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Ceramic Exterior Coating
- Thread starter VicO
- Start date
calidreamz808
Member
UncertainTimes
Active Member
Depends what kind of protection you’re looking for and if you understand the limitations of ceramic coatings.
You can also buy Meguires ceramic wax for $25 and do it yourself. Great shine and long life especially if you apply it with an orbital. The detail people love to hype their work and charge a lot of money.
Ceramic coating is snake oil in that anyone with the right tools can do it themselves.
drpheta
Member
I don't think you understand what snake oil is.
Ceramic coating is more akin to lawn care. If you want it to look nice you either do it yourself or pay someone.
No I meant snake oil as in it’s a scam. The amount of money they charged usually over 1k -2k for the whole car is ludicrous. Get a dual action buffer like a cheap griot garage with an orange pad and HD All In One polish, clay the car, and apply Cquartz 3.0 ceramic coating, and all this takes a day of your time. Also the warranty is complete bogus, the warranty only applies if you take the car in for maintenance washes and topcoat which can add $$ annually. Alot of these ceramic coating are marketed to be 2-10 years but in reality the performance don’t really last long. Either do it yourself or if you wash and wax your car biweekly or even monthly there’s really no point for ceramic coating. You’re better off spending that money getting full frontal ppf. Get turtle wax flex wax and turtle wax seal and shine and call it a day (12 months or protection).
Wow! That's a good deal. Make sure that the guy will prep your car really well before applying the ceramic coating.
drpheta
Member
The amount of disregard people give to other people's skill and time is staggering. I'm no installer, and I've worked on my own cars for years swapping clutches, rebuilding engines, installing suspension parts, even being one of the earlier modders to custom install a carpc in my car.
People are free to detail their car with ceramic all they want with the right tools and time. Will it be cheaper? Of course. However a good detailer is worth their time and expertise in applying these products.
By your logic, plumbers, electricians, tile guys, hair stylists, manicurists, even tint installers are snake oil. A roll of tint is cheap, but a crap install looks terrible, and a good one takes time and know how. Not saying the average Joe can't do it themselves with success. However, the good installer is worth saving the time and hassle as well.
Time and knowledge is worth more than you are giving credit for. Otherwise, your job would pay far less, since the company can just do your job themselves.
joebruin77
Active Member
People often make extreme statements about ceramic coatings that can go in either direction. No, ceramic coatings will not make your car bulletproof. And, no, ceramic coatings are not snake oil - they are a legitimate car protection product. The truth lies somewhere in between.
You can think of ceramic coatings as a much more durable, semi-permanent sealant. It will protect your paint, last longer than a traditional wax or sealant, and offer some resistance to swirls and scratches. However, ceramic coatings are not scratch proof and can still be scratched or swirled. You still have to wash your car on a regular basis and you have to maintain the coating by applying a ceramic booster spray once every 4 to 6 months.
They key with applying a coating is preparation. If you have a coating installed or you do it yourself, make sure your paint is at least polished first to remove any swirls or blemishes. A full paint correction might be necessary if you have scratches or swirls in the clearcoat. The reason is that a coating will "seal in" any imperfections. The only way to fix this is to remove the coating with a polisher and start from scratch. Coatings are not forgiving if you make a mistake.
Here is a helpful video that does a good job of illustrating the pros and cons of ceramic coatings:
You can think of ceramic coatings as a much more durable, semi-permanent sealant. It will protect your paint, last longer than a traditional wax or sealant, and offer some resistance to swirls and scratches. However, ceramic coatings are not scratch proof and can still be scratched or swirled. You still have to wash your car on a regular basis and you have to maintain the coating by applying a ceramic booster spray once every 4 to 6 months.
They key with applying a coating is preparation. If you have a coating installed or you do it yourself, make sure your paint is at least polished first to remove any swirls or blemishes. A full paint correction might be necessary if you have scratches or swirls in the clearcoat. The reason is that a coating will "seal in" any imperfections. The only way to fix this is to remove the coating with a polisher and start from scratch. Coatings are not forgiving if you make a mistake.
Here is a helpful video that does a good job of illustrating the pros and cons of ceramic coatings:
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For that cheap, make sure there is a warranty and some kind of paint prep included. You might just be getting a top coat or limited application that needs to be reapplied. Below is what I got from my installer and found it very helpful. They recommended at least a level 2 prep on a new Tesla because of paint issues they've seen coming out of the factory.
