Hi Anyone
Any ideas on ceramic coatings. Why does it cost so much? Is it worth it? Can mere mortals apply the coating or do I need to spend 600plus bucks at a detailer
Are you unhappy with your current wax? Iād never pay that, I garage my cars and donāt worry about waxing them at all. They both look fine after 10 and 13 years.
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Wax it once or twice a year and save yourself a lot of money . You could probably do the ceramic coating too but it might not come out quite as good as a detailer because they have all the power buffers and stuff to take it off . It is really just a fancy expensive wax .
Thanks. It just that im buying a corvette and people are pushing a ceramic finish.
ā¦ which gives them about a 95% profit margin, at your expense.
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For real-deal ceramic coatings, most of the price is the prepwork thatās necessary. Before you ceramic coat a car, you need a full body paint correction done to it (otherwise the coating will protect the flaws in the paintwork). Even on most brand new cars this is necessary. The older the car usually the more extensive the paint correction needs to be. A proper professional paint correction can take a day or two and cost hundreds of dollars alone. Once that is complete the actual ceramic coating can begin. Most pro-detail shops will do at least two coats, usually three, and each coat has to cure for 12-24 hours before another coat can be applied. The car needs to be kept indoors while this is happening. The total curing time is about 2 weeks, but the car can get wet about 24 hours after the last coat. Just to be clear, this is not the miracle wax that dealers peddle in the finance office.
Itās an expensive, time-consuming process. But the results are impressive with a level of protection well above even high end sealants , still though, I would only have it done on a high end exotic or a totally restored classic with a concourse quality paint job. For me giving my car a proper detail (strip wash, clay bar, polish and a high quality sealant), twice a year is all you really need, assuming you keep up with the maintenance washes.
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I agree with FoDaddyās reply.
Youāre getting a great finish with ceramic, but youāre paying for a labor intensive process.
There are lots of sites and videos describing the pros and cons of ceramic coatings. Hereās a good video to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oEKHCAABA
That video provides a good overview comparing ceramic vs other coatings. But more important, it helps to explain if you do get a ceramic coating, thereās an implied assumption on how youāll take care of it.
Thanks everyone for your realistic info about ceramic finishes. As an experiment I bought a bottle of spray on ceramic ,approx 25 bucks, and I experimented on my13 year old Camry. The company is called āTorqueā . Yes, itās a lot of work to get the car clean enough to to use the spray. The results are quite spectacular especially on the grill and headlight lens. I think itās good for 6 mos to a year depending on the environment.
I think Iāll save my self the big bucks and if and when I ever get my corvette Iāll just use the spray from Torque.
Thanks for the good advice.
Sam
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Glad it worked out for you. However, a pro-level ceramic coating doesnāt come in a spray bottle. It comes very small bottle/vials (1 oz or thereabouts) and will cost about $100-$200 per oz. The spray stuff contains some ceramic content, but itās made to be accessible and easy to use apply. Itās not as effective a full-on, professional coating, butās itās much, much cheaper and much more forgiving to apply.
My 18 year old car I waxed maybe 2 times, got rear ended, finish looked fine, sure some rust bubbles here and there, at the bottom of the door panels. Got to clean the insides of those I guess. I applaud you that do so much more, but doubt the trade in value would have differed much.
Thatās an excellent point. Put a finish on the car that costs a small fortune and brave the odds that it will survive all the craziness we all brave on the road. The monetary compensation we get from the insurance company will never cover the cost of beautification. On the other side is the pride of ownership. If it does get stolen or become a total loss the surviving pieces will look just great.
Does āfoeā = faux?
This stuff works great for about 16 bucks (got mine at Walmart). I waxed my car first to clean it up and then applied it. Itās quite easy and very awesome! I have enough left for at least another application.
CSA
Last year I tried the Turtle Wax Hybrid Ceramic wax. Goes on like a normal wax. It is by far the longest lasting wax Iāve ever used. Easily 8-10 months plus. Even in our cold harsh winters.