The Truth & Myths about Ceramic Coatings

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Originally Posted by gofast182
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
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.

Well put. The vast majority of the ~$1,000-$1,500 prices people see for coatings are the standard paint correction in order to perfect the paint before you apply the coating. As for the protection itself, it offers a lot more than a wax or paint sealant as long as one understands it isn't an excuse not to take care of the finish. In the next few weeks I'm going to apply Polish Angel Cosmic V2 to the new X5. I'm anxious to see how it goes.



Great, great post by RooflessVW and gofast......
 
IMO DIY ceramic coats are not worth it. $200-300 for a proven DIY coat will only last like 2 years with maintenance washes and toppers. Majority of them only last a year. The long lasting professional grade ones are really the only ones worth your time, but at $1000+ you really question wether it's cheaper to buy a $20 bottle of Collinite 845 that'll easily last 5-6 applications/2-3 years per car.
 
Originally Posted by avacado11
IMO DIY ceramic coats are not worth it. $200-300 for a proven DIY coat will only last like 2 years with maintenance washes and toppers. Majority of them only last a year. The long lasting professional grade ones are really the only ones worth your time, but at $1000+ you really question wether it's cheaper to buy a $20 bottle of Collinite 845 that'll easily last 5-6 applications/2-3 years per car.

$2-300, eh?

Try half that, for the same products the professionals use. You may spend $200-300 for Modesta but CQuartz, Gyeon, Wolfgang, Blackfire, etc... There all $75-150 depending on the kit.
 
Ceramic coatings are amazing. I had my '92 NSX done a few years ago. It's simply amazing how easy it is to keep looking good. Nothing sticks to the paint. I wouldn't bother doing it to my daily driver, but for any nice car, it is worth it. Actually, if I bought a new daily driver that I planned to keep, I'd probably have it done.
 
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