Ceramic coating a car

[JonathanRyan]

Anybody had it done? What did you get? Was it worth it?

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I just bought a nice car. I was thinking of getting it cleaned and ceramic coated to keep it looking nice. This is partly to "protect my investment", partly to make cleaning easier and partly because I think it looks nice Local detailing firm are quoting me £650 for all prep followed by Crystal Serum Light and EXO. Another firm want about half that, and another want nearly double. The difference is the amount of prep they will do - the top quote will spend about 20 hours on polishing alone.

BTW yes, I know the materials would only cost me £100 or so. But I'd rather spend 3 days doing something I enjoy

And yes, of course, I'd love to see pictures if you've had this done.

 

[leaky5]

My sons has all his new cars done.

Our new car received a sand papering wash from the suppliers PDI department and was covered in tiny scratches. They agreed for the firm who my son used to polish them all out. They managed to include a basic ceramic coating with the polish for £650.

Apparently you have to be careful with washing them. But I am lucky my son loves all that and does mine for me.

 

[Gav.]

Personally I prefer to wax my cars

I would imagine it's down to what level of 'defect' removal they are going to do, swirls, scratches etc..

£6-800 sounds about right for the average new(ish) car, wash, machine polish, prep and coat.

Crystal Serum Light and EXO is ment to be very good.

Maintainance is key to the life of the coating, wash'n'wax shampoos will spoil the finish, so ask about after care, they may say you need to visit them every 6 mths for decon wash, but if normal wash is done using the right stuff you should be ok for a few years without re-visits

(A good place will only quote after seeing and inspecting a car)

Ask if they have photos or cars there you can look at to see if their work is ok, most will take photos, evens if they push the 'reflections/gloss' far too much

If your interested this site is loaded with info..
I've spent far too much on polish and car wax thanks to reading it

Detailing World Forum

A forum community dedicated to UK-based automotive detailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about methods, materials, equipment, restoration, classifieds, troubleshooting, and more!

www.detailingworld.co.uk

 

[ancient_mariner]

My wife's mini was done when we bought it - didn't seem very different to a good wax TBH.

 

[markyboy.1967]

As mentioned, onky fet it done if you are willing to maintain it properly. No point getting it done half arsed so you need tge swirls/marks removed first. Around £600-£800 for a small/medium car with some defects and £800-1500 for a larger car with more defect removal first.

I just did my brakes and wheels, still got my winter wheels to do but so far so good. Took a while to prep but worth doing in my opinion.

 

[beyond the blue]

I bought a Lexus ES300h at Christmas. I only heard of ceramic coating at the time I ordered the car so spent the time waiting for delivery to do some research. I visited a few detailers who did it and noticed a big difference in their setups from cheap (who do it outside at the back of a shop) and the top end specialists (who have air filtered dedicated premises). I went with the specialist who was 3 times the cost of the guy in the back street.

It cost just over 1k but for that he had it for 4 days and did the full body, all windows including the sun roof and removed the wheels to coat them inside and out. He offered 3 different levels of protection 1, 3, and 5 years, I went for the 5 year protection. The technician (as they like to call themselves these days) stressed that the most important thing was to arranged with the dealer that the bodywork should not be touched at all as part of the PDI and he would only coat a new car if it was given to him with all the protective film still on, including the usual vehicle production markings on the windows.

I managed to get Lexus Bolton to agree with this, although it did them out of their fancy hand over ceremony. With regard to what difference ceramic coating makes is a tough one to answer, yes it seems to be easy to clean and rain refuses to stick to the windows and I haven't seen any tar spots at all, even though we have had a hot summer. I'm a bit fastidious when it comes to car cleaning using all the methods that keep touching the paintwork to a minimum, including a blower dryer (much to the amusement of the neighbours).

Before and after....

 

[woof woof]

I'd never heard of this but now I'm tempted

 

[JonathanRyan]

I bought a Lexus ES300h at Christmas. I only heard of ceramic coating at the time I ordered the car so spent the time waiting for delivery to do some research. I visited a few detailers who did it and noticed a big difference in their setups from cheap (who do it outside at the back of a shop) and the top end specialists (who have air filtered dedicated premises). I went with the specialist who was 3 times the cost of the guy in the back street.

