramic coated Mercedes parked on Big Pine for the month of July and it is definitely not beading water like it was before they brought it down. My car was only there for a week and I noticed a similar problem.

The water beading you are looking for is simply the result of having a super clean, super smooth surface finish. Your paint has little microscopic peaks and valleys that diffuse light, increase wettability, and hold dirt. A coating will fill in these little valleys and level with the peaks when buffed away so water will just bead off and dirt will have fewer gaps to get stuck in. You can actually achieve a similar effect on bare paint by sanding and polishing to a mirror finish. This removes paint and is a PITA to do, so we use sacrificial waxes/coatings that are easy to apply by hand. Waxes/sealants/ceramic coatings all do the same thing, just for different periods of time. Ceramic coatings are the hardest, and thus the most scratch resistant, and will last the longest.

Although the wax/sealant/coating surface is super smooth at application, the scratches and deterioration start the second you go outside. Even if the coating is still there, any defects will impact wettability and it won't be as apparent. You can combat this by starting with a thicker coat, don't scratch it during washes, and use a ceramic(or graphene) detailer periodically to fill in defects on the coating. Should keep things nice for at least a year. Maybe longer on higher quality coatings. Only garage queens get the advertised product life.

It's like the little old lady who swallowed a fly. Need paint to protect the metal -> Need a clear coat to protect the paint -> need a coating to protect the clear coat -> need a detailer to protect the coating. Take care of the paint, but pump the brakes before you swallow a horse.

 

[D Fresh]

I don't know much about the 303 graphene, never used it.

But after seeing g some DIY Ceramic jobs gone wrong I wouldn't attempt it unless I was very confident or very comfortable wet sanding my truck's already thin factory paint

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