I bought a 2007 Vantage about 6 months ago...jet black. Aston Martin does excellent paint btw. Finally took it in for paint treatment.

Suntek Ultra clear bra installed by Auto Armour San Diego. Covers the front, side mirrors, rocker panels and partial rear fender. Very nice cover...light years ahead of the old style clear cover bras from 10 years ago.

CQuartz Finest over the top of everything by Elite Finish Detailing San Diego. They polished and detailed before install. Excellent outcome.

Total bill was $4,350 and believe this is $ well spent. I could have saved $ by shopping the service(s) but went with 2 highly rated co's that are actually under the same roof. Their building and is full of expensive cars that they are working on. The resulting finish is near showroom with a mirror finish. It's also easier to keep clean. No traditional washing, use their spray product and special towel only. Doesn't pick up dust in the garage.

 

Pre-post pictures?

 

I had the same CQuartz treatment done earlier this year. It has been great so far. I just ordered some CarPro Reset and CarPro Reload to keep it maintained. Post some pics!

 

 

Stunning!

 

The V12S I just bought had serious need for a good coating - the car seemed to have fairly flawless paint needing only a little correction, but also seemed to absorb any spray on detailing finish - extremely dry.

I looked to two shops locally, Minnesota Clear Bra, and Imola - both excellent places, and I've had work done at both. I also had my 2015 GT ceramic coated and full front end clip 3M done at Morries Aston Martin locally. Morries uses CilaJet which they claim you need not mess with for about 10 years, Imola uses a coating that needed a $50 treatment every 6 months. The 3M coating Morries uses has a lifetime warranty. I don't know if the Cilajet lasts 10 years, but I can tell you this: My experience was that I never had to wax the GT the 2 years I had it and it looked the same as the day I picked the car up with the CilaJet treatment. I found it amazing. On the other hand, online there have been a lot of complaints of Cilajet, seemingly most on who installed it, or it's interior treatment claims. Who did I choose?

Morries Aston Martin for two main reasons: 1) Both of the other shops sales tactics were to make me think the dealers installers were minimum wage people that did not know what they were doing. I happen to have a design business for land developers who want to create better neighborhoods through new forms of geometry we pioneered. Those that want to compete I know for a fact use similar unethical sales tactics, and sometimes it works - most of the time not so much. No doubt, both Minnesota Clear Bra and Imola are absolutely top rate shops. They did not need to resort to such tactics, and I would have likely used them. I do know for a fact, at least at Morries, they are not minimum wage people. 2) in my experience was there multiple times when I needed them in some instances to repair the 3M covering at no charge. I was also told by the salesman of the Aston dealer I traded the car in Chicago, that the clear bra that Morries installed on my GT was one of the best they had seen.

These are some picture, the car has 21,500 miles use, and now the entire paint looks flawless, as well as the interior they detailed (and did the Cilajet interior at no extra charge):

 

@DonDiego----- This is the best expenditure of money to keep your AM perfect for a long time to come. Although some companies don't persuade or don't recommend a paint correction before the application of the clear bra, it is highly recommended. You want the paint as flawless as possible before putting something fairly permanent over it. Albeit though not with a wrap. Sealing the paint and putting a topper on the clear bra there are numerous ways to do that. On a clear bra, I would always put a coating. Painted surfaces I don't. Depending on how much of the car has the bra on it, would make my decision of a coating or not using one. Obviously the more a bra is used (whole front, then rockers, then rear---I would just do a coating on the rest) See below for more------

You have been informed wrong on maintenance for your coating. You absolutely must traditionally wash the vehicle at least every two weeks for a daily driver. Less, obviously if you don't drive it in inclimate weather and garage it for weekends. But CarPro Reset is the wash you should use together with the two bucket method or my method of 12x or so MF towels so no towel transfers from one panel to the other. It is also highly recommended to use a tool such as the Master Blaster Sidekick by Metro to blow dry the paint to reduce scratches from the drying process. 75% of your swirls will come from drying. Coatings do NOT prevent scratches they just help the longevity of your clear coat, the same as a wax (carnauba or synthetic sealant). CarPro Reload is the spray you should use on the car also from time to time to rejuvenate the coating. I always highly recommend people stick within a brand for certain things. When a coating is used, even though a silica or quartz based product, the specific company will use similar materials within their washes, sprays etc.... So it works with the coating. Other brands can do the same, but within a brand you know it is.


http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...paint-coating/


Coatings pick up debris and above surface contaminations. For a daily driver it is recommended to clay the surface lightly once a year to remove that debris. Coatings will discolor over time due to road grime picked up, even with not driving in the rain, cars will pick this up. Shows up better on white or lightly colored cars, but still diminishes the clarity and shine.

Yes it is true, you do not need to wax or coat the car for likely several years. Coatings will all wear off just like wax. But coatings need maintenance just the same a a waxed car. This has become more true over time as the industry has learned the actual issues and longevity of coatings. Is it possible all the new products like Reset, Reload, Essence etc..... are the companies seeing a reduced sales percentage due to typical belief that coatings once applied don't need anything for years? Yes that is possible, however the industry realized in the past 2-3 years that coatings as a whole, have issues with water spots, picking up decontamination which discolors them, and seeing if a coating is topped with a wax or spray solution they will last a bit longer. So hence all the new products to rejuvenate, clean, top, and deal with water spots have come on the market.

