Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

The Anti-Ceramic coating thread

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Wash my car once a month. Don’t really understand the coating. Every other car I have owned -I have just lived with the paint. Got the same amount back when I traded it in. No one asked me about ceramic coatings when I traded them in. Last car I got back almost the exact sticker price back after 2 years of ownership. Took care of it but it had some scratches.

The car condom / ceramic coating baffles me. I wish it would end along with all the 2020 memes.

BBFD834A-F3DF-45B9-A8F0-FF75C25AA245.jpeg
 
Have you ever looked into Ceramic coating? YouTube them, plenty of detailing pros out there doing control A-B test. This is not a gimmick.

In addition to gloss and hydrophobic, it also protects against environment contaminants, making it easier to keep clean/shine when you do your regular wash. it is not meant for rocks and chips....

The only gimmick is how much you should pay for one vs another. Higher $ doesn't always mean better. Most of the offshoot brands (small names) don't make their own product. They OEM from few chemical blender companies and make slight adjustment here and there.

Not sure about PPF, I often wonder the money spent on wrapping entire car (other than color change) could be used to fix any paint defects down the road. But hey, to each of their own....
 
Last edited:
Have you ever looked into Ceramic coating? YouTube them, plenty of detailing pros out there doing control A-B test. This is not a gimmick.

In addition to gloss and hydrophobic, it also protects against environment contaminants, making it easier to keep clean/shine when you do your regular wash. it is not meant for rocks and chips....

The only gimmick is how much you should pay for one vs another. Higher $ doesn't always mean better. Most of the offshoot brands (small names) don't make their own product. They OEM from few chemical blender companies and make slight adjustment here and there.

Not sure about PPF, I often wonder the money spent on wrapping entire car (other than color change) could be used to fix any paint defects down the road. But hey, to each of their own....

I have watched a lot of videos explaining how great ceramic coating is. I myself even have one applied on my previous car. However, these benefits are so minuscule to a point it became irrelevant. An average car owner have the car for couple years then switch to another. They won't even see the effects of the coating.

Again, these coatings are meant for easy washing and keeping the car looking glossy. Once a rock chip or scratch appears, everything became useless. A lot detailers recommended them because of how easy it is to apply and that is a big revenue item. Obviously they would be bias and suggest everyone to have it.
 
Obviously if you lease, no need to worry about paint protection of this kind....

Some ppl find car detailing therapeutic (I for one) I've gone through my shares of detailing craze during my youth. The fact of matter is that chem compounds have advanced so quickly in the past 10 years, it puts your dad's carnauba wax to shame. Those tiny ceramic bottle stuff can last you about a year. You can apply them yourself, no need to hire professionals and pay hundreds in labor fee. If you are uncomfortable, then go for those hybrid ceramic sprays, they are cheap and should last you about 2-3 months. I highly recommend Turtle's Seal and Shine or ceramic hybrids...

My orbital buffers and glut of wax/polishes have been sitting on shelves ever since these tech spray came to market.

Also, please keep in mind that nothing would spare you from regularly washing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jetsurgn
I decided to really pamper my new M3. I drove 2 hours from ME to MA to a highly rated, quality place that only works with high end cars and does a lot of detailing on Teslas. I had PPF put on the front sections and ceramic coating overall. It cost $3000 +, but for me it was worth it. The red paint looks perfect, and many people have commented on it. I wash it regularly with ONR, then water, then drying cloth. This uses total of 4 gal. water and I can do it in the garage if needed.

Now that temps are getting to and below freezing at night and as day temps also fall, I'll have to take it to a touchless car wash, or find a place to hand wash it in a heated space. As I understand it, the coating protects from pollution (which is everywhere for all of us) and other small particles from road work and other construction nearby to where I'm driving.

I've never done all this for any other car, but the Tesla is in a class by itself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: qdeathstar
I think the overwhelming amount of detailing products available is mind boggling.
Remember the three step process, clay-polish-wax, now it’s like a 23 step process.

I’m sticking with the 3 step process, but have much better products to pick from.
1. Clay bar this part hasn’t really changed much.
2. Polish with Meguires ultimate polish, wonderful product with no white residue
3. Protect with a ceramic spray wax

I’m testing 2 different, very reasonably priced ceramic spray products
1. Turtle Wax hybrid solutions vs Meguiar’s hybrid ceramic wax

I’m saving the money I would spend on PPF and professional detailing for my next Tesla. I’ll continue washing/detailing, something I’ve enjoyed doing for all my previous cars.
Scratches and rock chips are just part of life and at the end of the day it’s just a car.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Smitty22211
A lot of misconceptions posted in this thread.