^^^ That right there! I've done multiple ceramic coats on my own vehicles and can tell you, if you do it right it takes minimum of 10 hours on a brand new car. Paint correction/preparation (especially on a new Tesla) is paramount to a good result. I view it as a better/longer lasting sealant. It's no magic nor is it some glass protection on your paint that is impermeable to scratches/scrapes/dents/etc. Super hydrophobic, self cleaning, and a good protection from the elements. Like anything, it does need some care, though much less than say a regular sealant. All that said, you'd pay a plumber $85 an hour to run pipe in your walls, or $105 an hour for an electrician to wire up a new light. Can you do it yourself? Absolutely - I guess the question is whether you want to, whether you're willing to learn, and how much your time is worth.
Soul Surfer
Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
If you mean "new tesla model 3" (since this is the model 3 section), while that is a question for whoever will be doing the work on your specific car, some prep work is going to be recommended by just about any competent installer. "How much prep (paint correction)" on a new car may vary.
joebruin77
Active Member
I agree with jjrandorin. Some amount of paint correction or polishing should be done before applying a ceramic coating, even to a brand new car. The best thing to do is to park your car in the bright sunlight and inspect the paint from many different angles. You will likely see at least some light scratches or blemishes. In this case, a light machine polish should suffice. If you see more pronounced scratches and swirls, then a 2-step correction/polish may be necessary. Before applying the ceramic coating, the paint should be clean, free of contaminants, polished, and, if a polish or correction was done, wiped down with an IPA solution (this removes any residues from the compounds and polishes).
I swear by ceramic coating, but only on a good quality base coat like a BMW or other brand that is known to have really good paint. After just putting ceramic on my car, then having two rock chips go right through the paint to the black plastic on the bumper, I would recommend at least PPF on the bumper, maybe hood as well...then ceramic on the entire car. I'm going to put PPF now on the bumper which I should have known that PPF would be required, but thought it was magically going to be good enough on Tesla paint, especially the white multi coat. Now I need to have the ceramic taken off, do the bumper with PPF, and maybe reapply the ceramic. Horse after cart I guess you could say.
With that said, there are good installers, if anybody is charging over $800-1000 for ceramic on a car, which should include interior/trim on the exterior, windshield, brake calibers, wheels etc...plus all the paint prep, they are robbing you. I've talked with a few places and they are crazy what they are asking. Especially with IGL Kenzo ceramics. Better off just paying a good paint prep person, then do a consumer ceramic yourself. Same results. Maybe I was lucky and know a guy. I mean, yes, $300 is paint prep, but it is just a little thing of ceramic coating which is applied, which takes skills, but it isn't anything amazing the stuff, on a good base paint as I mention, like both my BMWs...it is great stuff alone.
I think a combo of the two PPF and ceramic on certain parts of the car are a good idea after having this thing for 3 months.
With that said, there are good installers, if anybody is charging over $800-1000 for ceramic on a car, which should include interior/trim on the exterior, windshield, brake calibers, wheels etc...plus all the paint prep, they are robbing you. I've talked with a few places and they are crazy what they are asking. Especially with IGL Kenzo ceramics. Better off just paying a good paint prep person, then do a consumer ceramic yourself. Same results. Maybe I was lucky and know a guy. I mean, yes, $300 is paint prep, but it is just a little thing of ceramic coating which is applied, which takes skills, but it isn't anything amazing the stuff, on a good base paint as I mention, like both my BMWs...it is great stuff alone.
I think a combo of the two PPF and ceramic on certain parts of the car are a good idea after having this thing for 3 months.
Yeah, I do a mild diminishing abrasive compound/polish on all my new Teslas. They all need some level of correction, albeit minor (though my X was rougher than my 3). If they guy pulls out a heavy compound, I'd stay away. These cars don't have a great clear coat due to the California chemical regulations so just be careful. I've seen plenty of folks just do the same 'process' over and over again - just because 'it works' and don't worry about how much paint their removing. Afterall they don't have to worry about it once the car isn't in their shop anymore. Each car has different requirements, and each manufacturer's paint is different. That's why I prefer to do my own. I can finagle it myself to decide how crazy I need to go.
