Most of my detailing career was centered around dealer car details. I worked for several different private shops, as well as dealerships. Detailing trade-ins from customers was my main focus. This is where detailing got its start. Someone owned a car and then trading it in for a newer one. The trade-in was usually pretty crusty.

In 2011, I worked for the local Honda dealership running their clean-up department. I saw the local used car corner lots had a need for their vehicles to be detailed. I reached out to them and with the permission of my service manager, we took on some more trade-ins so we could be a profitable and productive department. We reached a point where, as a department, we were only able to focus on the Honda store's vehicles. This is where my shop began. I opened my shop, hired someone and they detailed the vehicles from the local corner lots.

Once I left the dealership and started working at my own shop around 2013, I continued to detail used car trade-ins. Dealers slowly stopped sending them out over the next few years. As the shop's pace slowed, it was not as hectic because as most know, dealers don't pay much for a used car detail. I had to learn to become more efficient. I went from 4-5 hours per used car detail down to about 2 hours. I was producing better results in less time, which is something that many detailers would disagree with. As the shop's pace slowed I had more time to upgrade my services.

I have spent most of my working life prior to running my shop in the dealership. My Dad sold cars for over 40 years and I have so many memories visiting him at the Dodge dealership. I started working at that dealership from 1999 until 2004. Working at a dealership, I had plenty of experience applying Simoniz paint protectant. Every dealership had a different version of this stuff, but they were all the same, a low budget sealant that didn't do anything. The dealership offered it to make money in the finance office. They were called sealants, or teflon or other synonyms of that sort. We all new that the stuff was junk, but we didn't understand the business or profit part of the service. We only saw it as a rip off because we new a good wax could outlast this stuff.

One day I was detailing a used car at my shop and the thought popped in my head about how much time I spent detailing and "buffing" these cars and then to follow up all of that work with something like wax that only lasted a few weeks or months. There had to be something available that lasted for years. It was 2015, I mean, how can there not be a better technology than a paste wax full of solvents. I was absolutely an old-school detailer back then, I loved my soap washed and solvent-based paste wax.

I was detailing that one vehicle and Googled, "long lasting paint protection". I literally had never heard of a ceramic coating or any other terminology other than what different dealerships sold. When I made that search, Opti-Coat came up first. I was blown away that what I was just hoping for actually was a real thing and as I know now, has been around since 2007. I'm glad I didn't know that at the time because I would have been ticked I didn't hear about it sooner.

I called Opti-Coat to learn more and Maggie answered the phone. I called her several times. I was more of an, on the phone and ask questions more than I was a, click the button and order something, kind of guy. Maggie informed me that they pro program was just beginning as opposed to the consumer grade version, which was Paint Guard or Opti- Coat 2.0. I'm not sure which.

So, this was my first interaction with whatever a ceramic coating was. I didn't completely understand what it was and I was not a very good businessman back then, so the profit this product could provide wasn't my motivation. Foolish, I know, but I was more motivated by the quality than I cared about the money. I have never been a hobbyist-style detailer, but I also wasn't money motivated either.

Early on I understood that Opti-Coat was a permanent coating. Every customer I mentioned it to looked at me like I was a doofus. I learned about silicon carbide (industrial diamond). I learned all I could about an Opti-Coat ceramic coating. I was hooked. I was bit with the Opti-Coat bug and I liked it. I learned more and more over the next few years. I was shocked when I realized that no other coating was Sic. They were all Sio2 or quartz (industrial glass). Wait a minute, I thought all coatings were permanent? They aren't? That doesn't make any sense. Why aren't all coatings permanent? Its because in order to formulate something you must have the formula. You can't reverse engineer a coating. No other coating company has an Sic formula? That thought was so strange to me. Well, why don't they? I didn't understand.

Have you ever found something you really believed in or enjoyed only knowing the bare essentials? Then, over time as you learned more about it you realized that what you have is a diamond in the ruff? What the heck is a ruff? Anyway, that's exactly how I felt about Opti-Coat. It's not a money making venture, it's a, wow, look what I found and can really believe in. I have very few talents, but one thing I can relate to is something that is truly unique that I believe in.

I could go on and on about how superior Opti-Coat is to all other ceramic coatings available. I could mention the efficiency, innovation and the fact that Dr. G. is the reason all other ceramic coatings exist. I could mention the ease of application of every coating Opti-Coat makes including a 4 layer, pure Sic coating like Pro 3. That coating spreads like butter. This is all boring and nerdy information that no one wants to hear. I will say that the ones who want to hear this are the elite detailers and not those nerds who only want to focus on process and get upset at those who charge a nice price tag for coatings and detailing. Ceramic coatings are a niche part of detailing and Opti-Coat is even more niche due to the technology behind it.

Why is did I choose Opti-Coat? Oh, I'm going to say it. What I'm about to say is going to expose me as a huge nerd. I didn't choose Opti-Coat...Opti-Coat chose me! I've never used any other coating because I can recognize a superior product. I can't always afford it, but I sure can spot it.