Pretty far OT: Ceramic coating for your car?

[makoti]

New car & thinking of doing this with Ceramic Pro product. I will not be doing it myself. No place, tools, time, patience. Just got the estimate & it's $1600/2100, depending on the warranty you want. The more expensive gives you 4 coats of the hardener which is supposed to give greater scratch resistance.
Basically, anyone done this to their car? How long ago & do you feel it's worth it? Not a show car, but I park outside, under trees, and it gets all sorts of crap on it. The draw for me is easy clean up & just looking nice longer.
Yay? Nay?

[Ken Robb]

I don't know about this process but historically there have been many paint treatments advertised and I don't think any of them lived up to the hype. If this stuff worked don't you think at least some of the auto makers would use it?

OTOH $1600 will buy a lot of car washes and wax jobs. With my luck if I paid $1600 for a treatment my car would be stolen or wrecked the next week and my investment would be down the drain. :rolleyes:

[rheosibal]

I think it's worth it since it isn't a show car. Show cars aren't driven often, let alone outside, so the cost of each detail isn't much, considering show cars don't get as dirty as daily drivers.

But like you said, you want it looking nicer for a longer time, it's parked outside, etc. Is it your daily? If it is, I think it's worth the cost, depending how long you intend to keep it.

I have a 4Runner, and it's my only car and I will pretty much keep it forever. I take it on a lot of trips which involve dirt, pinstriping, etc. Coming home and knowing that all of it will easily wash off and protect my paint is worth it.

Although, I am biased. My car is black and it reveals everything.

[metalheart]

I had something like this done to a Toyota Highlander that is always parked outside and exposed to tons of bird poop, harsh sunlight, and general outdoor crap. It has worked well so far for about 1.5 years. The crap washed off the car very easily and it looks pretty good. It was about the same price you mentioned and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again for any car that lives outside most of the time.

[makoti]

I think it's worth the cost, depending how long you intend to keep it.

Yep.Daily driver & I tend to keep cars for 10+ years. I'd get a cover (did that with the last car), but I know me & every day on/off isn't happening.

[jumphigher]

I keep a cover on my car at all times when it's not being driven, which protects the interior as well. It's imo the best way you can keep a car looking really good as it gets older.

That said though, I've read about the treatment the OP is talking about and it sounded legit to me, the article said it works quite well. The downside being the price of course.

[enr1co]

$1600/2100 seems like a lot just for a ceramic coat. Is this from the dealer you are purchasing the car from or a shop that specializes in detailing, car wraps, coatings, window tint etc.?

I had much of my car wrapped with XPEL clear covering and then OPTI-COAT applied (another branded type ceramic treatment) ~4 yrs ago and it has worked great to protect it from paint chips, scratches and water still beads off to minimize washing efforts. Cost was ~$2K which I now find money well spent.

Would recommend getting additional quotes as the protective products have only improved from 4 yrs ago and there should be more car detail shops offering this service.

[jonjones13]

I’ve got a ceramic coating on my BM, I was very surprised how easily it scratched, when I complained they said it’s more to protect the paint from bird poop and the like and is not intended to be a hard, scratch resistant coating. Not particularly impressed...

[rnhood]

You would probably be better off going to an auto paint shop and having extra clear coat applied. That will definitely increase chip protection and it has a sunscreen element in it too.

[makoti]

$1600/2100 seems like a lot just for a ceramic coat. Is this from the dealer you are purchasing the car from or a shop that specializes in detailing, car wraps, coatings, window tint etc.?

I had much of my car wrapped with XPEL clear covering and then OPTI-COAT applied (another branded type ceramic treatment) ~4 yrs ago and it has worked great to protect it from paint chips, scratches and water still beads off to minimize washing efforts. Cost was ~$2K which I now find money well spent.

Would recommend getting additional quotes as the protective products have only improved from 4 yrs ago and there should be more car detail shops offering this service.


Yeah, planning on getting other quotes. It was more than I expected. From a detailer in the area. Gotten rave reviews, so I'd say he's reputable. I've also thought about wrapping at least the front & mirrors, as well.

[purpurite]

I do detailing on weekends as a side business, and your quote is insanely unreasonable. Don't do it. There are quite a few really good ceramic and SIO2 coating products out there that don't cost a ton, and many others are also making some ridiculous claims/guarantees.

Don't buy into the hype. Coatings look shinny and nice and bead water for perfect Instagram photos, but they aren't worth what you were quoted, IMO. I will do coatings for clients if they want them, but I don't push them, if that tells you anything.