1. For the general public, you can boil down the use of ceramic coating to this statement: It's a longer lasting wax (yeah, I know its not a wax, but your benefit is basically that)
2. Ceramic coating won't product from rock chips, so it's dumb to compare it to ppf. It can help against chemical attacks like bird poop or tree sap.
3. People who get ceramic coating confuse the coating with paint polishing, as the professionals upsell them.

That's why some people think ceramic coating is a $1500 process, when its actually a $60 product you can apply yourself.

Why do it? Because you can wash your car easier. It's like your car is always freshly waxed. Dirt falls off the car, and after I rinse it, the water sheets off. 2 years strong on my carpro ccquartz application, should last another 2 years or so before I would need to consider applying again.

As far as ppf goes, get the front bumper and hood covered. Maybe side view mirrors, headlights, a pillers, and lower side panels too if you want. No reason to cover the side and rear of the car. That's a waste of money. Rocks aren't going to be hitting your car from those directions. I have full front ppf on mine.

tldr: Like to keep your car clean? ceramic coat makes washing easier. Don't like rock chips? ppf on the front can reduce them to almost zero. Especially with the thicker films available today. If you don't wash your car often, or don't care about rock chips, then save your money.



!20200717_140256.jpg
 
Last edited:
You give too much credits to detailers, many of them charge separately for applying ceramic in addition to claying/polishing. I've seen quotes for applying ceramic coating range from $300 to $600. It is crazy. It's a huge markup for them. The product is also a huge markup, that's why you are starting to see brands that sells ONLY ceramic coating.... it baffled me how a company can survive selling $60 bottles while keeping a chemistry research team until I heard about master blender like B&B.

You essentially need 1-2 people doing marketing and promoting and another for shipping/handling. Hell, it could even be a home business.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jetsurgn
Alot of marketing hype. You can think of ceramic coatings as a longer lasting wax that your dad used on his Oldsmobile. After going through the whole gamut of PPF and ceramic coatings, I now simply wash my car either manual or automated car wash and then spray on an instant ceramic wash spray. Takes literally 5 minutes and saves thousands.

Let me amend my quote. The only thing truly worth the money would be paint correction. This should be including the pricing by a detailer for ceramic coating. Paint correction even in a new car and especially with black paint is amazing.
 
I’m testing 2 different, very reasonably priced ceramic spray products
1. Turtle Wax hybrid solutions vs Meguiar’s hybrid ceramic wax

I've done the same. IME, the Meguiar's beads water more tightly but the Turtle Wax products have substantially more gloss. I'm not sure if there's a big durability difference yet. Application comes down to whether you mind buffing something into the paint--I don't mind it so I like the Turtle Wax products a bit more. Meguiar's spray on/off is great for wheels but I find it is sometimes streaky on glass.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jetsurgn
I've done the same. IME, the Meguiar's beads water more tightly but the Turtle Wax products have substantially more gloss. I'm not sure if there's a big durability difference yet. Application comes down to whether you mind buffing something into the paint--I don't mind it so I like the Turtle Wax products a bit more. Meguiar's spray on/off is great for wheels but I find it is sometimes streaky on glass.


Here you go, YouTubers have done the durability for you. In short, there is no reason to use anything but Turle’s Seal and Shine if durability is what you seek. I have a 10 year old MB truck, I have been using Turtles, people make comments on how new my car looks.... I don’t even have a private garage and I haven’t wax my cars for years...
 
  • Informative
Reactions: CyberGus
I responded to a similar thread on another forum about 18 months ago. Here is my response in part:

Ceramic coating is not worth it. I realize this will not be a popular perspective but I’m also not trying to sell you anything. There are a number of professional detailers lurking the forums under “unofficial cover” extolling the virtues of paint protection film, ceramic coatings and other detailing related products. There's also a section of the population who do not truly understand how these ceramic coating systems work, have little experience with their limitations or are simply trying to justify their purchase. Please be aware of this.

From my experience, the car does clean up a bit easier with a ceramic coating but it’s not night and day. Someone also mentioned dirt "falls off the car" as a benefit of a ceramic coated car. That’s simply not true. Dirt absolutely sticks to a ceramic coated car and it’s visible. With the recent proliferation of polymer and silica based spray on options you can now get enhanced performance from a spray on agent that you could not have in years passed. The ceramic coating market as we know it will need a makeover if it plans to be a going concern long term. At this juncture, the cost of ceramic coating significantly outstrips the value. Keep in mind you’re not just paying for the coating. You’re paying for paint prep and that can add a considerable amount to the cost.

As a matter of background, I have owned several performance vehicles and two were ppf’d and coated with arguably the best ceramic coating on the market.
 
Alot of marketing hype. You can think of ceramic coatings as a longer lasting wax that your dad used on his Oldsmobile. After going through the whole gamut of PPF and ceramic coatings, I now simply wash my car either manual or automated car wash and then spray on an instant ceramic wash spray. Takes literally 5 minutes and saves thousands.
Which spray do you use?