(light music)
- Alright guys,
I'm here at Elite Finish Detailing
and we're gonna do some cool work on Tes,
because, as you know, the paint on the Teslas in general
and the model 3, mine in particular, is pretty soft.
Now there's speculation as to whether or not
it's 'cause it's not multi-coat,
and that's why you pay extra
for the different colors, and those ones are
so they're stronger.
But what we're gonna do is
do some protective coating on it,
then show you how you can wash it very easily
and just take care of your Tesla.
Now these guys are sponsoring this episode,
so I wanna give them a big shout out,
but I think you're gonna learn a lot as well,
because I don't understand this stuff fully
and these guys are the experts in the whole world.
A lot of my friends that have had Teslas forever
have been telling me to use these guys,
and I don't know why it never got through my thick skull,
but now I'm here, and we're gonna have some fun
and dive into what exactly you can do
to protect the paint on your Tesla.
(electronic music)
Alright guys, I'm here at Elite Finish
with the owner, Wes,
and we're gonna take a look at Tes,
because I've done some damage, unfortunately,
by taking it through the car wash
and just not knowing how to care for it,
and I don't even know if I told you this,
but a lot of my friends use your guys' product.
- Awesome.
- The wash mist one.
- Yeah.
- And so when they found out
you were in San Diego, they were like,
well you have to go see them
and so here I am asking, begging for your help
to repair, fix, and then teach me
how to take care of my Model 3.
- For sure.
- So yeah, thanks for coming and helping and, yeah.
- Yeah.
- Tell me, you know,
what we need to do here --
- Yeah.
- and how to do this.
- What I wanna understand from you,
so you came down here to get help.
What is it that you are trying to accomplish?
- Right, so I've got some,
I think they're called swirl marks,
that I believe may have been either,
just came out of the factory that way,
or when I went through a car wash one time.
I think they said hand wash, but I didn't
know that meant like a giant broom.
And so, I don't know --
- They're using their hands, I mean, you know.
- I guess.
So, somewhere in there, I got some damage
to the paint and,
for as beautiful and amazing as this car is,
I want the paint and the exterior
to kind of reflect that as well.
- Sure.
So, absolutely.
Hand wash centers, they serve a purpose
and that purpose is to get the car clean, quickly.
It's not necessarily to preserve a show room,
show car --
- Right.
- Quality of finish, right?
For people that come in to Elite finish,
they're enthusiasts.
Every little thing bothers them, typically,
on the car, and they want it right,
and they want to know how to maintain that.
So that's really a good distinction
between, you know, between the two different
approaches of cleaning a car.
So, you are correct. There is wash damage,
the swirls that you discussed,
and really what that's caused by
is that there's dirt that is already on the car
and whether they're using a broom,
or even a wash mitt, towels,
whatever it is they're using,
if they're not using the proper soaps
that have good lubricant --
by the way, just because soap foams
doesn't mean it's actually properly lubricating.
- Okay, okay.
- There are often additives in there
that make it all frothy and --
- So, I shouldn't use dish soap?
- (laughs) So, one of things that you mentioned
was you didn't know if some of the damage
was caused at the factory,
if some of the damage was caused at,
you know, through the car wash.
One of the things that's important to understand:
it is very seldom that any brand of car
comes into our shop completely flawless.
You have to think about the amount of hands
that are touching the car, from the point that
it was finished being painted.
They literally can measure out
the exact amount of paint that they need,
so, yes, they're not laying it on super thick.
If you ever see, like, about this big,
a little dull spot, sometimes in paint
That's called a denib spot and what that is,
is they're using a little sanding disk about that big
about a centimeter, on a little polisher.
Zzzzzz, and they just zip that down
and what that is, is when the little dust particle
got in the paint, it looks like a little pimple.
- Yeah, okay.
- So they sand that smooth.
The nice thing is, for a shop like ours,
we fix those pretty quick.
- Right.
- It's not a major thing.
Alright, so, to help --
for me to understand what to suggest for you,
you know, with this car is,
I wanna understand a few things.
So, for instance, like,
how long are you gonna keep this car?
- That's an interesting -- it's a tough question, honestly.