[purpurite]

You would probably be better off going to an auto paint shop and having extra clear coat applied. That will definitely increase chip protection and it has a sunscreen element in it too.

No, it won't. That's a ridiculous suggestion.

[oldpotatoe]

New car & thinking of doing this with Ceramic Pro product. I will not be doing it myself. No place, tools, time, patience. Just got the estimate & it's $1600/2100, depending on the warranty you want. The more expensive gives you 4 coats of the hardener which is supposed to give greater scratch resistance.
Basically, anyone done this to their car? How long ago & do you feel it's worth it? Not a show car, but I park outside, under trees, and it gets all sorts of crap on it. The draw for me is easy clean up & just looking nice longer.
Yay? Nay?

What's it cost to just repaint a car? Or just realize those wee dings, etc are part of 'car karma'...:)

[Richard]

I have a 2012 car with 80,000 miles. It looks practically new barring a couple of chips on the hood and front bumper from stones on the highway. All I have ever done is wash it before it gets insanely dirty (especially in the winter) and wax it periodically.

The most important thing (as I see it) to keeping a car looking good and having the paint last is preventing door dings. They are insidious rust starters. Spending $1,600+ for a paint treatment is, in my mind, tossing money away.

Learn to touch up paint chips and park at the far end of parking lots and save your money.

[AngryScientist]

nah, i would never spend that kind of money protecting paint.

i generally buy used cars, park them outside and keep them forEVER.

my last cheap jeep died a death of frame rot and rust. paint still looked reasonably ok for an almost 20 year old car with a billion miles on it. road salt and an early life in MA killed the frame beyond reasonable repair.

unless you prefer the car to look in "show quality" all the time, giving the outside a good detailed cleaning and quality coat of wax 2x a year is more than enough to keep the paint in good shape. i like to do this in the fall before the onslaught of winter, and in the spring before the harshest sun of summer.

i care much more about keeping my cars mechanically perfect than aesthetically though.

[summilux]

That seems like far too much money for ceraminc. $1K or less seems appropriate to me. Get a quote from another dealer just to be sure.

I like ceramic. Like you, I keep cars for 10+ years and they get parked outside. Our two current rides are both ceramic coated and we paid about $1K Cdn for each. The benefits of ceramic are that you get that freshly polished and detailed glow that stays after many many washes. Our guy said that it would last for two years. It's not going to protect the paint from chips and scratches (PPF for that) but the cars look great and I'm very pleased with it.

[purpurite]

That seems like far too much money for ceraminc. $1K or less seems appropriate to me. Get a quote from another dealer just to be sure.

I like ceramic. Like you, I keep cars for 10+ years and they get parked outside. Our two current rides are both ceramic coated and we paid about $1K Cdn for each. The benefits of ceramic are that you get that freshly polished and detailed glow that stays after many many washes. Our guy said that it would last for two years. It's not going to protect the paint from chips and scratches (PPF for that) but the cars look great and I'm very pleased with it.


That's the most sensible post on coatings in this thread. It's really good, but it's not a magic bullet that will prevent anything from ever happening to the finish of your car.

If you are dead-set on a coating, the price for wash, decontamination, compound, polish and a coating should be in the $750-1000 range at the very worst—and that's if your car needs a ton of prep before the coating. That's where all of the labor comes from. The coating is only as good as the surface it's being applied to, so the paint needs to be perfect before the coating goes down.



doug

[makoti]

It's really good, but it's not a magic bullet that will prevent anything from ever happening to the finish of your car.

If you are dead-set on a coating, the price for wash, decontamination, compound, polish and a coating should be in the $750-1000 range at the very worst—and that's if your car needs a ton of prep before the coating. That's where all of the labor comes from. The coating is only as good as the surface it's being applied to, so the paint needs to be perfect before the coating goes down.



doug

I'm not expecting it to protect against rocks & the like. More to just protect against sap, birds, and general dirt better than the wash & waxes I do now. Yeah, I'd like it to look good in 5 years.
Thanks for the pricing input. That was more than I expected by a fair amount. I'll call a few other spots. It sounds like they do a lot on the car, but it's still a lot of cash.
How long would this process take? He said 2-4 days, depending on weather (no rain, could leave earlier). We were talking painted surfaces, wheels, lights, windows, so pretty much everything.

[glepore]

Do s little research. There are some durable wipe on products that do 75% of what ceramics do. Away from home now, but by the weekend can send you the name of s product that is good for a season, and literally is wipe on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[glepore]

Optiseal pro. Amading stuff. Use it on 2 12 cylinder benz and a black911


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk