Opinion about ceramic coating?

[jdpeake]

I priced a few others closer to me who had good reviews also and they were upwards of 8-10k which is more than i could swallow. But I definitely agree it needs to go on.

 

[SS_Shooter]

You can buy the necessary tools and products and do it yourself for around $500. It just takes a while to do the paint correction. Figure 5-10 hours for correction, then apply the ceramic coating.

I would recommend a Porter Cable DA polisher like this one: Porter Cable 7424 pad kit, porter cable accessories kit, porter cable polisher kit which is very gentle and impossible to harm the paint with unless you really, really try.

Something like Meguiar's 105/205 would be fine for the correction work: Megauiars Ultra Polish Starter Kit

Any of the ceramic coatings will work, here's Opti-Gloss: Optimum Gloss-Coat Paint Coating or CQuartz: CQuartz Ceramic Quartz Paint Protection, CQuartz nano coating, nano paint sealant

There are plenty of video on YouTube showing correction and application of ceramic coating. It's not rocket science...

 

[ajamils]

I priced a few others closer to me who had good reviews also and they were upwards of 8-10k which is more than i could swallow. But I definitely agree it needs to go on.

I agree. Even though it's an expensive car there is now way I'm spending $5k+ on ceramic coating.

 

[jdpeake]

I’m not. It is a full car wrap in expel and a ceramic coating over it.

 

[BenBaad]

You can buy the necessary tools and products and do it yourself for around $500. It just takes a while to do the paint correction. Figure 5-10 hours for correction, then apply the ceramic coating.

I would recommend a Porter Cable DA polisher like this one: Porter Cable 7424 pad kit, porter cable accessories kit, porter cable polisher kit which is very gentle and impossible to harm the paint with unless you really, really try.

Something like Meguiar's 105/205 would be fine for the correction work: Megauiars Ultra Polish Starter Kit

Any of the ceramic coatings will work, here's Opti-Gloss: Optimum Gloss-Coat Paint Coating or CQuartz: CQuartz Ceramic Quartz Paint Protection, CQuartz nano coating, nano paint sealant

There are plenty of video on YouTube showing correction and application of ceramic coating. It's not rocket science...

I might try my hand at this for the first time on my Camry. Not on the BW.
Ive messed up some simple things before and don’t want this to be one

 

[RDATLTE]

As @arod221 has alluded to previously, some ceramic coatings are only available to be applied by professionals.

 

[mkrup]

I'm still trying to figure out how we started at $1,500ish for dealer installation, upped that to $2,500ish for a better product installed by a professional who specializes in the stuff... and then somehow got up to $8k to $10k?? I've gone the dealer route before and paid $1k or so a number of years back (inflation is expected), and I'm definitely on board for paying a little more to get a better result, but this escalated quickly, haha. Brass tacks: how much should we really be expecting to pay for a decent, professionally installed ceramic coating?

 

[ajamils]

I'm still trying to figure out how we started at $1,500ish for dealer installation, upped that to $2,500ish for a better product installed by a professional who specializes in the stuff... and then somehow got up to $8k to $10k?? I've gone the dealer route before and paid $1k or so a number of years back (inflation is expected), and I'm definitely on board for paying a little more to get a better result, but this escalated quickly, haha. Brass tacks: how much should we really be expecting to pay for a decent, professionally installed ceramic coating?

Exactly! If I cannot find any better for little higher cost I will just go the dealer route. One advantage of that will be that it will be rolled into the loan so it would be even easier.

 

[RDATLTE]

I'm still trying to figure out how we started at $1,500ish for dealer installation, upped that to $2,500ish for a better product installed by a professional who specializes in the stuff... and then somehow got up to $8k to $10k?? I've gone the dealer route before and paid $1k or so a number of years back (inflation is expected), and I'm definitely on board for paying a little more to get a better result, but this escalated quickly, haha. Brass tacks: how much should we really be expecting to pay for a decent, professionally installed ceramic coating?

Ceramic coating as a standalone product or, combined with 100% PPF would explain the pricing gap.

 

[jdpeake]

Paint correction if necessary, then PPF (paint protection film) on whole car followed by a ceramic coating over the PPF. Thats how this got to $7200 for me. Alone no ceramic coating will fetch those prices mentioned above. The coating over the PPF will help seal edges as well as make cleaning a breeze.