When you TOP a coating with a sealant or wax or any shortchanged term product like Reload or spray wax, the environmental effects will be on that topper, not the coating. This helps the coating last longer. Same for the clear bra. The coating on top of the clear bra is the sacrificial layer to help protect the bra from above surface debris. Same as a sealant or wax does. Just adds in some higher gloss levels


I personally will apply coatings to EVERY wheel on a car, trim parts, and even interior piano black or wood clear coated surfaces. They make cleaning a breeze and of course have a high gloss. However, I no longer will apply coatings to a "exotic car" due to the necessary maintenance involved. Why go that route when I can just as easily polish, then apply a sealant, then top with carnauba for the deep hue shine. AMMONYC has a silica based product that is not a coating but a layer you can add to increase the shine. I do use that due to it not being semi-permanent. For a daily driver, I polish then apply a primer then 22ple coatings for my personal cars. No issue for that, I am not saving the paint for 30 years down the road, nor for the next owner. But my Aston I am.


To wrap this up for owners your maintenance process will not or should not change whether you have a coating or not. Just the products used should change depending on the variant you had applied. Most people have gone to coatings due to the perceived scratch resistance (Totally false), no maintenance (totally false), and higher gloss levels (true to partially true). I can achieve the same gloss levels without a coating as I can do with a coating. However, coatings sometimes, pending brands, will make the car look like its actually has a glass coating on top of the paint. Without the coating the car can be concours shiny and perfect, but its not quite the same dipped glass look. There is a difference, but the actual gloss levels can be the same. Gloss actually comes from how perfectly smooth and flawless the clear coat over the colored paint is. The more perfect, the more gloss you can achieve. The coatings and wax just enhance this gloss with their own properties.


Due to the maintenance involved with coatings to do it properly (why bother if your not going to maintain the car perfectly) I have chosen to NOT use them on paint for high end valuable or where longevity is desired. You will do just the same maintenance for a coating that would be done with a sealant or wax. You will likely have one to two more sessions a year where you would apply a carnauba where you wouldn't on a coating. (side note: a lot of people add a carnauba wax to top a coating to give the glass a deeper hue, especially before a car show, or presentation somewhere).

Carnauba waxes only last around 4 weeks. The hotter the outside air is, and the more the car sits outside in the heat, the shorter the time the carnauba wax lasts. But the deep hue glass it provides is second to none. There are varying grades of this type of wax with your local store bought versions not worth the money paid for them. There are also Hybrid ones out now that mix in silica properties to increase the gloss levels closer to the look of a coating. I personally will not spend more than $100 or so on a jar of carnauba. Pinnacle Souveran, AMMONYC Creme, Medium priced SWISSVAX, and DODO Juice Supernatural are just some of the few great carnauba waxes.

Sealant waxes are synthetic waxes that increase shine, however protect the clear coat from UV and above surface contaminants. They last 6 months or so, pending in climate weather and usage of the vehicle. They are not all the same. So using a professional brand (your local Meguires stock in Auto Zone is NOT a professional product) is recommended. They can be topped from time to time with carnauba to give a deeper shine for a photo event. The longevity can be increased using spray waxes or detail sprays, but they don't increase it by much.

Longevity of any of the above products depends on usage of the vehicle. For our AMs, this is hard to say with any specificity. Mine see 3k miles a year, in all conditions, but is garaged with the cover for the rest of the time. I only really need to do this sealant carnauba one time. However with the summer heat in a garage, the carnauba will dissipate over time and not last the whole year. All I did last month was take 15 min and top the carnauba before covering the car. Its perfect.


I, for the most part, don't recommend any of the products found locally. They are watered down, consumer grade products that when only spending a bit more, or sometimes the same, you can get high quality (even the same company) products that are professional level delivered to your door. While convenience is a factor, and sometimes you can't wait for deliveries, some local products are fine to use. Spray waxes, Griots products, and tire shines are fine. Griots makes a great line of products, but most people don't know they have a separate professional level. That is what is recommended, not the Autozone items. Chemical Guys, Autogeek, Detailed Image, AMMONYC, and several other online places all have high quality products and offer sales fairly regularly. Takes me 2x days to get Autogeek or AMMONYC or Detailed Image products, so I plan accordingly.

I hope this helps understanding the process, please ask any question and I will attempt to answer them.


PS---- DONT EVER allow a dealer or someone else besides you to wash or dry your car. There is absolutely no way they will take the time and care to avoid scratching the surface that you will or would. Most likely they use the same wash mitt on numerous cars from one bucket and only ever fill the bucket with soap and water when needed. They will not make sure they dry the car fast enough to prevent water from drying on the surface. (I have seen Chamois used at a Lamborghini dealer, the most horrible drying tool ever), and possibly using dirty towels that have been used and dried many times over. This will take your 4k spent, and trash it within 20 min. Unfortunately its a very common practice for high end paint corrections where the husband had this done, and the wife takes to a dealer or car wash and all that work is immediately ruined without even knowing any better.

 

Sheriff

Always good reading your posts - soon I'll get to doing some corrective work on my V8V and will be contacting you for advice

Thanks

Graze

 

Happy to guide and direct you any way you wish. Just PM me before purchasing any products or equipment so I can give you choices, thereby you not wasting any money on things that don't work, or don't last. But the process is soothing once you see how tremendous you can make your own car look.