Opinion about ceramic coating?

[RDATLTE]

so, as a person who has 4 vehicles and 3 of them currently ceramic coated I would highly recommend it....HOWEVER!!!, I would not let a dealership do it. Have a professional detailing shop do it so you can make sure they do a very good paint correction first or else you are going to have a ceramic coating over the factory imperfections in your paint and you will never get them out.
If you have IG look up Elite Finish Detailing and browse through some of their work to get an idea of what a great detailing shop can do for your "factory perfect" paint job.
Car Pro makes a great line of ceramic coating called CQuartz I have the Finest Reserve line on my ZL1, the Professional line on my wife's XT6, and the UK 3.0 on my CTS-V...all of them are great but the finest reserve and pro lines can only be applied by a car pro certified detail shop.
My ZL1 has not had a water bath in over 2 years and still looks perfect with no spider webbing at all.
As for the CT5-V BW it will be going to Elite Finish on the trailer straight from the dealership for full STEK clear or satin PPF and CQuartz pro ceramic over the top of the PPF (overkill but thats fine by me)

Elite does PPF as well? We may need to talk.

 

[arod221]

Elite does PPF as well? We may need to talk.

yeah Wes hired a guy that is amazing with PPF and they are using STEK...check out the product. STEK makes a carbon fiber PPF, Gloss Black PPF, Satin clear, and gloss clear PPF's they even have an irradescent looking one (very interesting) causes a color flip look. any ways, we can talk for sure and I can grease the skids at Elite for you. The owner Wes is a good friend of mine now that he has worked on 6 of my cars hahahaha

 

[SS_Shooter]

I would not let a dealership do it. Have a professional detailing shop do it so you can make sure they do a very good paint correction first or else you are going to have a ceramic coating over the factory imperfections in your paint and you will never get them out.

Agreed! Make sure it's a highly-rated professional shop that can remove all of the swirls and paint defects. Or do it yourself if you are familiar with paint correction.

paint correction is a must for black cars for sure. It makes all the difference in the world.

Agreed! Straight black is the toughest paint color to maintain in terms of keeping it defect/swirl free. I have found that washing the car with a product such as Optimum No-Rinse greatly reduces swirling and marring vs. the traditional 2-bucket washing method.

 

[ajamils]

What do you guys think of these packages?

Packages — Texas Detailing Association

Customizable packages to fit your needs. Combining Ceramic Coating, Paint Correction, Paint Protection Film(PPF)/Clear Bra, Window Tinting, Radar Install, Dash-cam Install, and Hardwiring to give you the best price

www.txdetailingassociation.com

I have never heard of Gtechniq. Is it as good as other ceramic products?

 

[arod221]

I would probably stay away from that @ajamils
the only reason I say that is because I know that my coating with CQuartz finest reserve required 4 hrs under a heat lamp. I feel like you could apply that coating yourself if you wanted to. and they claim only a level 1 paint correction. although, $1800 is a good price but, you typically get what you pay for. I have never seen their work in person so you should only take what I'm saying with a grain of salt bud.

 

[ajamils]

Thank you for the advise.

Any idea about Holy Grail Nano Ceramic? Here is another company claiming to be best in town but I've never heard of their products either.

Ceramic Coating | Houston, Katy, Conroe | Best Ceramic Coating Houston

The best ceramic coating installer in Houston, Katy and Conroe. Siramic Detail installs more nano ceramic coating than anyone in the Houston area.

siramicdetail.com

 

[arod221]

there are a bunch of reviews that you can look at online. I only have real world experience with Car Pro and Chemical Guys products. Here is a link to check out. Note their "best shine" recommendation is Car Pro UK 3.0 which is Car Pro's lower line that you can apply yourself without taking the car to a Car Pro certified installer. A good friend of mine did his own car with this and it turned out really good.
Applying it yourself would save you tons of money and would give you that great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Best Ceramic Coatings Of 2024

Get expert advice on improvements to your home, including design tips, how much you'd expect to pay for a pro and what to ask when hiring experts.

www.forbes.com

 

[arod221]

check out these guys prices. They are Houston CQuartz certified installers

CQuartz Houston TX | Best CQuartz Finest Installer

Get the most out of your CQuartz coating with Executive Auto Detailing. We care about your experience and the long-term results of our coatings. Get a Quote!

www.exeautodetailing.com

 

[sandstrs]

This guy did a you tube to see which ceramic coatings last. It provides some interesting comparisons.

