It would be nice if you can also show before and after.
This will help to answer the question "is it worth it?"
Thx so much.
This will help to answer the question "is it worth it?"
Thx so much.
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Show us your beautiful Tesla with ceramic coating
- Thread starter loanchau2k
- Start date
Its not so much the shine or gloss, as similar shine can be achieved through the correct standard wax treatment. Its the longevity, its water repelling characteristics and ease of maintenace after the coating that really sets it apart.
joebruin77
Active Member
I agree with RefreshedP. You can achieve the same gloss and shine with certain sealants, waxes, and polishes. Coatings are like a semi-permanent wax that are much longer lasting and more durable.
Here is one of the most helpful videos I have come across that explain the pros and cons of ceramic coatings as well as some of the common myths and misrepresentations about them. I think this video might help you to make a decision one way or the other.
If you have an unlimited budget, the absolute best protection is PPF and ceramic coating. If you have a limited budget, I personally would get as much PPF as you can afford and then, instead of a coating, rely on a ceramic-infused spray sealant that you reapply once every 3 or 4 months for your protection.
Finally, keep in mind that a huge factor in how a ceramic coating looks is in the prep before the coating is applied. The same coating applied to a car that has had paint correction and/or polishing is going to look a lot better than on a car with uncorrected/unpolished paint.
Here is one of the most helpful videos I have come across that explain the pros and cons of ceramic coatings as well as some of the common myths and misrepresentations about them. I think this video might help you to make a decision one way or the other.
If you have an unlimited budget, the absolute best protection is PPF and ceramic coating. If you have a limited budget, I personally would get as much PPF as you can afford and then, instead of a coating, rely on a ceramic-infused spray sealant that you reapply once every 3 or 4 months for your protection.
Finally, keep in mind that a huge factor in how a ceramic coating looks is in the prep before the coating is applied. The same coating applied to a car that has had paint correction and/or polishing is going to look a lot better than on a car with uncorrected/unpolished paint.
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@joebruin77 , thx so much for the information. Would you recommend DYI ceramic coating so it can last for 1 or 2 years, or much easier way using ceramic-infused spray every 3 months?
Thx
Thx
joebruin77
Active Member
I have to give the disclaimer that I have a full-car Xpel PPF and personally use ceramic-infused spray sealants every 2-4 months. So I have no personal experience with ceramic coatings. That said, IMO, the answer to your question really comes down to a personal preference. If you are a "car person" and you enjoy washing your car and applying sealants and waxes, then a ceramic coating may not be necessary. On the other hand, if you don't enjoy that kind of thing and you want maximum protection with minimal effort over the long term, then a coating may indeed be the best choice for you.
If you decide to go for a coating, I would do some serious research comparing the DIY route vs a professionally-installed coating. If you go for the DIY route, before applying a coating, you need to use a Dual Action Polisher to correct and / or polish the paint to remove any swirls and scratches. If you skip this step, any swirls or scratches are going to be "sealed in" under the coating and you will not be able to remove them until the coating is no longer there.
And while applying coatings is relatively easy, it is not without its risks. If you let the coating solution stay on the paint too long, you may end up with hazing, streaks, or high spots. And once the coating is applied, it is very unforgiving. If you make a very noticeable mistake with a coating, the only solution is to do a paint correction using a compound or even wet-sanding to remove it.
Ceramic-infused spray sealants, while they do need to be reapplied every 3-4 months, are very forgiving. You cannot make a mistake with a spray sealant that will require major paint correction or wet sanding.
Seems like there's plenty of products that do nearly the same thing. This discussion reminds me of the oil change interval arguments prolific in many forums. No independent study is ever referenced in anyone's claim over a certain oil use being better than another or how oil interval matters or how used oil changes correlate to engine degradation or.... etc... It's like Chevron gas with "Techron". Same here. No independent study every referenced. No one seems to know what the differences are between products, what's in them, etc... I do know that prepping a car to wax - washing, cleaning, polishing, is an arduous task.
I remember paint sealants from back in the 1980s. They're nothing new. "Ceramic" is just new marketing jargon. Btw, everyone should know that ceramic materials are nearly as hard as diamond and is certainly nothing you want touching or rubbing into the paint of your car unless you want to use a rubbing compound that will actually contain hard particles to buff or polish your clearcoat which actually could remove bits of your clearcoat. BTW, there's no paint on your car. There is clearcoat though on top of paint and it's a polyurethane material (although I'm not sure if all manuf don't mix that in their final layers). It's soft and gooey, but not that soft in thin layers of a few mils. Also there's no such thing as nanotechnology. Nano just means some number times 10E-9. That's all.