Because of the business I'm in,
I am interested in the performance model.
- Okay.
- Which, Elon just talked about,
might be coming in July.
- Oh.
- So it depends.
If that comes out, and I can sell this
for what I paid for it,
then I may sell it as soon as July
and then get the performance model.
- Sure.
- And then I'll be back here doing this again with you.
- Right on.
- But let's say that, that doesn't happen,
I would say, typically, I'd probably keep it
three to five years.
- Perfect.
And then what is its daily life look like?
In other words, are you driving on the freeway a lot,
does it sit outside at work?
You know, is it in a garage?
What does its life look look like?
- So, we have a one car garage
- Okay.
- and we have one charger, two Teslas,
so we have to alternate
who gets to charge, me or my wife.
- Right.
- So, you know, it's sitting outside
a few days a week.
We both work from home, so we don't drive a lot.
Typically, I would say, in a month
she'll maybe go, like, seven, 800 miles tops.
- Perfect.
- So, lower than probably your average person.
- Cool.
So, let me run through, then, with you,
a couple of different types of ways to protect this car.
- Okay.
- And then we'll start narrowing it down.
So, your traditional type of protection
would be a, like a carnuba wax.
It's actually pretty cool.
They actually scrape it off of a leaf
out of Brazil.
- Oh, okay.
- And process the wax that's naturally occurring
on that leaf
and then they process that into a wax,
put it on the car.
So, it's been for years,
long before we've been alive,
the form of protection to protect the paint.
It does form a nice --
basically, think of it like a sunscreen for the car.
- Okay.
- Gives it some hydrophobic properties,
gives it a little UV protection,
but, you mentioned before, dish soap?
- Yeah.
- Dish soap can strip it off in one wash.
- (laughs)
- So, because of that,
for us in our business,
because we're so specialized,
we just don't offer that anymore.
- Right.
- Right now, we're really focused on SiO2,
silica oxide type products.
So, spray on sealants, cream sealants or cream waxes,
but they're still silica based.
Because the silica is not affected
by temperature and by detergents.
- Okay.
- Anywhere near as --
- So I can't wash it off with dish soap?
- You would have to,
if you were using dish soap,
you'd still be, like, grinding away
to trying to get it off.
- Okay, okay.
- So, the difference between a sealant
and a ceramic coating,
or even the SiO2 wax and sealant,
the difference between those and the ceramic is
the binders,
the chemical agents that bond the SiO2
to the surface.
On the sealants and on the waxes,
you're just not gonna get the same level of bond
and because they're also not bonding thick.
So on the ceramic coatings,
as those materials, those raw materials,
are now bonding to the paint,
they're also bonding to each other
and forming this 3D structure.
- Oh, gotcha.
So it's creating just, like a thicker,
more protective layer.
- That's right.
But with the ceramic coatings,
we've been working with CQuartz for years.
I think, a little over six years now.
And the reason why we've stayed true with them is
there's a lot of different fly-by-night companies.
They come out with, you know,
a new product.
I mean, honestly, I keep seeing
Facebook ads like crazy for the next ceramic, right?
- Right.
- But, when you're a consumer
and you're doing your research,
there's a lot of misinformation out there
about what they can do
and they'll often, like,
this is this bulletproof product
and you put it on and the car
won't ever get scratched
- Yeah, yeah.
- You'll never get a swell mark again.
- Marketing.
- Yes, yes.
- Right, it's like --
- And it's really important to understand
what you're getting into
and different ceramic coatings
have different benefits.
- Okay.
- And different drawbacks.
But what we found with CQuartz
is that time and time again,
in the laboratory testing,
and the real world testing,
it's the most durable against swirls,
it's the most durable against, you know,
water spotting and stains, things like that.
and it's stunning.
probably the most important thing, to me,
is the network that I'm a part of with Cquartz
is filled with the best of the best detailers.
- So they're all over the U.S.?
- They're all over the U.S.
There's a map, if you go to CQUartzfinest.com,
- Okay.
- Click "authorized installer",
you can see the whole map,
you can type by your, search for your zipcode
and find someone who's near you.