I have watched this many times to see the progression of the coatings through time. Thought this may be helpful to some considering which brands to use. I am not affiliated with this video, company or person in any way, just thought it may provide some information.

 

[sandstrs]

and this one.

he seems to review both self applied and pro applied versions.

 

[arod221]

and this one.

he seems to review both self applied and pro applied versions.

good video, unfortunately he doesn't have access to any of CarPro's professionally applied lines but the CQuartz UK which is the bottom of CarPro's ceramic line is holding up strong. the CarPro reload that he has on there is just a spray on ceramic enhancing liquid...you're supposed to spray that over the actual CQuartz products.

 

[SIX 40]

I've never had any coating applied to any of my cars before. I couldn't sleep the other night so I was up at 2am on my couch reading all about it due to this thread. Thanks, everyone.

I think I'll get it on the BW, I feel like the Infrared paint will look sick with it.

 

[arod221]

I've never had any coating applied to any of my cars before. I couldn't sleep the other night so I was up at 2am on my couch reading all about it due to this thread. Thanks, everyone.

I think I'll get it on the BW, I feel like the Infrared paint will look sick with it.

you won't be disappointed...I was extremely surprised at the results on my ZL1 when I had my first ceramic coating done. I just sold it yesterday and it still feels like it was freshly polished and waxed 3 years later.

 

[Tall Steve]

Once you put a professional coating on a car you will never own another car without one.. My last two cars has them and they are a lot easier clean and protect from contaminates.. I've all ready talked to my guy and as soon as the BW comes in I will go from the dealer to him...He will keep it for a week doing coating and window tinting....That's going to be a long week!

 

[arod221]

Once you put a professional coating on a car you will never own another car without one.. My last two cars has them and they are a lot easier clean and protect from contaminates.. I've all ready talked to my guy and as soon as the BW comes in I will go from the dealer to him...He will keep it for a week doing coating and window tinting....That's going to be a long week!

I couldn't agree more with this statement. Im picking my BW up with my truck and trailer and dropping it off to my shop...not even risking driving it there in this California traffic.

 

[ajamils]

I didn't know it was supposed to be THIS complicated. So many choices and just as many opinions about each. Will have to find someone local to Houston who has some experience with this as I definitely want to get ceramic coating done on my BW.

 

[Ungwei]

I didn't know it was supposed to be THIS complicated. So many choices and just as many opinions about each. Will have to find someone local to Houston who has some experience with this as I definitely want to get ceramic coating done on my BW.

Agreed, it's overwhelming. I will be going straight from dealer to the best guy I can find, will get a clear bra for front and ceramic coating all around.

 

[Tall Steve]

Once you find a guy you can trust just turn it over to them.. I did a little research on the product my guy used but trusted him and so far it's working.....

This is my guy.. This is what I use to wash and shine with...

Homepage - Drive Auto Appearance

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[jdpeake]

There is soooo much information out there on PPF and Ceramic coatings. Reviews are all over the place. Regardless i found a guy outside of Boston who will pick my dirty car up from dealer in a covered trailer, take it to his shop, paint correct if necessary, put on whole car expel ppf and then ceramic coat over everything. $7200. I think I’m going to do it. His review are fantastic. And then tall steve I’ll probably have him do windows too. Like that idea

 

[arod221]

There is soooo much information out there on PPF and Ceramic coatings. Reviews are all over the place. Regardless i found a guy outside of Boston who will pick my dirty car up from dealer in a covered trailer, take it to his shop, paint correct if necessary, put on whole car expel ppf and then ceramic coat over everything. $7200. I think I’m going to do it. His review are fantastic. And then tall steve I’ll probably have him do windows too. Like that idea

even if that price sounds high to most people, that is about the going rate for quality work. I would absolutely pull the trigger on that. Protect that new girl before anything can happen to her.