Nano coatings, hand in hand with PPF or car detailing

May 29, 2014

If you have a successful PPF company then this service has no place in your business unless you hire a dedicated person to it.

Exactly what has sparked my initial question, i have seen it offered at both PPF only places and Detailers, maybe the PPF places have someone special not to sure. They do seem as though they will compliment each other nicely for those that cant afford a full car PPF install. Working with the the detail business is what i was leaning towards, was just looking for others opinions if it is good to also offer, hey maybe i can get a specialised detailer down the track, who knows....

RockyDaz - Agree on that one but i guess you can always ad protection to the used car market to stop it getting worse also. I guess its never to late but your right not as affective as it would have been new. Vehicle wrapping also will make tired paint look a lot better whilst helping to protect, whilst not as thick as PPF it is definitely a great paint protectant also. I guess you would class it in between nano and PPF for protection with the added benefit of being able to style.

One of the main reasons I will always say to contract it is due to profit. Detailers as a whole work far too hard for what they make. There are exceptions but as a norm they are far under paid. They also carry a different liability that we do not have to deal with. Our film is going to stick to the surface as long as we prep it right.

A detailer has to take care in using the proper product and technique to polish certain vehicle finishes. Benz ceramic clear is different from Infiniti ceramic clear vs BMW and so on. Not to mention a bad day with a rotary is much more costly and bad then us having a bad day with a piece of film. This is not even touching on wet sanding. One key thing to always keep in mind. You can be a jack of all trades and specialize in nothing or specialize in a thing or two and let others fill the gap. Networking and finding the best of the trade be it PDR, Detailing, Sales, Wheels, Tires, Glass and so on goes much further then most would ever think. We are in business to grow and succeed. Just know your limits and when its better to bow out and hire a contractor or walk away.

RockyDaz · May 29, 2014

If you have a successful PPF company then this service has no place in your business unless you hire a dedicated person to it.

Exactly what has sparked my initial question, i have seen it offered at both PPF only places and Detailers, maybe the PPF places have someone special not to sure. They do seem as though they will compliment each other nicely for those that cant afford a full car PPF install. Working with the the detail business is what i was leaning towards, was just looking for others opinions if it is good to also offer, hey maybe i can get a specialised detailer down the track, who knows....

RockyDaz - Agree on that one but i guess you can always ad protection to the used car market to stop it getting worse also. I guess its never to late but your right not as affective as it would have been new. Vehicle wrapping also will make tired paint look a lot better whilst helping to protect, whilst not as thick as PPF it is definitely a great paint protectant also. I guess you would class it in between nano and PPF for protection with the added benefit of being able to style.

One of the main reasons I will always say to contract it is due to profit. Detailers as a whole work far too hard for what they make. There are exceptions but as a norm they are far under paid. They also carry a different liability that we do not have to deal with. Our film is going to stick to the surface as long as we prep it right.

A detailer has to take care in using the proper product and technique to polish certain vehicle finishes. Benz ceramic clear is different from Infiniti ceramic clear vs BMW and so on. Not to mention a bad day with a rotary is much more costly and bad then us having a bad day with a piece of film. This is not even touching on wet sanding. One key thing to always keep in mind. You can be a jack of all trades and specialize in nothing or specialize in a thing or two and let others fill the gap. Networking and finding the best of the trade be it PDR, Detailing, Sales, Wheels, Tires, Glass and so on goes much further then most would ever think. We are in business to grow and succeed. Just know your limits and when its better to bow out and hire a contractor or walk away.

Should be a Tip of the Week right there :thumb

Nice one KC.

It is amazing how much work flows between trade contacts.

Supreme · May 29, 2014

Good point, we offer a one stop shop solution already, tinting, powder coating wheels etc We outsource everything but vehicle wrapping and now PPF. Was in two minds about the nano stuff but was in early days of looking into what was involved. Definitely seems like something will look to also outsource.

On the subject of Nano coatings on a wrap. I know a certain major vinyl producer is doing some testing with using it on a vehicle wrap and so far their results are excellent to help its longevity. Not sure of its effects on PPF

ACPclearbra · June 3, 2014

The 2 are great companion products. Personally, I have found that Opti-Coat Pro (the coating that I use) is not that difficult to apply, at least in a controlled environment. My shop has A/C & heat, and is well lit, which also makes the PPF installs easier, and more consistent. I offer the Opti-Coat on "as is" vehicles for the owner who is satisfied with their vehicle's paint surface, which is usually new vehicles, & offer light scratch and swirl removal for an extra $200 for the vehicles that need a little TLC. What I won't offer is full paint correction. Even though I have the capability of doing it, I've learned from experience that it could wind up taking a MASSIVE amount of labor to get it right. I contract that out. I agree that detailers are often underpaid for the amount of work involved. For swirl and light scratch removal, I use a Flex forced rotation DA polisher, Optimum microfiber pads, and Meguiars D300 compound, and get great results 95% of the time. Menzerna compounds and polishes work well for the ceramic clear coats used on newer Mercedes and Audis. You can offer to do a test spot for the customer so they can see what the results will be. I usually recommend the PPF for the rock chip prone areas, & the Opti-Coat for the rest of the vehicle.

Supreme · June 3, 2014

Interesting take on it ACP, thank you.

Our team would definitely be capable of applying Opti-Coat on a 'as is' car along with PPF. The issue will be if we go down that line then we would not get any referred business from the company here that does it exclusively (not that we do at the moment anyway).

I guess we need to work out if we were to refer cars to them would we get more business or would we get more business if we looked at Opti-Coat as is cars.

We would enjoy doing that sort of work but it has to be a smart business move whichever way we go. Can always send the cars that want paint correction their way but I would say they would consider us the competition if we were to add a service that they offer.....