Ceramic Pro Results - Vote please

[mbhforum]

I am picking up my car this weekend and have Ceramic Pro Gold scheduled for my car along with Xpel Ultimate for my front. I was speaking to someone very knowledgeable in the wrap industry who told me Ceramic Pro is garbage and fades over time. He said he felt guilty installing it for customers and stopped doing it. He also said to read the warranty and realized how vague it is. I’d like to hold a poll for people who have had Ceramic Pro installed for at last a year and whether you were happy with it.

I’d also be interesting to see if anyone has needed to file a warranty claim and whether it was successful.

I am paying $1600 for Ceramic Pro Gold not including my wheels since I might be swapping the 21’s for 19’s.

 

[kimvellore]

It would be nice to see two cars of came age and color with and without the coating. If I just wash the car it looks wow after, not sure if a coating will make it WOW.
Anyways if anyone paid that much for a coating they will be voting YES.

 

[beatle]

I'm sure there are a few reviews on YouTube about it alongside other coatings.

That said, I personally don't see the value in shelling out so much for a "lifetime" coating, especially if it requires periodic renewal. A coating that lasts a couple years is a much better value, and it allows you to reevaluate its effectiveness when it's time to reapply. Technology generally improves and/or becomes cheaper over time.

I just put a couple coats of CQuartz UK 3.0 and called it a day. We'll see how long it holds up, but it was only $75 or so. I could have gotten by with the 35ml bottle though.

 

[SoCal Buzz]

I am picking up my car this weekend and have Ceramic Pro Gold scheduled for my car along with Xpel Ultimate for my front. I was speaking to someone very knowledgeable in the wrap industry who told me Ceramic Pro is garbage and fades over time. He said he felt guilty installing it for customers and stopped doing it. He also said to read the warranty and realized how vague it is. I’d like to hold a poll for people who have had Ceramic Pro installed for at last a year and whether you were happy with it.

I’d also be interesting to see if anyone has needed to file a warranty claim and whether it was successful.

I am paying $1600 for Ceramic Pro Gold not including my wheels since I might be swapping the 21’s for 19’s.

I would not spend $1600 on a ceramic coating regardless of the product. Even with color correction and prep, that's way too much. I used OptiCoat Pro on my first Tesla, and was reasonably happy with the results. That was about $750 with significant color correction.

On my new Tesla, my detailer recommended switch to Feynlab. After about a year, I'm happier with the product and believe it helps resist surface stains better than OptiCoat.

In general, my suggestion on ceramic coatings would be to go with one of the basic products (not Gold, Plus or whatever), but plan on reapplying every 2.5 years or so for the best ongoing protection. All ceramics wear over time, and after several years you will likely want surface swirls polished out anyway.

 

[dark cloud]

Like Beatle I did it myself; makes the car easier to clean, especially the wheels, but that is crazy money to pay someone else to do it. I am pretty sure my favourite bodyshop would repaint the whole front end of my car for $1600.

 

[FatherTo1]

I spent $1200 on ceramic coating and could not be more satisfied! I was really on the fence about it at first. PPF was definitely out of the question as I couldn't justify $5000-$6000 for it. I am meticulous about washing my car but got tired devoting 3-4 hours clay-barring, washing, polishing, and waxing our Multi-coat Red.

I didn't expect any protection from ceramic coating, just simply wanted it to stay cleaner longer and require less effort when I do wash it. Towards that goal, ceramic coating has been perfect. A tad expensive, yes, but overall I am satisfied and feel it was worth the money and longterm time savings. I love how the water beads up and I don't even need wipers beyond 28 MPH. The car and wheels definitely stay cleaner much longer. I washed my car a week ago and it still looks like I just washed it, literally no hint of dirt yet. (Before ceramic coating, I would always see a film of light dust develop by the third day.)

The really fun part was just washing the car. Start-to-finish took 30 minutes, but only took this long because it was my first time using my foam attachment and leaf blower to dry the car. Future washes should only take me 20 minutes tops to be completely done. I used to do the Optimum No Rinse 2-bucket method but have switched to having 14 wash towels (one towel for each panel of the car and each wheel). This method is much faster and minimizes scratching the paint because a used towel never touches the car again.

Ceramic coating made it so easy to rinse off most of the road grime, then foam adapter put a thick layer of soapy suds on the car. I quickly washed each panel and then rinsed and blow-dried the car with the leaf blower. Any remaining drops were quickly soaked up with my waffle-weave towel.

There is another new Multi-coat red S at work and I think mine shines more but that's probably due to the paint correction that was performed before the ceramic coating.

 

[mbhforum]

I spent $1200 on ceramic coating and could not be more satisfied! I was really on the fence about it at first. PPF was definitely out of the question as I couldn't justify $5000-$6000 for it. I am meticulous about washing my car but got tired devoting 3-4 hours clay-barring, washing, polishing, and waxing our Multi-coat Red.

I didn't expect any protection from ceramic coating, just simply wanted it to stay cleaner longer and require less effort when I do wash it. Towards that goal, ceramic coating has been perfect. A tad expensive, yes, but overall I am satisfied and feel it was worth the money and longterm time savings. I love how the water beads up and I don't even need wipers beyond 28 MPH. The car and wheels definitely stay cleaner much longer. I washed my car a week ago and it still looks like I just washed it, literally no hint of dirt yet. (Before ceramic coating, I would always see a film of light dust develop by the third day.)

