Ceramic Protective Coatings - anyone have experience?

[unclebilly]

I thought I posted this already but cant find the post...

I'm planning to get rust proofing and undercoating on my new truck. It already has the front end wrapped with XPEL.

I am considering getting a ceramic coating such as XPEL Fusion Plus or Ion

https://www.xpel.com/fusion-plus-automotive

https://ceramic-pro.com/ion/

These cost about $2000 to have done and are said to protect the paint for up to 9 years. What experience do you guys have with these type of product?

Would you do it again?

Are there any DIY products available?

Does it last?

Is it worth it?

This truck will be a very expensive farm truck so it will be covered in dust, mud, cow 5hit, but I still want it to clean up and look good. Like my current Tundra, I plan to own this thing for a very long time. I did not do rust protection on my current truck and there is a slight bit of rust starting now.

[rfuerst911sc]

A friend of mine had the $$$ ceramic done to his white F250 . Every time I have seen it the truck looks like it was just washed . And he never washes it !

Yes there are plenty of over the counter DIY ceramic finish products out there . How they stack up against the pro service I don't know . On his truck even though the paint looked perfect before application of the ceramic the entire truck was clay barred . Then washed and dried . Then the ceramic was applied .

[911boost]

Yes, both my 911 and ‘21 Land Cruiser have ppf and a professionally installed ceramic coating. I really like it and would do it again. The whole fronts on both are ppf then the ceramic is over it. Makes it much easier to keep clean and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

The detailer that did mine did a one year follow up and added another layer as part of the process. I can dig around and try to find the brand I used but it was a few years ago.


I tried a DIY one on my sons fox body Mustang and it held up longer than normal wax, but the paint is so shot on that car due to its age I wasn’t surprised it didn’t last.

[masraum]

paint protection film - on vehicles

DIY Ceramic Coatings. Who has applied?

Ceramic coating legit?

Paint protection - ceramic

Ceramic Coating

Not exactly about ceramic, but I think there may be some ceramic content in the thread if memory serves.
PSA: don't ever WRAP your car - EVER.

[GH85Carrera]

Yes, we have "a guy" that does a full detail, and then does the ceramic coating on the paint. He says 5 years and that is about right. All three of our cars are coated. The El Camino and the 911 both have single stage paint, and they really shine. My wife's Macan looks great as well.



A recent favorite photo.

He does not charge anything close to 2K. The 911 and the Elky are just $500. He does charge $600 for the Macan. Dirt just washes off.

[Eric Hahl]

A co-worker bought a new Red Challenger. He had a ceramic coat put on it it and it looks glorious. The red looks so much deeper now. Every time I walk by it I say "wow".

I do however, have a hard time shelling out over $2k for this. Seems exorbitant to me. But hey, I'm cheap.

[mgatepi]

When I bought my Turbo S it had a full car PPF. The car is Carrara White, but looked a little yellowish. The PPF was installed right after purchase and had aged to the point it was looking a little yellow. Now when I say yellow it was very faint but you could tell it was not a true Carrara White. Especially when parked next to another Carrara White 911. Anyway the PPF was 8 years old and needed to be replaced. I steamed it all off, not an easy job (and cost me 2 weekends along with several blisters) I then had the car ceramic coated along with new PPF covering the front and rear bumper areas. Looks fantastic and super easy to clean!!! I have also had my new Colorado Ceramic coated and wow what a beaustiful shine!! Mind you all this was not cheap but damn what an improvment!!
I say do it! but you may want to shell out $$ for a professional.

[911 Rod]

Other than the cost, my concern is if you do it once, you have to keep doing it.
The Toyota rust proofing does not get good reviews as it a coating and not a rust preventative.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Other than the cost, my concern is if you do it once, you have to keep doing it.
The Toyota rust proofing does not get good reviews as it a coating and not a rust preventative.

It just slowly wears off. No requirement too do it again, unless you want the super shine back. My 911 has long received compliments on the paint. I kept it waxed regularly, and in the garage when not on the road. It was very shiny, the ceramic coat just makes it pop more.

