I hope you all realize that the RCF has self healing clear coat on it, and using abrasive (non-self heal rated) polishes or waxes actually ruins the polymer that makes it self healing.

 

Good point mjeds, however there's a lot of discourse on this "technology". From what I've researched on SHP, it's basically a marketing gimmick and does very little if anything to prevent scratches/swirls in the finish. My personal preference is to keep the finish as free of contaminates as possible and protecting it with a good wax/sealant. You'll minimize scratches by washing less frequently.

Q1: What is the effect if someone had applied opti-coat (as I have) or a similar ceramic coating? Does it cancel out the self healing properties or enhance it?
Q2: What do you recommend as a "heal rated polish"?

 

I won't recommend anything because I don't care for my cars in the manner you do.. I have a detailer, who is a paint and body guy I have known for a dozen or more years, he does the work to maintain my vehicles. I'm to old and to disabled to wash and wax my cars. Luis has been in the industry for 25+ years, and I trust him to care for my cars.

From what I have read and been told by Luis, as long as you are not using any type of abrasive compound there is no issue, no clay bar, rubbing compounds, or color sanding. @ 2.5 years old my paint has no visible swirl or orange peel.. I do notice occasionally fingernail scratches around the door handle, typically in the cold mornings they are visible,. but after 10 hours baking in the SoCal sun they are minimal.

on my other (older) cars, there is a lot more required to maintain the off showroom look and keep the paint swirl and scratch free.

Of course to be fair my entire front end, fascia, hood, fenders, lights, etc are all Xpel wrapped.

 

A good microfiber and Black Light from chemical guys (black car) or a quick detailer such as the V7. I do hate cleaning my OEM rims. For the rims I used Sonax. Expensive but saves me a lot of time.

 

I put CQuartz on my car in February and I do a waterless/rinseless wash 2x per week. I have not had the car buffed, clay barred, waxed, nothing since then. Just washed. I have a few scratches and etchings, but not from washing. This winter I will strip the CQuartz and do a paint correction. Then I'll CQuartz it again. I also have 44k miles on my car.

 

That is extremely impressive Dave!

 

Thanks! It took me 3 solid days to prep for and successfully apply my CQuartz coating.

I don't know about it providing a harder coating or anything like that. I only know that I spend about an hour everytime I wash it and it looks just as good as the $400 details I was getting before the coating. But it is starting to show signs of needing a paint correction now in a few places. I take my time and use quality microfiber cloths when doing my washes (chemical bros microfiber cloths iirc).

I spent about $150 back in February to get everything I needed to apply the coating. But I still have 4/5 of the CQuartz left. So my future coatings will be much cheaper. The CQuartz itself cost me about $80.

Oh, I put the CQuartz Reload on my windshield as well and it's worked as good or better than RainX since February too...