Ceramic coating legit?

berettafan · 10-14-2020, 04:47 PM

Wife has a white Sequoia which are known to have no separate clearcoat. Consequently the paint gets chalky over time. Is there a legit ceramic coating product that will give us a long life for the paint? I have no idea how to go about finding a quality shop for this.

stealthn · 10-14-2020, 05:44 PM

Question is why is it get chalky?

I would go with a good ceramic coating then do PPF overtop of it

onewhippedpuppy · 10-15-2020, 02:44 AM

Ceramic coatings are great, I have them on my boat and E63. But I’m not sure about it being a substitute for clear coat. Ceramic requires a massive amount of prep time to restore the paint to nearly perfect condition before application. Applying the ceramic is the easy part. So if the paint has some amount of chalky look to it, the ceramic won’t fix that.

berettafan · 10-15-2020, 04:44 AM

No chalky finish yet, truck is less than a year old. Just want to do some preventative care.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Yea, the ceramic coating for paint is great. I have it on all three of our cars.

I "have a guy" that is local and does it in his home garage, and is very meticulous. He does a full paint cleaning with a clay bar, then a top coat of the ceramic. It has been 2 years since the cars were done.

When I drove down to Key West my first night was a stop 900 miles from home at my brother's house in Montgomery, AL. When I was in Mississippi I drove through some heavy rain, and that washed off all the bugs. My brother's first question to me was did I stop and wash the car when I got to town. I of course replied no.

Bugs and dirt do wash off easily. Of course the 911 and the El Camino are both single stage paint. The Wife's 2017 Macan is two stage paint, and we put the clear bra on the front of it. The ceramic goes right over the clear bra. You can't see the finish, except the gloss is a little higher than just wax.

The problem is that wherever I park it, chicks like this just gather to admire it.

Nickshu · Nickshu's Garage

Sure is. I've had about 8 cars coated now. Pairs with a rinseless wash to maintain the coating. I would never go back to waxing cars, ceramic works awesome. I was using Opti-Coat Pro+ but now have moved on to Owners Pride (OP) coating which is much better.

But don't fall for the "cheap" coatings that car dealers are selling. Find a quality detailer and get a quality coating done. Most of the $$ is in the prep. Plan on spending around $3000 for a quality coating job.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

My car at a recent autocross.

911boost · 911boost's Garage

My 911 has been ceramic coated as well and I am very happy with it.

Nick is right, a good coating is $

Gus Berges · 10-15-2020, 07:19 AM

Question for you ceramic users.... Is it true that ceramic coatings require annual or every 18 months re application? Not up to speed as to how long it lasts, but if it requires "maintenance" like a good detailing, might as well save the money and have an annual pro detailer ($250 locally) have at it.

sammyg2 · 10-15-2020, 07:25 AM

$3000.
Roflmao

Gus Berges · 10-15-2020, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyg2

$3000.
Roflmao

Thought the same thing!

I know labor is cheaper down here, but for reference sake, I can take a small SUV (Audi Q5) into a detailing shop where they will clay by hand, compound and wax with orbital, Meguiars products for everything for ±$250 and the car will look impeccable. If I wanted to do a ceramic coating, It would be $600-$800.

So, yearly $250 detail job, or will the ceramic look better/same after 24 months than two yearly detail jobs?

Steve Carlton · 08:13 AM

I just got a Model 3 a couple of weeks ago and asked my long term detail shop what they thought of ceramic vs previous paint sealants (they use Luster Glaze), and he felt the ceramic (they use Nanopro) lasted longer and looked better, so I had it done a couple of days ago. Another reason was the renewal time frame was roughly every two years instead of one year, so less cost down the road. I don't know how Nanopro compares to other brands, but I'm only going to keep the car 3-4 years most likely and didn't know the brand mattered. The good news is he'll do a new car for $750 (or a little more for a huge or lifted truck). With some extra prep on a used car, it could run $100-300 more. That price included doing the interior, but I had that done with Lusterglaze products, which I'm familiar with and like. The Nanopro has a 3 year warranty.

PM me if you'd like to talk to them. Not a glamour shot, but this is what you get on short notice...

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Yea, not worth 3K.

Our pro only charges $500 each for our cars. They were only done two years ago and look great.

berettafan · 10-15-2020, 08:05 AM

Ok found a somewhat local shop that uses the owners pride. they say it's a 7 yr warranty and would be $1250 to do the sequoia. they also have something from Angelwax that is said to be 2yr and is $750.

Glen do you know what product was used on yours?

Gus Berges · 10-15-2020, 08:08 AM

Gracias Steve. Your post confirms what I've been told and quoted. If it lasts 2 years and costs about the same as a yearly detail, then I'd personally opt for the yearly detail, but can perfectly see how others don't see it that way.

I'm amazed that the pricing for your detail shop is very similar to the prices being quoted down here. Guess I ass-u-med it would be higher over there due to labor costs.

Steve Carlton · 10-15-2020, 08:09 AM

I think it all started in the 80s with Teflon products.

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

On a garaged car and one that receives routine pro washings and lots of care? I don't think so. Had it done to my Alfa, and frankly seemed to attract more dust than traditional wax. I might consider it if the car gets neglected or abused, but otherwise I don't see it.

Considering my car gets an annual paint correction and I never touch my paint I opted for plain old wax on my Caddy. Just as good. Saves lots of cash.

Nickshu · Nickshu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gus Berges

Question for you ceramic users.... Is it true that ceramic coatings require annual or every 18 months re application? Not up to speed as to how long it lasts, but if it requires "maintenance" like a good detailing, might as well save the money and have an annual pro detailer ($250 locally) have at it.

A real ceramic coating will last years. For example Opti-Coat is warrantied for 5 years and OP is warrantied for 8 years.

The cheap stuff yes you have to reapply it usually only lasts 1-2 years. Even less for the DIY stuff.

Much of the cost is in the paint prep before you permanently seal over it with ceramic (if using the good products), even new cars aren't good enough for coating.

onewhippedpuppy · 10-15-2020, 10:13 AM

Yeah most cars are at least 5 years. My boat is 3 but that’s a harsh environment. More than a nice shine, it helps vehicles stay clean longer and are far easier to wash. Bugs come right off with minimal scrubbing. Totally worth it in my book.

911boost · 911boost's Garage

I agree about the paint correction, that was a big portion of the cost for mine.

Below is a picture of my car with the vinyl graphics on the frunk/hood that went all the way to the decklid. The previous owner had applied the ceramic over the paint protection film (frunk lid) and over the paint on the roof and decklid.

Once I had the vinyl removed there was a definite ridge where the ceramic ended. My detailer was able to talk to the shop that did the covering a few years ago and get the residual coating off the car. We did paint correction where it was not covered with PPF and then applied a multi stage ceramic coating.