We had my wife's Macan done just a few weeks after she got it. Bug hits or bird crap come off really easy.

[berettafan]

i use an inexpensive bottle of griots ceramic spray maybe twice a year. if these things lasted 9 years they wouldn't have to be touched up every year.

[Black968]

I did all of our vehicles, it's time consuming. Applying the ceramic coating is the easy part, preparing the car is where all work is. Did a full wash, alcohol clean, clay bar, second alcohol clean, then applied the ceramic coating. One bottle ($40) did two cars if I recall. Mine lasted about two years on our daily drivers that are washed frequently. 2K is an insane price to pay IMO.

[Brian 162]

I was talking today with someone that did ceramic coating. He said it cost around $1000 and lasts 10 years.
It's tempting for me, if I don't have to wax a vehicle again.

[WPOZZZ]

I use ceramic/so2/graphene sprays on my cars and it still beads nicely after months of neglect. I had a car ceramic coated about 7 years ago and you have to keep up with semi-annual maintenance to upkeep the ceramic. After that, I went to doing it myself.

[911boost]

I don’t do any maintenance on mine, my detailer does it for free. I also get a free detail when taking it in.

Win win for me.

I just use the spray off car washes in the winter when I cannot wash it at home.

[Otter74]

Originally Posted by Black968

I did all of our vehicles, it's time consuming. Applying the ceramic coating is the easy part, preparing the car is where all work is. Did a full wash, alcohol clean, clay bar, second alcohol clean, then applied the ceramic coating. One bottle ($40) did two cars if I recall. Mine lasted about two years on our daily drivers that are washed frequently. 2K is an insane price to pay IMO.

If you’ve got brand new paint, is any of this necessary? I would think not, but what do I know. My Fiat came back this spring from a body/paint resto and I’ve been thinking of putting some kind of protection on the paint before I put the decals on and do all the mechanical work in the spring and start driving it next spring/summer.

[Black968]

Originally Posted by Otter74

If you’ve got brand new paint, is any of this necessary? I would think not, but what do I know. My Fiat came back this spring from a body/paint resto and I’ve been thinking of putting some kind of protection on the paint before I put the decals on and do all the mechanical work in the spring and start driving it next spring/summer.

If you have new paint you can do a wash and then ceramic coat. I would ask your paint guy how long it takes to cure before doing it. The last cars I did the claybar while washing to save time. FYI any dirt that is on the car will be sealed to the paint for a few years, so make sure its as clean as possible. I ceramic coated a rear window and forgot to wipe it down, extemely tough to remove. Check out Youtube as there is lots of info on the subject.

[Otter74]

Originally Posted by Black968

If you have new paint you can do a wash and then ceramic coat. I would ask your paint guy how long it takes to cure before doing it. The last cars I did the claybar while washing to save time. FYI any dirt that is on the car will be sealed to the paint for a few years, so make sure its as clean as possible. I ceramic coated a rear window and forgot to wipe it down, extemely tough to remove. Check out Youtube as there is lots of info on the subject.

Thanks - good to hear. Paint was fully cured by the time I got the car back in March-April and it certainly is now. I’ll be sure to give it a wipe before I do anything, though. Car rode on a flatbed back to my garage and it’s been in there ever since, mostly under a cover.

[Alan A]

Supposedly they put it on the daily before I bought it. Can’t see any difference tbh.

[Dixie]

Does the coating stop road rash chips? If not, my strategy would be to paint the front when it gets bad. Odds are it'll be sometime else's issue by then.

[Mike80911]

I have all of my cars ceramic coated. The DIY stuff is good but the right way to do it is to bake it in after the coating is applied that is what makes the coating last. The DIY stuff might last a year the pros can make it last about 5 years if done correctly. I just had my 930 done, got a full paint correction and a 5 year coating the car looks amazing the black paint looks so deep it is unbelievable, but that is more about the prep than the coating. The coating is mostly for protection.