A couple decades ago I worked at a company engineering a lubricant solution to a small worm gear mechanism. A company called Slick-50 had a product that actually performed better than any other thing we tested on our mechanism but doing our due diligence we could not substantiate the use of the product because the company would not divulge what was in it for us to be comfortable with it as a real solution. It turned out, of course, the company was a scam (they actually go sued and went out of business) and we determined that they somehow electrostatically charged their product because after a couple weeks the lubrication properties changed back to how other oils performed. Moral of story is there's no magic unicorn urine. Ever.
I remember paint sealants from back in the 1980s. They're nothing new. "Ceramic" is just new marketing jargon. Btw, everyone should know that ceramic materials are nearly as hard as diamond and is certainly nothing you want touching or rubbing into the paint of your car unless you want to use a rubbing compound that will actually contain hard particles to buff or polish your clearcoat which actually could remove bits of your clearcoat. BTW, there's no paint on your car. There is clearcoat though on top of paint and it's a polyurethane material (although I'm not sure if all manuf don't mix that in their final layers). It's soft and gooey, but not that soft in thin layers of a few mils. Also there's no such thing as nanotechnology. Nano just means some number times 10E-9. That's all.
A couple decades ago I worked at a company engineering a lubricant solution to a small worm gear mechanism. A company called Slick-50 had a product that actually performed better than any other thing we tested on our mechanism but doing our due diligence we could not substantiate the use of the product because the company would not divulge what was in it for us to be comfortable with it as a real solution. It turned out, of course, the company was a scam (they actually go sued and went out of business) and we determined that they somehow electrostatically charged their product because after a couple weeks the lubrication properties changed back to how other oils performed. Moral of story is there's no magic unicorn urine. Ever.
UncertainTimes
Active Member
Here's mine after a wash. Coating was done ~5months ago. I used Carpro Cquartz UK 3.0.
Not 100%, but at least gives you some idea. Like the latest picture, it looks shiny after carwash. That kind of shiny only happens when you wax the car, but in this case, the car shine like was after a wash is very impressive.
Mrcarcrazy
In need of a shrinking gun to zap a plaid with.
Honestly, a topcoat product like beadmaker will get you absurd shine and slickness. But it doesn’t last like a ceramic coating.
I’ve used CQuartz 3.0 and it lasted (like new) a year of weekly washes, degraded after that. I’ve used others which didn’t last as long with my wash frequency. Noteworthy that we got horrible hard water spots on my sons black BMW when he neglected to dry some hard water that was delivered to its hood by a sprinkler system.
I’m currently abusing turtle wax seal and shine. It’s cheap, I use it as a detailer after each wash. It’s every bit as slick as a proper ceramic, durability is better than beadmaker. gloss is great.
Another impressive store bought product is meguiars hybrid ceramic. Slickness is up there with a proper ceramic and/or beadmaker. Gloss (to the naked eye) is so hard to differentiate between most of these products.
turtle wax just released a new product which claims to use graphene. I’ll be watching testing of it. But can’t recommend it yet. Point is you don’t “need” to spend boutique prices for very similar results. Don’t abuse the paint and you’ll be amazed how well it lasts.
just my .02
I’ve used CQuartz 3.0 and it lasted (like new) a year of weekly washes, degraded after that. I’ve used others which didn’t last as long with my wash frequency. Noteworthy that we got horrible hard water spots on my sons black BMW when he neglected to dry some hard water that was delivered to its hood by a sprinkler system.
I’m currently abusing turtle wax seal and shine. It’s cheap, I use it as a detailer after each wash. It’s every bit as slick as a proper ceramic, durability is better than beadmaker. gloss is great.
Another impressive store bought product is meguiars hybrid ceramic. Slickness is up there with a proper ceramic and/or beadmaker. Gloss (to the naked eye) is so hard to differentiate between most of these products.
turtle wax just released a new product which claims to use graphene. I’ll be watching testing of it. But can’t recommend it yet. Point is you don’t “need” to spend boutique prices for very similar results. Don’t abuse the paint and you’ll be amazed how well it lasts.
just my .02
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Grae Chivalier
Member
Quite a few friends that had ceramic coating had it done mainly for the purpose of getting the paint corrected and polished professionally first and the coating is usually part of the package or discounted. They wanted the paint correction done by professionals and the ceramic coating to seal it all in before they leave the shop. Afterwards, they just maintain it with off the shelf products like turtle wax or meguiars brands for the next few years unless it needs another paint correction.
-GC
-GC
I got mine professionally finished with CQuartz special reserve. Main driver for me was getting the paint mechanically levelled before finishing and maximising paint protection from the UK weather. Picture shows the car just before I drove it off. Is it worth the cost? Time will tell... but as mentioned in others' posts, if you regularly clean and detail, then maybe not?
Mrcarcrazy
In need of a shrinking gun to zap a plaid with.
Cquartz UK 3.0 topped with turtle wax seal n shine.
I won’t be spending the coin on a product like CQuartz again. The over the counter stuff from TW and Meguiars etc has come a long long way. In this pic the Tesla is in the shadow of my Lotus which is above it on the lift.
I’ve done some absurd paint correction on cars in the past and spent untold amounts of money on different chemicals/polishes/sealants. I’m absolutely dumbfounded by the quality improvements over the last cpl of years from stuff you can get at a local store.
turtle wax seal n shine for example. It’s cheap enough I apply at every wash which is typically weekly....before that I was using beadmaker. I love how slick beadmaker is. But it’s not durable at all.
I won’t be spending the coin on a product like CQuartz again. The over the counter stuff from TW and Meguiars etc has come a long long way. In this pic the Tesla is in the shadow of my Lotus which is above it on the lift.
I’ve done some absurd paint correction on cars in the past and spent untold amounts of money on different chemicals/polishes/sealants. I’m absolutely dumbfounded by the quality improvements over the last cpl of years from stuff you can get at a local store.
turtle wax seal n shine for example. It’s cheap enough I apply at every wash which is typically weekly....before that I was using beadmaker. I love how slick beadmaker is. But it’s not durable at all.
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joebruin77
Active Member
I agree with Mrcarcrazy that there have been many advances in car paint protection products, including ceramic-infused and, the latest, graphene-infused, spray sealants. Turtle Wax Seal and Shine still blows away many spray sealants that cost 4 or 5 times as much. I am also exicted to try TW's new graphene lquid wax and graphene flex spray wax.
People who like ceramic coatings cite the unparalleled gloss and durability of coatings. Altough it is true that some ceramic coatings are extremely durable compared to spray products, keep in mind that spray sealants are so easy to apply that you can easily reapply them very frequently. So as I mentioned earlier, if you enjoy washing your car and applying sealants and waxes, you can make due without a ceramic coating.
In terms of gloss, ceramic coatings will usually provide a bit more gloss than many waxes and sealants. However, there are some products on the market that do equal or even surpass the gloss and shine provided by coatings. For example, the TW graphene products are supposed to provide an amazing amount of gloss. Also, below is a video from Brian with Apex Detail in which he showcases teaming up two products from Xtreme Solutions that can absolutely provide as much if not more gloss than a ceramic coating. He even says in the video that for his customers that cannot afford a ceramic coating, he will offer this as a lower cost alternative. The two Xtreme Solutions products are Lvr 403 (Polish / Acrylic Glaze) and PolySeal (Hybrid ceramic/wax spray sealant):
People who like ceramic coatings cite the unparalleled gloss and durability of coatings. Altough it is true that some ceramic coatings are extremely durable compared to spray products, keep in mind that spray sealants are so easy to apply that you can easily reapply them very frequently. So as I mentioned earlier, if you enjoy washing your car and applying sealants and waxes, you can make due without a ceramic coating.
In terms of gloss, ceramic coatings will usually provide a bit more gloss than many waxes and sealants. However, there are some products on the market that do equal or even surpass the gloss and shine provided by coatings. For example, the TW graphene products are supposed to provide an amazing amount of gloss. Also, below is a video from Brian with Apex Detail in which he showcases teaming up two products from Xtreme Solutions that can absolutely provide as much if not more gloss than a ceramic coating. He even says in the video that for his customers that cannot afford a ceramic coating, he will offer this as a lower cost alternative. The two Xtreme Solutions products are Lvr 403 (Polish / Acrylic Glaze) and PolySeal (Hybrid ceramic/wax spray sealant):
The only thing that would show whether or not it's worth it is if half the car is done with a pro ceramic coating and the other half is done with easy DIY products like Turtle Wax.
In that case, I bet you could never tell the difference in photos and the people that spent big bucks on a professional ceramic job would be sad. But then they would go on about how it lasts longer, and the DIY guys would explain that it's so easy to do themselves that they can do it again easily after each wash, and the people that spent the big bucks would be more sad, but pretend that somehow it was still worth it for them.
I find this statement is so true. It also happens to me, something I spend money on gimmicks, but I keep convincing myself is very good
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
I did the expensive ceramic and I have loved that my 3 yo car has not had anything done to it since. But I worry about the transition from treated to normal. Once I wax the car the ceramic will be under that and will not bead anymore when the wax starts to wear. Do I just have to treated AGAIN when I hit the 5-year mark? Or should I be having it treated again already?
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