Ceramic Coating…Would You Do it Again?

[Cardboardbronco]

For those of you that have had your Bronco a while have you been happy with your ceramic coating?

I had partial xpel ppf and xpel ceramic applied when I first got the truck in 2023. My installer is recommending I do another full paint correction and ceramic coat applied now since I never did a yearly touch up. They also don’t use xpel and use autobahn keramix so not sure if they’re just selling me.

Have you guys had ceramic redone or switched to doing it yourself?

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[03SVTL]

I had it done immediately after getting the Bronco. Promptly took it to Baja and had it pin striped. Most of the pin stripping was buffed out afterwards. I'll reapply every year, it was only $500 for just the painted surfaces on my 2 door. Wish I got PPF for the rocker panels though.

 

[Brian_B]

DIY

Ceramic is only really good for dirt/mud.

 

[Tybh88]

Griots ceramic car wash in a foam cannon after hand wash. Just foam and rinse.

 

[Nate Train]

I did full expel on the Bronco and it's been fantastic. However, I do like the ceramic on my Mustang.

 

[BroncoT]

Applied Adams extended which is supposed to last 7 years. I use Ceramic boost every wash and it’s held up for 4 years so far. Was a fairly full day to apply but definitely worthwhile. Bronco stays clean longer and looks great after a wash.

 

[JCG2042]

I'll never NOT do a ceramic coating ever again. (of course now there is graphene, but I haven't used that yet). The ease in cleaning, etc. is just so superior.

I have used Avalon King ceramic on 2 different brand new vehicles that I self installed with outstanding results. It's a great coating. For our current two cars, I had a local XPEL dealer do it because I had partial PPF applied. On my Bronco, they did a great job and the coating is strong. On my wife's car, they missed some spots that I had to have them do over again. The car was damaged on the driver's side when someone ran into us and we had both doors repaired and the same shop reapplied the coating. However, the body shop got overspray on the hood (which had PPF). That turned into a bit of a runaround, so I removed the overspray myself with polishing compound (by hand) and then re-applied Avalon King over the PPF. I think the XPEL insistence on both of their products being used is BS. So we shall see. The Avalon King (IMHO) is out-performing the XPEL ceramic.

I am also a big fan of paint correction immediately even on a brand new car. I had to go to war with both my last dealerships to NOT TOUCH THE CAR PAINT. Do not wash it. Do not touch it. Don't even take the stickers off if there are some.

Full paint correction is a lot of work if it's older paint. I don't know if I'd trust myself and a DA to do it on my own. I need some old car to practice on. LOL.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Depends on the price, where you live, and what your parking and use it.

 

[J-Lugster]

A self healing PPF is money much better in my opinion.

I've done ceramic coatings on several vehicle over the past 15 years and I think I'm over them now.

Not good enough bang for buck for me.

 

[Bdamdifino]

For me ceramic was a complete waste! Had Bob Moss do it down in Waco,TX. Took it in brand new. They over applied on all the black, topper, bumpers, rock rails, and it's like they forgot the paint. I have yet to see it be truly hydrophobic. For $3300 on a 2 door I expected perfect. What I got was a lick & a promise & my rig out of pocket for almost 3 weeks while they tried to "fix" it. All on a little 2 door Badlands. For me it just isn't worth the headache.

 

[wjtinfwb]

For those of you that have had your Bronco a while have you been happy with your ceramic coating?

I had partial xpel ppf and xpel ceramic applied when I first got the truck in 2023. My installer is recommending I do another full paint correction and ceramic coat applied now since I never did a yearly touch up. They also don’t use xpel and use autobahn keramix so not sure if they’re just selling me.

Have you guys had ceramic redone or switched to doing it yourself?

My '23 in Hot Pepper Red is garaged nightly so maybe not a fair comparison. But it looks like new 3 years and the Florida sun later with just a hand wash every 60 days or so and a quick coat of Mother's liquid wax. The Ford paint is thin as a politicians promise but has held up better than I expected against most rock chips and road grit. Without a garage I'd imagine the Ceramic coating would be much more beneficial.

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

For me ceramic was a complete waste! Had Bob Moss do it down in Waco,TX. Took it in brand new. They over applied on all the black, topper, bumpers, rock rails, and it's like they forgot the paint. I have yet to see it be truly hydrophobic. For $3300 on a 2 door I expected perfect. What I got was a lick & a promise & my rig out of pocket for almost 3 weeks while they tried to "fix" it. All on a little 2 door Badlands. For me it just isn't worth the headache.

No offense and perhaps specific to your market, but $3k for ceramic coating is kinda wild. That's at least partial PPF territory, AFAIK. With the pro-consumer grade ceramic coatings now, you could do it yourself at a fraction of the cost.

 

[3 Pedal Ronnie]

Griot's 3-in-1 is so easy and cheap that there's almost no reason to not DIY it.

 

[Johnny Mo]

Did it myself with Carbon Force Ceramic from Chemical Guys - I will admit I was a non-believer in ceramic when it first came out. I'm very happy with it (except for my own mistakes when applying- or I should say wiping dry in a few small spots). I would 100% re-apply and recommend.

 

[Lee W]

Did a full PPF in STEC self healing film at Aesthetic Auto in Tucson. Super happy, but I am thinking of adding ceramic coating to the PPF. Little Blue still looks great and the film has worked wonders in keeping Arizona Racing Stripes at bay. I was quite frankly amazed after a trip down a path that became just prickly desert with a ton of cactus in all directions.

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