I'm seeing alot of posts about people going to shops to get their MY detailed and then ceramic coated. I'm not talking about a wrap, just ceramic coating. Yet from my experience this is still quite expensive - from $800-$2000 depending on who you go to, and if it's cheaper then you have to wonder about their experience in detailing. I love having my car look good, even though I use it and it gets very dirty, I mean like off-road dirty. So a ceramic coat seemed like a good idea while the car still looks good and is new.
I called a friend of mine who owns a detailing shop that does coats, wraps, etc. I told him as much as we're friends I'm not paying you hundreds or thousands of $ to do my car. So he came over and showed me what to do while we had a beer. I ordered a clay bar and lube from Chemical Guys and I ordered Armor Shield IX from Avalon King (the same ceramic coating material my buddy uses and charges alot for). I used a discount code for the ceramic coat liquid to bring the cost to $40; with the clay bar I'm out a total of $65.
I washed the car using a mixture of Chemical Guys car suds and Palmolive soap, why dish soap you ask? Because my friend refuses to use Isopropyl Alcohol, as many detailers do, to remove previous waxes or any greases or coverings on the car, he says it's not good for people and bad for the car and environment (I'm not going to debate the merits of IPA so save your breath). But the dishsoap has degreasers in it and does the same thing. That plus the regular soft car suds/soap is a good combo. While the car was wet (after wash/scrub/rinse) I used the lube and I clay-barred the entire car panel by panel, as well as the glass. It took about an hour, it was just hard on my back. But I could feel the difference when I was done. All the little tiny bumps on the paint were gone. Then I washed the car once again using the regular car suds, and I blew it off with my blower, then dried it well with a microfiber car towel. All took about 1.5 hours.
Finally, it took me 2.5 hours to do every panel and window on the car with the ceramic coating. As I was instructed, I did small areas at a time, let it dry for one minute (it was 70F here) then buffed it with microfiber. All of the black trim was done as well, as was the entire windshield, roof glass and rear window. I haven't done the rims yet (I took my wheel covers off and bought a center T plug for each wheel, with lug covers, looks spiffy).
So, in a nutshell, if you are at least somewhat energetic (I'm 69 and not as energetic as I used to be) and want to take this task on yourself, you can have a spectacular looking car that is ceramic coated for about $65. I love detail shops, but I also like to save money. Plus, I have at least 2/3 of the bottle left (it's small but you use very little) so I can do my wife's BMW (although now that I think of it she has only driven the MY since we got it....hmmmm.) Enjoy!
I called a friend of mine who owns a detailing shop that does coats, wraps, etc. I told him as much as we're friends I'm not paying you hundreds or thousands of $ to do my car. So he came over and showed me what to do while we had a beer. I ordered a clay bar and lube from Chemical Guys and I ordered Armor Shield IX from Avalon King (the same ceramic coating material my buddy uses and charges alot for). I used a discount code for the ceramic coat liquid to bring the cost to $40; with the clay bar I'm out a total of $65.
I washed the car using a mixture of Chemical Guys car suds and Palmolive soap, why dish soap you ask? Because my friend refuses to use Isopropyl Alcohol, as many detailers do, to remove previous waxes or any greases or coverings on the car, he says it's not good for people and bad for the car and environment (I'm not going to debate the merits of IPA so save your breath). But the dishsoap has degreasers in it and does the same thing. That plus the regular soft car suds/soap is a good combo. While the car was wet (after wash/scrub/rinse) I used the lube and I clay-barred the entire car panel by panel, as well as the glass. It took about an hour, it was just hard on my back. But I could feel the difference when I was done. All the little tiny bumps on the paint were gone. Then I washed the car once again using the regular car suds, and I blew it off with my blower, then dried it well with a microfiber car towel. All took about 1.5 hours.
Finally, it took me 2.5 hours to do every panel and window on the car with the ceramic coating. As I was instructed, I did small areas at a time, let it dry for one minute (it was 70F here) then buffed it with microfiber. All of the black trim was done as well, as was the entire windshield, roof glass and rear window. I haven't done the rims yet (I took my wheel covers off and bought a center T plug for each wheel, with lug covers, looks spiffy).
So, in a nutshell, if you are at least somewhat energetic (I'm 69 and not as energetic as I used to be) and want to take this task on yourself, you can have a spectacular looking car that is ceramic coated for about $65. I love detail shops, but I also like to save money. Plus, I have at least 2/3 of the bottle left (it's small but you use very little) so I can do my wife's BMW (although now that I think of it she has only driven the MY since we got it....hmmmm.) Enjoy!
