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Ceramic Coat on Pearl White

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Comparing the white, red, blue, and midnight silver in person at the local store on a clear sunny day, I noticed the white has a nice shine, but unlike the other colors it didn't have the same mirror like effect instead bouncing back more blinding sunlight. I'm on the tilt whether a ceramic coat is worth it as I really only want to spend $700 if I'm going to get a deep mirror effect like a show car.

Anyone do a ceramic coat on pearl white and if you did in your opinion was there a noticeable difference in shine, mirror like reflection, appearance?
 
You will notice a difference, but mostly ceramic coats are less noticible on metalic white than other colors.

On white, the swirils are hardly noticeable, and you do not get the reflection like you do with the darker colors.

It will still be easier to wash and water will bead off, but for most people, a standard coat of wax will give most of the benefits, but 1/10 the cost.
 
You will notice a difference, but mostly ceramic coats are less noticible on metalic white than other colors.

On white, the swirils are hardly noticeable, and you do not get the reflection like you do with the darker colors.

It will still be easier to wash and water will bead off, but for most people, a standard coat of wax will give most of the benefits, but 1/10 the cost.

I was thinking the same thing. I've never waxed a car before outside a automatic car wash, except my first one. Never had an issue with paint aside from normal road chips etc.

Looking forward to Cronn's opinion because the only reason I'd want to wax or ceramic it is to get that showroom mirror look.

I might wrap it in Q1 with 3M's "liquid copper" color.

rtc8ulkh92y21.jpg
 
My wife has a new Range Sport in white. It's non-metallic, rich looking and seems to have more "depth" than my metallic white Model 3. However, I like the unique look to the Model 3 white, very "industrial/candy", sort of old time hotrod meets modern tech. I may get a Zaino-type coating applied just for a bit of protection.
 
I just had my white/white P3D opti coated this past weekend. Its definitely glossier but I wouldn't really say its like a mirror. I always thought the coatings look best on the Midnight Silver cars. I honestly didn't do the coating for the looks, I did it for the ease of washing each weekend.
 
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I was thinking the same thing. I've never waxed a car before outside a automatic car wash, except my first one. Never had an issue with paint aside from normal road chips etc.

Looking forward to Cronn's opinion because the only reason I'd want to wax or ceramic it is to get that showroom mirror look.

I might wrap it in Q1 with 3M's "liquid copper" color.

rtc8ulkh92y21.jpg

If that had white interior it would look like a creamsicle. LOL
 
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Comparing the white, red, blue, and midnight silver in person at the local store on a clear sunny day, I noticed the white has a nice shine, but unlike the other colors it didn't have the same mirror like effect instead bouncing back more blinding sunlight. I'm on the tilt whether a ceramic coat is worth it as I really only want to spend $700 if I'm going to get a deep mirror effect like a show car.

Anyone do a ceramic coat on pearl white and if you did in your opinion was there a noticeable difference in shine, mirror like reflection, appearance?

Had Feynlab self healing ceramic put on my 3's pearl white. Worth it to me just for the hydrophobic properties. So easy to wash and take care of. No hard rubbing required. The dirt just slides off.
 
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Thanks for the replies.. still a full day to go till Saturday when I pick up my P3D. I'll probably go the first 7 days without any addons incase I need to return it.

Great idea. IMO a must have for me was full frontal PPF. My appointment was 3 weeks after delivery and I ended up with 2 very small front bumper cover chips. I did full frontal but in reality could have done just the front bumber cover, headlights, foglights and mirrir backs.

If I had to choose between ceramic and PPF I'd take the PPF to get the front protected and ceramic later when I could swing it.
 
I believe you are simply asking a detailing question.

Ceramic Coating is a sealant. This can add gloss to the appearance. Now being that it is a sealant, it will also trap whatever contaminants are left under it. That is why, usually, people pay so much. You are paying paint correction.

Normally the process works like so:

1) Full wash of vehicle
2) Iron deposit cleaning - Rail Dust, those black specks that don't come off no matter how hard you scrub
3) Clay Bar - Removes tree sap, bird dropping, hard water stains.
4) Machine Polishing - Compound to remove swirls and light scratches
- Then a finishing polish to remove any haze and get that deep gloss people want to see. You should be seeing the sparkle in the paint at this point
5) Sealant of your choice (Ceramic, Wax, whatever). This is a protective layer and can add some gloss.

So if you do a good job polishing then you will have a better end result.

There was no way I could pay someone nearly 2k to put Ceramic Coating on my car so I went to AdamsPolishes (recently opened in Orange County California) and bought their Ceramic Coating Kit for $140. I already have PPF on the full front end of my car and the rocker panels. Therefore I only coated the Non-PPF sections. My car was only 1 month old at the time, so the paint was still in good condition. I polished any scratches that I noticed and I clayed high traffic areas. Then I did the Ceramic myself, the fumes are not the greatest but it's a fairly simple process. The results - super easy to hose off just about anything.
 
Thanks for the additional comments, very helpful.

After considering all the input from this thread and many more elsewhere and youtube, I've decided not to do professional PPF or any Ceramic/sealant.

Pro full frontal will cost me 1K+tax and effectively lock me into white for the term of my intended ownership 3 ~ 4years. Ceramic/sealants would cost 600+tax and also lock me into the white for the term.

I'm just going to treat it as I have all my previous cars, no special wax/sealant or ppf. I haven't justified it to myself yet, but I'm highly interesting in doing the full 3M Gloss wrap at 3K. The liquid copper (see photo above) calls to me LOL

Well tomorrow is the big day.. this is my second M3 order so hopefully all goes well and no defects like bad paint, part misalignment, rust, etc.

I got a good feeling about MY20 :D
 
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Just getting GTechniq Crystal Serum Ultra next week. I'll let you know. As TrooperCA said, the prep is crucial. All those steps with the wash to start using a decontamination soap. And after the paint correction polishing, a full wipe down with alcohol to remove any oils, etc. before the coating(s). Mine will have three coats. I love a car that's easy to wash, but the main thing for me is that my white 3 will live outside, under oak trees and birds. As I rarely do highway driving, and never on gravel, and our roads are rarely sanded in winter (Victoria, BC), I decided to not get PPF.
 
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Just getting GTechniq Crystal Serum Ultra next week. I'll let you know. As TrooperCA said, the prep is crucial. All those steps with the wash to start using a decontamination soap. And after the paint correction polishing, a full wipe down with alcohol to remove any oils, etc. before the coating(s). Mine will have three coats. I love a car that's easy to wash, but the main thing for me is that my white 3 will live outside, under oak trees and birds. As I rarely do highway driving, and never on gravel, and our roads are rarely sanded in winter (Victoria, BC), I decided to not get PPF.

Looking forward to the results :D
 
C21B0F88-BBA4-44D6-BB46-C6FECD87C7C6.jpeg
Here’s our MS and Model 3 both of which had just been washed (waterless). Gives you an idea of MSM and Pearl. Both car had full Xpel wrap (xpel ultimate and Xpel ultimate plus — came out 1 year later for my 3) and both had Ceramic Pro applied.
 
I got mine done this week. It seems pretty glossy to me and feels silky smooth. I would definitely recommended.
 

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