Ceramic Coating?

[Pioneer7]

I've worked with ceramic for nearly 10 years in both my own and friends DIY and via professionally applied applications. It's incredible but plenty on the net to absorb in that regard. No real reason to be on the fence about its ability to achieve what reputable manufacturers claim. A few things to consider:

1. A reputable shop using legit product will charge (at a minimum) $2,000 and that's only if your paint is flawless. Good shops don't like to put time into bad specimens unless you also cover paint correction, on a gladiator with light swirling and orange peel (basically all from the factory) you'd be looking at another 1k. Same with PPF for that matter. The trouble with bad ceramic (or partially failing ceramic) is it has to be polished off and treated very much like a failing clear coat due to its hardness.


2. Nearly all warranties include fine print mentioning the need for yearly refreshers. If you fail to maintain (and pay for) the refreshers, your warranty is void. These cost anywhere from free to a few hundred. I've only heard of free, never actually witnessed or lived in proximity to a shop that does free refreshers. Things that will also void your warranty is going through an auto car wash, improper washing, looking at the truck the wrong way yada yada. If you aren't comfortable doing it yourself it's worth paying for sure but never expect a ceramic warranty claim to cover you.

3. I've heard of zero dealers (Including p-cars/vag/merc/etc.) who are equipped to properly cure ceramic while still charging premium prices. Legit places have baking booths just like paint. Avoid "mobile" ceramic services. Surely it will look better than before but durability would be more like a traditional sealer from 10 years ago or wax from 20 years ago. Having a dealer ceramic-coat your vehicle is like having a dealer apply your bed-liner. You get about 20% of the product and quality you'd otherwise get from line-x.

4. The process is meticulous BUT not difficult. Prep is everything. Wash, clay bar, correct any and all imperfections possible in the paint with a light polish, wash, de-iron, wash, let dry completely then ceramic. If you can't do all of that OR your paint's condition is beyond your ability to pull swirls and such out of it I wouldn't bother because even the best ceramic is only as good as the surface its applied to.

5. Ceramic everything. Factory hard top, windows, headlights, wheels, black trim, armor and of course all body-work. All of my black plastics still look new after 50k miles, like factory glistening but not tacky armor all shiny new.

6. Once a year double-bucket wash the truck and spray a ceramic infused refresher. I use car-pro reload and have never had to re-coat any vehicle we've done.

I think anyone whose never even applied wax can do everything above, in fact ceramic (IMO) is easier to apply than a traditional carnauba wax.

If you have zero gear you could go with everything needed to paint correct and ceramic a half dozen cars for under $600 and that's including a quality dual-action random orbital polisher. If you have that stuff and are just missing ceramic, budget $200 for some of the best out their which will be enough for a few vehicles.

Great post! I firmly believe you get what you pay for and anything that costs a premium will likely have caveats to proper care and maintenance. The guy I'm going to is reputable and I've seen his work first hand.

I'm going to follow his advice when I pick it up tomorrow and yours as well regarding the refresher and double bucket wash.

Sponsored

 

[Pioneer7]

Here we go! Just got it back today. Paint looks like glass! Very happy with it, well worth it IMHO.

 

[Rubi-Zero]

These are the products I used to do my own coating. It’s not my first time applying a coating so I am familiar with most of these products. There are plenty of step by step threads and videos about this process that you can find on YouTube so this post is not that. Just sharing what I did since I had some time off.

taped off the black pieces during the paint correction. Meguiars 110 and 210 are really nice to use, nearly dust free.

after polishing, I wiped everything down with IPA, to get a clean surface to apply the coating

I ended up doing two coats of Cquartz UK 3.0 and then topped it with one coat of Cquartz SIC. I have used Cquartz UK on other vehicles with great results so I stuck with it, but I have never tried SIC. I didn’t think UK could get any more slick then it was but there is definitely a more slick feeling after applying SIC. Feels like it has just been waxed.
I also applied Cquartz UK on all the black trim and the hardtop as well.
The paint is definitely in better condition than when I picked it up from the dealer.

 

[Pioneer7]

These are the products I used to do my own coating. It’s not my first time applying a coating so I am familiar with most of these products. There are plenty of step by step threads and videos about this process that you can find on YouTube so this post is not that. Just sharing what I did since I had some time off.

taped off the black pieces during the paint correction. Meguiars 110 and 210 are really nice to use, nearly dust free.

after polishing, I wiped everything down with IPA, to get a clean surface to apply the coating

I ended up doing two coats of Cquartz UK 3.0 and then topped it with one coat of Cquartz SIC. I have used Cquartz UK on other vehicles with great results so I stuck with it, but I have never tried SIC. I didn’t think UK could get any more slick then it was but there is definitely a more slick feeling after applying SIC. Feels like it has just been waxed.
I also applied Cquartz UK on all the black trim and the hardtop as well.
The paint is definitely in better condition than when I picked it up from the dealer.

Looks great! Well done!

 

[staying_tuned]

Really incredible work. I’m convinced after having corrected the orange peel on my SG, and seeing the results from others who have, that it’s the only way to pull the kind of depth you’ve achieved seen in the above from sarge. Going to give SIC a try next round, been a UKQ fan for years. DLUX is worth a shot on plastics/wheels/etc. it’s good stuff as well and has kept mine looking better than new for 50k miles.

Sponsored