 

[ajamils]

Paint correction if necessary, then PPF (paint protection film) on whole car followed by a ceramic coating over the PPF. Thats how this got to $7200 for me. Alone no ceramic coating will fetch those prices mentioned above. The coating over the PPF will help seal edges as well as make cleaning a breeze.

Shouldn't the ceramic coating go first and then you put the film over it to protect it? I have no experience with either but just wondering.

 

[RDATLTE]

Shouldn't the ceramic coating go first and then you put the film over it to protect it? I have no experience with either but just wondering.

No, the PPF wouldn’t even adhere if the ceramic was laid 1st.

 

[jdpeake]

That makes two of us. Never done this before. But after calling 6 shops to a t they all recommended this process. Anyone with knowledge of process please educate us.

 

[jdpeake]

Kind of expecting ceramic benefits from the ppf once coated which in itself is a desired goal easy to clean, washless cleaning, etc

 

[RDATLTE]

Kind of expecting ceramic benefits from the ppf once coated which in itself is a desired goal easy to clean, washless cleaning, etc

That’s my experience when a sealer is applied to the PPF.

 

[arod221]

Shouldn't the ceramic coating go first and then you put the film over it to protect it? I have no experience with either but just wondering.

as stated already by a couple of members, the ceramic coatings, for all intents and purposes is similar to a wax coat that actually adheres to the paint (or whatever its applied to) and lasts much longer than wax, where as the PPF film is a protective layer that adheres to the painted panels of the car. by applying the ceramic to the PPF its like having a water repellent coating on top of your protective layer....it works wonders. your paint is protected by the PPF and you can simply wipe the car off whenever is gets dusty with no chance of ever getting those ugly spider web swirls in your paint.
If you get STEK PPF applied the ceramic coating is almost redundant because the STEK product is extremely water repellent itself. I'm not sure about the other PPF films though. I have seen the STEK product in action because we applied it to the front end of my wife's XT-6. It's a great product IMHO.

 

[mkrup]

Engineering Explained actually did a pretty good video on ceramic coatings and paint protection films a while back. Worth checking out if you're not super familiar with the process.

Still, the whole thing sounds like it's going to be a bit more expensive than I thought...

 

[jdpeake]

Engineering Explained actually did a pretty good video on ceramic coatings and paint protection films a while back. Worth checking out if you're not super familiar with the process.

Still, the whole thing sounds like it's going to be a bit more expensive than I thought...

EXCELLENT video. Confirms my choices. Thanks for putting it out there.

 

[SS_Shooter]

Paint correction if necessary, then PPF (paint protection film) on whole car followed by a ceramic coating over the PPF. Thats how this got to $7200 for me. Alone no ceramic coating will fetch those prices mentioned above. The coating over the PPF will help seal edges as well as make cleaning a breeze.

The ceramic coating goes over the film, as mentioned.

Again, the ceramic coatings you can buy are nearly the same as those applied by pro detailers.

And I'm not sure how they can quote a paint correction fee without seeing the car first. If you can get the dealer NOT to wash the car, it's likely that it will only require minimal correction (3-4 hours?) unless the factory does a swirlomatic job on it...

At $50 to $100 an hour, that's only $400 of correction work. If it's really jammed up, it might take 8 hours, but I couldn't see it taking much longer than that. It's not like you've been running it through tunnel washes for 2 years.

 

[jdpeake]

The ceramic coating goes over the film, as mentioned.

Again, the ceramic coatings you can buy are nearly the same as those applied by pro detailers.

And I'm not sure how they can quote a paint correction fee without seeing the car first. If you can get the dealer NOT to wash the car, it's likely that it will only require minimal correction (3-4 hours?) unless the factory does a swirlomatic job on it...

At $50 to $100 an hour, that's only $400 of correction work. If it's really jammed up, it might take 8 hours, but I couldn't see it taking much longer than that. It's not like you've been running it through tunnel washes for 2 years.

The car is being delivered to dealer then to me without being washed. Then from the dealer it is being delivered in a closed trailer to shop for paint work. Essentially price is with little to no paint correction.