Originally Posted by geeman789
At on average $ 1500 per car around here, the cost / benefit is questionable. People have the unrealistic expectation that the coating will protect the paint from EVERYTHING ... as the video states, it doesn't.
So why bother ... $ 1500 buys a lot of professional detailing, or a ton of do it yourself detailing products.
Well... Let's say that you went against the BITOG grain and bought a nice car, that you plan to keep forever. Not because you're cheap, but because it's unique. Let's say that you're finally doing well, and you've saved up. You're going to custom order that new ///M3, Individual Composition, and you're going to pick it up in Germany.
Once it is home, you want to protect your investment, so you visit a professional detailer. He explains the paint correction process, and will correct any swirls or contamination presently on your paint, restoring the finish to a better-than-new shine. How would you like him to protect the car's newfound shine? The detailer of course reccomends a full custom-cut PPF as the ultimate protection, but you're not sure you want to spend $3000+. A ceramic coating is presented as the next best thing. It creates a near-permanent sacrificial layer, so that the scratches that WILL accumulate over time, accumulate in the coating, not directly into your clear coat (think micro-marring here, swirls from washing, brushing against the paint, etc.) It also protects against etching and the car will not accumulate the dust and dirt that lead to scratching as easily. It also makes the car easier to wash - again, less chance of marring the finish.
As a bonus, if your car needs a paint correction in 5 years or so to handle the swirls, you will be polishing (removing) the ceramic coating first - not the clear coat. Or of course, you could do as you say - spend $500 every few years for that same detailer to grind away layer after layer of your clearcoat to remove the defects introduced when using the car.
The unrealistic expectations are not created by the product, they're created by less than reputable sellers and installers. A quality company or professional detailer will be honest, and up front. Managing expectations is customer service 101.