It cost just over 1k but for that he had it for 4 days and did the full body, all windows including the sun roof and removed the wheels to coat them inside and out. He offered 3 different levels of protection 1, 3, and 5 years, I went for the 5 year protection. The technician (as they like to call themselves these days) stressed that the most important thing was to arranged with the dealer that the bodywork should not be touched at all as part of the PDI and he would only coat a new car if it was given to him with all the protective film still on, including the usual vehicle production markings on the windows.

I managed to get Lexus Bolton to agree with this, although it did them out of their fancy hand over ceremony. With regard to what difference ceramic coating makes is a tough one to answer, yes it seems to be easy to clean and rain refuses to stick to the windows and I haven't seen any tar spots at all, even though we have had a hot summer. I'm a bit fastidious when it comes to car cleaning using all the methods that keep touching the paintwork to a minimum, including a blower dryer (much to the amusement of the neighbours).

Before and after....

I know the lighting is different - but the after looks stunning. And especially interesting since I have a silver car

As mentioned, onky fet it done if you are willing to maintain it properly. No point getting it done half arsed so you need tge swirls/marks removed first. Around £600-£800 for a small/medium car with some defects and £800-1500 for a larger car with more defect removal first.

I just did my brakes and wheels, still got my winter wheels to do but so far so good. Took a while to prep but worth doing in my opinion.

I understand the need for proper prep (which is why I wouldn't do it myself) but hadn't realised they need special maintenance. Is it just down to using the "right" products? Or will it actually add maintenance time? On the right day I quite enjoy washing the car but don't get round to it as often as I might - especially in winter.

 

[beyond the blue]

I know the lighting is different - but the after looks stunning. And especially interesting since I have a silver car



I understand the need for proper prep (which is why I wouldn't do it myself) but hadn't realised they need special maintenance. Is it just down to using the "right" products? Or will it actually add maintenance time? On the right day I quite enjoy washing the car but don't get round to it as often as I might - especially in winter.

More the right method rather than the right products. Personally speaking if you are not extremely keen on car car and keeping it in tip top condition I wouldn't spend the money on Ceramic coating. A silver car is not as bad at showing swirl marks as some other colours but if you use abrasive products like the 'no water cleaners' or use drive through car washers forget ceramic coating as it won't last two minutes. My method is low pressure washer rinse, snow foam pre-wash, pressure washer rinse, two bucket method wash, pressure washer rinse, blow dry followed with a final spray of quick detailer. The idea is to keep touching the paintwork to the minimum.

 

[saltireblue]

I have a 10yo RR Evoque which I have treated with DropOff from new. An initial treatment and annual 'top-ups' and after 10 years still looks like new. Certainly a good investment, in my opinion, and saves the pain of having to wax the vehicle yourself.

 

[woof woof]

I was thinking about taking my latest new to me buy for a full valet but now I think something like this could be an idea. I'll look into it a bit more.

My bank balance wont thank you guys

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

I

But I'd rather spend 3 days doing something I enjoy

I prefer a dirty car, myself.

It has more style and shows that the owner isn't an obsessive show off!

Mind you, it's possible to go too far down that route...

 

[woof woof]

I prefer a dirty car, myself.

It has more style and shows that the owner isn't an obsessive show off!

Mind you, it's possible to go too far down that route...

One thing with not showing off is that your car is likely to rot away a lot faster meaning you'll be using more of the earths precious reassess buying a new one or at least one which is new to you which the previous owner looked after better.

 

[wyx087]

What about PPF?
Ceramic coating is nice for the much nicer look of the car, but feels like it's purely cosmetic.
To really protect the paintwork, another proper physical layer of protection like PPF sounds more useful. Especially for stone chips.

Also got to remember Tesla's are aluminium panels. So paint repair may be more expensive than normal steel panel cars?

 

[JonathanRyan]

What about PPF?
Ceramic coating is nice for the much nicer look of the car, but feels like it's purely cosmetic.
To really protect the paintwork, another proper physical layer of protection like PPF sounds more useful. Especially for stone chips.

Also got to remember Tesla's are aluminium panels. So paint repair may be more expensive than normal steel panel cars?

It's a nice idea, but full wrap is £4k+....

 

[Plain Nev]

I think there must be different interpretations of ceramic coating. I'm more used to it being used in connection with dispersing heat on exhausts and manifolds.

 

[the black fox]

I have a full car kit from Toyota lying around in the garage if your interested I'll put it in the classiefied