So, somebody watching this,
not here in San Diego,
- Yeah.
- Obviously, if you're in San Diego,
this is where you're coming,
but if you're not in San Diego,
they can find people that also offer this.
- Absolutely.
The final form of protection, as well,
is paint protection film.
- Uh-huh.
- Which is something that I think we've talked about,
it might make more sense when you get to your performance.
- Okay.
- Predominantly because, you know,
it is an investment,
it's a smart investment.
But if you're not --
- This is a wrap?
- Yes, it's a clear wrap.
The paint protection film is really important.
If you told me that you were, daily,
driving this this car on the freeway, right,
and it's getting a lot of miles,
the front end of your car,
the rocker panels of your car--
the rockers are what run underneath the door.
- Right, right.
- That panel right there,
in the front of your car,
are gonna get hit with rocks.
- Right. No doubt.
- It's just going to.
So, if you had told me that,
I would be saying,
that is a top priority.
We'd be getting that paint protection film
put on right away
and then we would be ceramic coating the whole car.
- So, okay, wait a minute.
So you do the wrap and then you ceramic coat it?
- Yeah, absolutely.
- To protect the wrap?
- Yeah.
- Wow, I had no idea.
- Part of that is too, is that
the ceramic is adding quite a bit of shine,
especially with Cquartz.
- Okay.
- It's adding a lot of hydrophobics,
slick feel, a lot of shine,
so we put that over the wrap and over the paint,
so that you have an even...
- Perfect, yeah.
Because I know sometimes people get wraps
for, like, a satin or matte --
- Yep.
- Kind of finish.
- Yeah.
- So, would you put a ceramic coating over them?
- Actually, yes.
- There'd be like a -
- A right ceramic coating.
- Like a matte ceramic coating?
Is that a thing?
- Well, there are some coatings
that say they're matte specific,
which I would argue is a marketing -
- Yeah.
- Gimic.
But, that being said,
there are some ceramic coatings
that you absolutely should not
put on a matte or a satin finish.
- Okay.
- But, the two different coatings
I'm gonna talk to you about today
for your car,
either of those, if you had decided,
you know what, I'm gonna do a full satin wrap
over my car.
- Mmm-hmm.
- Either of them would be just fine.
- Okay, gotcha.
- So and --
- I had no idea.
- And here's what happens.
It will make it look more rich
- Uh-huh.
- And finished.
Sometimes a satin or a matte finish
can look like a little old or dry.
- Yeah.
- And when we put this -
- That's why I've never --
I mean, sometimes, when you first get it,
it's like, whoa that's amazing,
but then maybe after a few months,
it looks just kind of dirty and old -
- Yeah.
- And like you spray painted your car or something.
It looks like, not well done.
And, for something that costs that much money,
- Yeah.
- Like, that seems bad.
So, you're saying that this can help that?
- It can and the nice thing is,
is that, you know,
especially here at our shop,
if we were to do that satin wrap,
we ceramic coat it right at the same time.
- Right.
- Right when it's finished.
So the ceramic coating, on a wrap like that,
is a much smaller investment.
- Right.
- Because the prep involved is much less
than prepping a painted surface.
- Right, gotcha.
- And coating that painted surface.
So let's dive in a little bit
to some of the tech and some of the differences.
So, Cquartz Professional and Cquartz Finest Reserve
are the two professional, authorized coatings
that Cquartz offers.
If you're an avid DIYer and you wanna
polish your own car
and you wanna ceramic coat it,
there's CQUartz and then there's Cquartz UK,
and they just, the CQuartz UK they just came out
with the 3.0 version, which is a phenomenal version.
It's a lot easier to work with.
Typically though, we are focusing
on the professional, authorized products.
- Right.
- Cquartz Professional carries a two year warranty
and Cquartz Finest Reserve carries three year warranty.
The Finest Reserve has a unique technology to it,
that has an epoxy resin.
- Okay.
- An epoxy resin is so durable that,
in our testing,
even one -- in fact, Aaron Knox, over in Atlanta
- Yeah.
- Helped a lot with this testing.
He put one layer on the hood,
took industrial floor stripper,
and tried to strip it off and couldn't.
