They're of course great for protecting against other things like tree sap, bird droppings, water spots... to a degree but just a reminder, they offer almost no UV protection. Silicone dioxide is transparent to almost all of the UV spectrum.
Ceramic coatings offer almost no UV protection.
- Thread starter FlyPenFly
- Start date
what would you suggest?
Keep it clean and garage it when you can.
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Yep, UV is also bad for tires, at least as much as it is for paint.
Tires get replaced about every 5 years.. paint not so much
A decent paint job now is very expensive. It's best to try to keep what you have looking good. And yes-I don't believe a $1,500.00 Ceramic coating is the best thing. Of course you could always "wrap" your vehicle. You still need a decent surface however.
The idea that any wax type product protects against UV for any length of time is utter nonsense.
Some waxes offer moderate protection until they wear off. And yes-we agree that doesn't take long.
I remember reading about waxes called optima or optimum that claimed to have uv inhibitors and I think some variation of colinite wax also claimed uv protection but you'd have to reapply either monthly I'd imagine. I have no experience with either. I use griots 3 in 1 and have been for years i don't know about uv protection but i think i'll be fine without it i just like not having to wash and wax all the time because it repels water and dirt for a long time. It'd be nice if they made a better version that has uv inhibitors or whatever the chemist could put in to have uv resistance which would be nice.
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I don't think any detailing products offer any meaningful UV protection.
Problem with UV inhibitors is that they eventually are consumed by reacting with UV light. A wax coat is so thin that no appreciable UV inhibitor is going to be present and will disappear quickly if in the sun a lot.
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Coatings and waxes are just sacrificial layers. The clearcoat is the only thing doing anything to protect paint underneath from UV. A lot of people who were sold a ceramic coating were led to believe that it needs nothing on top of it to be maintained - but that is not true. It's best to use a ceramic product on top of a ceramic coating as a secondary sacrificial layer. It has to be ceramic (SiO2 etc) to be compatible with the coating. I use Rupes Uno Advanced on my wife's Mazda once per year applied with a DA polisher. For example, you wouldn't want to use a carnauba wax on top of a ceramic coating.
None do. It's simply not possible. The 'coating' what ever it may be is sub micron and really just fills tiny imperfections. Objective testing show UV protection to be utterly meaningless. With very few exceptions. One possible exception is 303 slathered on to black plastic.
Thinking about all the time i have invested (i.e. wasted) over the years on paint protection, why don’t we have better options? With technological innovations, why don’t we get better factory options? Paint fades, scratches, chips and never looks as good as it does when new. It does very little to protect the metal underneath it and is more of just something to make it look nice temporarily. I see new factory paint colors that are matte and not glossy, so there should be some better metal protection coatings available.
I have given thought to how much money I have wasted over the years on my house, paying for the same things over and over. 2 complete HVAC systems, 2 roofs, doors replaced multiple times and I cannot recall how many times I have replaced my wood fence. Same thing with the 30 plus vehicles I have owned, countless hours trying to preserve, protect and repair paint, All just to do it over and over again.
There has to be a more permanent solution. Kind of like a spray on bed liner that doesn’t fade. Maybe as my 23 4Runner paint gets more beat up from highway driving I can go to a bed liner coating. It would be nice to not have to worry about bugs and small road debris constantly degrading the integrity of my paint and leaving areas where the metal is rusted due to compromised paint.
I have given thought to how much money I have wasted over the years on my house, paying for the same things over and over. 2 complete HVAC systems, 2 roofs, doors replaced multiple times and I cannot recall how many times I have replaced my wood fence. Same thing with the 30 plus vehicles I have owned, countless hours trying to preserve, protect and repair paint, All just to do it over and over again.
There has to be a more permanent solution. Kind of like a spray on bed liner that doesn’t fade. Maybe as my 23 4Runner paint gets more beat up from highway driving I can go to a bed liner coating. It would be nice to not have to worry about bugs and small road debris constantly degrading the integrity of my paint and leaving areas where the metal is rusted due to compromised paint.
Yes, it’s called PPF and it actually does work well in most cases. It’s not impervious but the best we got and when combined with high quality ceramic refreshed every two years lasts a very long time.
PPF yellows from UV light and looks terrible when it does.
Depends on the quality of the PPF, they will eventually yellow but not as noticeable on say a yellow or red or colored car than it is others. And if you cheap out and only do partial or low quality PPF, it’ll look terrible over time.
Regardless of brand or quality, PPF does not last forever. It's best to remove it every 5 years or so unless you have a garage queen or it will become very brittle and extremely time consuming to remove. The last vehicle I had it on that lived outdoors was a completely different shade of the paint once the PPF was removed. The sun here is very harsh. It turned the mirror glass on my Ram a dark shade over about a 10 year period. Auto-dimming mirror glass is quite expensive.
Stek still looks new on my white 6 yr old Ram that is parked outside.
Especially in Florida!
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