Ceramic Coating?

[JackDawes]

We had it done on the Mojave and it looks great. The application included a 7 year warranty and includes the interior. Well worth it in my opinion.

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[BuckeyeJeep]

Probably get flamed, but I really think the Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions ceramic is a great product. It’s very easy to use, and does a nice job. We use it on all of our vehicles.

 

[Pioneer7]

Reviving this thread... Just sent my Mojave in for a 5 year ceramic coating, paint correction, and application for wheels and windshield. $1500. I get her back on Saturday, I'll post results.

Zero Dark Thirty in Killeen TX.

 

[TigerInFL]

getting the ceramic is the easy part. taking care of it requires some work on your part. no automatic car washes. you can use a touchless car wash, but chances are those soaps they use have a high Ph in them.

if you are going to wash it yourself, congrats. Just make sure you use the correct soap. using the wrong soap can clog up the pores of the ceramic and it becomes cloudy over time.your installer should be giving you a list of do's and don'ts.

if you seriously think it's going to last 3+ years, I'd be willing to bet you a steak dinner it won't. go over to YouTube and watch the torture test they put them through. some don't even make it a few months.

 

[JTDay]

I was going to ceramic coat mine but after personally coating just the exterior plastics, I decided against it. Too labor intensive and I'm not paying $1500 for a full paint correction and application. A chemical + mechanical decontamination followed by a "cleaner" wax does a great job imo and can be done in a day and lasts months if taken care of.

The other deterrent for me is that when the ceramic coating fades, gets scratched, contaminated, etc, after a few years (IF you take exceptionally good care of it) you then have to mechanically strip it off and start all over again. Waxes strip right off with a good decon soap.

If I ever spend that type of money, it'd be on a nice PPF like Xpel.

 

[TigerInFL]

one product I have found that I really like is the Griots 3 in 1 spray wax. I use it as a topper after washing and it can last for months. you can pick it up at your local automotive store. a little goes a long way and you'll love the sprayer on the bottle.

another great thing about is, you can use it on glass, rubber, plastics and the entire body.

 

[TomH]

The dealer did a ceramic coat on mine. I am coming up on three years in the fall. It was part of the purchase. It looked fantastic for about 6 months.

 

[jcarbs]

Not to sound cheap, but after doing a clay bar and applying the Griots 3in1 ceramic spray on, my Jeep looks pretty good. Not going to compare it to a professional job ceramic coat, but a $40 dollar investment versus over a $1000 is a a lot easier to swallow. A couple of hours work once a year with the clay bar and re-application. Extremely happy with the results.

 

[staying_tuned]

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.

 

[staying_tuned]

if you seriously think it's going to last 3+ years, I'd be willing to bet you a steak dinner it won't. go over to YouTube and watch the torture test they put them through. some don't even make it a few months.

: o ) 3 years is actually pretty standard these days especially when applied by a professional. My wheels alone have been through 40k+ miles of desert, beach, pocono mountain snow/salt/ice and now KY clay and they bead and shed debris like crazy with only 3 coats of DLUX when I initially mounted them.

That said, nowadays I'd guess 90% of the ceramic coatings applied today fail quickly because folks only pay for half a days labor and no correction so you make a valid point but I personally would take this bet in a heartbeat hah.

 

[GladLad]

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.

Any worry with having to polish it off if just using store bought ceramic washes and sprays? Or no, because it's lower quality, not baked, etc.

Because I was thinking of just using some Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions ceramic products. Not sure which as there's many and haven't looked into their order and overlapping needs. But thought maybe in the least their wash and ceramic spray (as seen in Project Farm's test video). Too much ADD to go a full DIY ceramic route, and too cheap for the pros.

 

[staying_tuned]

Any worry with having to polish it off if just using store bought ceramic washes and sprays? Or no, because it's lower quality, not baked, etc.

The hybrid options today are solid, I was big into sealers before ceramic awhile back and it seems now they have hybrid sprays, which take a fraction of the time, on par with sealers. Chemical guys hydro charge (in addition to hydro speed) is a good buy for the money and readily available. I use hydro charge on my wife's vehicle every few washes and although it takes a few applications per year (20 mins max) to maintain the finish, the results are pretty awesome.

I'd never worry about having to polish off ceramic unless you missed something during correction but that's only if you apply with an applicator and vial. The nice thing about the sprays is who cares if you don't clay or correct, you aren't locking anything in with a traditionally applied ceramic anyhow. The spray stuff goes on much thinner and I suspect it only lasts a few months but heck for the 20 mins it takes, it's worth it every few months if you don't want to go down a rabbit hole.

 

[staying_tuned]

Just noticed the video title. Take this stuff with a grain of salt. If you were to head to autogeekonline or another site focused on the detailing craft most don't use anything available in the big box stores. Maybe for cutting polish because you need a cheap cutting compound to blow through a ton of vehicles and its kind of hard to try and sell a bad cutting compound but certainly none of the actual finish products. This title should read "Best Ceramic Coating from products you can get at Walmart, Autozone, Advance Auto or PepBoys". Not a waste of time by any means but for sure if you're putting in the time their are better products for similar to slightly higher prices. Look into Chemical Bros when you can, its a mid-grade line that for sure isn't a gold standard but their offerings are usually better than anything you can buy in a normal store although I heard that Chemical Bros can now be found in one of the stores, maybe PepBoys or something.

 

[Rattydude77]

All I can say is LAST COAT is what I been using for years it's expensive but omg it's great stuff. I also been starting to use the new Turtle wax Hybrid its not a bad product but not great and definitely not a last coat replacement.

 

[GladLad]

Just noticed the video title. Take this stuff with a grain of salt. If you were to head to autogeekonline or another site focused on the detailing craft most don't use anything available in the big box stores. Maybe for cutting polish because you need a cheap cutting compound to blow through a ton of vehicles and its kind of hard to try and sell a bad cutting compound but certainly none of the actual finish products. This title should read "Best Ceramic Coating from products you can get at Walmart, Autozone, Advance Auto or PepBoys". Not a waste of time by any means but for sure if you're putting in the time their are better products for similar to slightly higher prices. Look into Chemical Bros when you can, its a mid-grade line that for sure isn't a gold standard but their offerings are usually better than anything you can buy in a normal store although I heard that Chemical Bros can now be found in one of the stores, maybe PepBoys or something.

Understood, and that's exactly what I'm looking for. To not have to do an actual, highly-detailed process of ceramic coating, but rather just a wash with built in ceramic/wax and maybe some occasional spray touchups. Perhaps a good first coat of something, but no real paint correction to speak of. And knowing me, even that's wishful thinking for me to keep up on beyond first few honeymoon washes.

The video, as you say, is mis-titled in that regard. It's not the best ceramic coatings, it's the best from local stores in spray form. Not pro, but available and affordable. The Turtle Wax did the best and was the cheapest, going through quite a few tests and stripping chemicals.

My gf has some CG products, they're in lots of stores now.

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