- Whoa.
- Now,
CQuartz professional is very durable,
against chemical, you know,
chemical resistance, things like that,
but one of the things that you said to me,
that makes me think that Reserve might be
the right choice for you,
is the fact that your cars are switching.
One's inside-
- Yeah.
- The garage, one's outside the garage.
- Yep.
- So at night, what happens at night?
We get a lot of condensation.
If you're anywhere close to the coast --
- Yep.
- We're getting all that salt water.
- Yep.
- If there's trees nearby, they're gonna drip
sap and different things.
- Yeah. I've got all kinds of pollen and
- I mean, honestly, this car was clean two days ago
and I parked outside last night and you know
- Yeah.
- Here you go.
- Well and, one of things I noticed,
yeah, even here on this leading edge, you know.
At first I was looking to make sure
that wasn't a thin spot in the paint.
- Yeah.
- But what it is, is there's some build up
of some dirt right here and,
it feels kind of crusty.
See, it's not even wiping off.
- Right.
- What that tells me is that
you've got a lot of salty moisture in the air
- Right.
- It's getting, that's basically --
- So it's like bonding to it almost.
- It is. It's taking the light dust
and then it's bringing it together.
Concrete is a strong analogy, but it's
kind of doing that, right?
- Yeah.
- When you mix concrete together, you're
taking this powder and different liquids,
and it's making it hard, it's the
same thing that's happening here.
- Right, right.
And this is where I have even on the
maintenance side, and I'm excited to hear about
how to handle that afterwards, because
I would come out in the morning,
and I bought this little duster thing from Amazon
for ten bucks, and if it's in the garage,
and it's just a light bit of dust that happened,
it would come off really clean and easy.
- For sure
- But this kind of thing, I could take my
duster over that and it's not doing anything.
- Nope, it's stuck. What you need
is something that has some surfectant,
and lubrication in it, and that's exactly
what wash mist does for you.
So here's kind of a couple approaches.
If you truly feel like you're gonna move on
from the car, one of the things we might
consider is what we call our exterior enhancement.
Which is a nice light, what we call a light polish,
but in the world of detailing it's actually
very extensive polishing, and we put on
a high grade sealant that'll give you
about six months to maybe a year of protection.
So that could be a service that could make sense,
if you know, hey you know what,
I know I'm moving on from this car in a few months.
- Right, and I'm not sure if I am
getting rid of it though, is the thing.
So I think, yeah, something a bit longer lasting
would probably make more sense.
- So what I would be looking at is this,
the looks between the two cquartz professional
and cquartz finest reserve, are very
indistinguishable for most people.
I think that the extra protection that it comes
with, the cquartz finest reserve, is
gonna make a difference for you.
I will tell you, the finest reserve,
there is a higher level of expectation
that comes with that brand, with that name.
You'll find that anywhere in the country,
even in smaller towns, the price point for
finest reserve is definitely set to impress.
- Right, right.
- Because, we don't hold back.
Even if you say, I don't mind this or that,
once we get working, we don't care what your
expectations are, we now have our own expectations,
which I promise are higher.
(laughter)
And with that reasoning, we are going
to the absolute furthest degree possible,
so that this car can be entered into a show,
and win for best paint. That's the goal.
- Well I think you sold me on it.
That seems like the right one, because
I kind of hold this car, even though it is
a very early model, and there will be
better ones to come, I want it to represent
not only my company and my brand,
but also Tesla. I wanna show them in their best light.
So I think that's the right one.
- Absolutely.
So let's just take --
I like to go around and make sure that
everything like this is solid,
that nothing feels like it's loose.
And the reason for that is, for one,
I'm really protecting both of us,
because I don't want ever want us to
get into a situation where:
well that wasn't there before, and like,
well actually it was, and now we're at odds.
I want you to pick up your car
and just be excited, right?
- Right, right.
- So I just check some different things out.
So we're thinking cquartz finest reserve on this?
- Cquartz finest reserve, let's do it.
- Let's do it man.
Alright and then I'm going to take you in,
I'll give you a quick tour of the shop,
and then we're gonna get started on your car.
- Okay!
(Electronic music)