The really fun part was just washing the car. Start-to-finish took 30 minutes, but only took this long because it was my first time using my foam attachment and leaf blower to dry the car. Future washes should only take me 20 minutes tops to be completely done. I used to do the Optimum No Rinse 2-bucket method but have switched to having 14 wash towels (one towel for each panel of the car and each wheel). This method is much faster and minimizes scratching the paint because a used towel never touches the car again.

Ceramic coating made it so easy to rinse off most of the road grime, then foam adapter put a thick layer of soapy suds on the car. I quickly washed each panel and then rinsed and blow-dried the car with the leaf blower. Any remaining drops were quickly soaked up with my waffle-weave towel.

There is another new Multi-coat red S at work and I think mine shines more but that's probably due to the paint correction that was performed before the ceramic coating.

Good to know. I’m in NY, so prices tend to be higher than most places. What leaf blower do you use? Never thought about using one of those to dry my car! Drying the is my least favorite part.

 

[FatherTo1]

Good to know. I’m in NY, so prices tend to be higher than most places. What leaf blower do you use? Never thought about using one of those to dry my car! Drying the is my least favorite part.

Leaf blower (I also bought some $12 ear protection for the noise):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012QLVRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Foam gun (does NOT need a pressure washer; a regular hose works great):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JMYPWP4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[mbhforum]

Leaf blower (I also bought some $12 ear protection for the noise):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012QLVRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Foam gun (does NOT need a pressure washer; a regular hose works great):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JMYPWP4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks! My car is in the shop now getting ceramic pro’d. So basically, first you rinse the car with a hose, then you use the foam gun to cover the car in suds (what kind do you recommend?) and then use a microfiber wash towel for each panel and wheel to scrub? Then dry the car with the leaf blower? Sounds easy enough!

 

[FatherTo1]

Thanks! My car is in the shop now getting ceramic pro’d. So basically, first you rinse the car with a hose, then you use the foam gun to cover the car in suds (what kind do you recommend?) and then use a microfiber wash towel for each panel and wheel to scrub? Then dry the car with the leaf blower? Sounds easy enough!

I am using Nanoskin Cherry Suds, but only because I have it leftover from when I tried the Nanoskin glove for easier decontamination (compared to clay bars)...this was before I had ceramic coating applied. The Cherry Suds works pretty well but I really don't have anything else to compare against. Next I want to try Griott's Foaming Surface Wash.

When rinsing everything off at the end, disconnect the foam gun (I bought extra quick release adapters) from the hose and just use an open house to rinse off. Why? Because the sheeting action helps most of the water run right off the surface, leaving it almost completely dry.

Actually, what I did was turn the foam setting to zero (no soap). I rinsed most of the soap off the car then disconnected the foam gun and used the hose for a final rinse and the natural sheeting action made most of the water slide right off the ceramic coating with minimal water beads left behind. This made it even easier to dry the car with the leaf blower and blast water out of crevices. I did one last quick pass with a microfiber waffle towel to catch any drips and pick up the tiniest of water beads that the leaf blower scattered around. It is all really quick work, just remember the open hose and sheeting action.

 

[SoCal Buzz]

Thanks! My car is in the shop now getting ceramic pro’d. So basically, first you rinse the car with a hose, then you use the foam gun to cover the car in suds (what kind do you recommend?) and then use a microfiber wash towel for each panel and wheel to scrub? Then dry the car with the leaf blower? Sounds easy enough!

Check out Shift, by Shine Supply. Excellent product for washing ceramic finish cars.

 

[krsgio]

I had my P85D coated in ceramic pro but have done my own coatings on my other cars with cquartz uk3.0. I'm no pro and hoped to correct my own car and coat it but the paint was too far gone even with my attempts I was unable to get it to my expectations due to the soft paint so I paid $1k for paint correction and coating. I got it to about 80% but I'm picky so opted to just have the minor holograms and other defects done by a professional. I apply cquartz reload about once a month to boost the coating. 2 bucket method with grit guards, pressure washer with mtm foam gun and touchless drying method for me.

 

[DrtyJrze]

OP, CC isn’t for everyone, but if you actually take care of your car it’s more than worth the money (PPF is a requirement).

I’ve had CC on my last two cars and it was worth every penny (to me). On my F80 I had Gtecniq. After 3 years it was still working well. On the M3P I got Modesta BC-05. It’s still curing and the weather has been trash so the jury is still out.

I thought about being cheap and just going with the PPF, but when I gave the M3P it’s first wash it was such a pain the ass that I couldn’t see myself going backwards on car care. It’s like going back to an ICE vehicle after having an EV, hahaha.

Make sure you get a ph neutral shampoo and quality wash mitt/towels and you’ll be fine. I also use a blower to dry my car and it will save you even more time.

 

[DrtyJrze]

Oh and $1,600 is in the acceptable range of CC with paint correction in the Northeast. You didn’t overpay.