HELP! Ceramic Coating. Worth it?

[BroncoTrail]

It's pretty much the thigh cream from the 90's. My mom used it but the kids still see the cottage cheese during the summers.

More info here: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-02-vl-64785-story.html

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[HoosierDaddy]

If you have winters and daily drive it AND apply the various sacrificial layers they are pushing now ... expect 2 MAAAAYBE 3 years out of your ceramic ESPECIALLY on the vertical panels.
If you live in a sunshine State, the sun will tear up the ceramic just as it does your regular paint, so same thing, only a few years of lifespan.

If you have a sunny day only weekend warrior that lives in a garage 360 days of the year, yep , it will last MUCH longer.

Yes, it beads water unbelievably well.
Yes the car will stay cleaner longer.
Sometimes a nice rain shower will wash your car for you.
Better protection from bugs and birds.
No added protection from brush and twigs ... trail pinstriping. PPF will help much better for that. Again , limited lifespan.

I will probably try ceramic myself before too long. I usually do a good paint correction every spring and a quality sealer ... so applying a ceramic instead will not be any more work.
Top of my list is currently the Kamikaze brand for the ceramic.

I did do ceramic on my Methods before they had tires mounted. I'll say this, I've used nothing more than the pressure washer aimed at the inner barrels and they are still spotless 13,000 miles and a year later.
https://www.autogeek.net/cquartz-dlux.html

In my area, I'm really lucky to get 3 months out of most waxes or sealnts, so if I can get 2 years of easy cleaning, I'll be happy. I don't expect miracles though.

.... and yes, I did some Zaino a number of years ago and the car looked FANTASTIC ... right up until the wife sprayed it with the garden hose to get the dust off and then let it dry ... thought she was doing me a favor.
I was CRUSHED. SOOO much work just destroyed. I didn't tell her how bad she had fucked up that polish/wax job until YEARS later. I didn't have an orbital yet at that point ... all done by hand.

 

[2fast4u]

I have had full PPF on my last 2 cars. With my Wildtrak coming in I will most likely just do Ceramic to help with UV damage and so on. There is not anything that is a do all Item. I will not be keeping the wildtrak in the garage with my other cars so that's why I'm not doing PPF.

 

[broncodream]

Hi! I had mine professionally ceramic coated (with a five year warranty) a few weeks ago and LOVE it! I also had the windows, plastic, rims, and interior treated as well, and I’m so glad I did… Since having it treated, it’s so much easier to clean, and makes my Oxford White look brighter and flawless even if it’s due to be washed. We are having a new garage built (with a ceiling lift for my hardtop!) and they just demoed our original one, so between my Wildtrak being out in the elements AND the dust bowl created from the demo, she still looks clean - I think the CC also helps inhibit particles from attaching themselves onto the truck. The company came to our house and spent all day here, so I really feel like it was money well spent for the time and effort - the whole package came to about $1,600.00 and that was with three people working on it for almost nine hours, and then they came back the next day to check on it, too. They also come wash her two to three times a month, which is great because I don’t have to worry about car washes messing her up - we don’t have any touchless ones where I live, so that’s not an option. Bottom line is that I too went back and forth on the idea of ceramic coating, but with investing so much financially (and emotionally!) in her already, I’d like to preserve her for as long as I can! They are also so hard to get, along with their parts and such, so I’m trying to keep her very much intact as to not run into problems. Hope that helped!

Hi, I know this is a super old thread, but if you don't mind .. are you still happy with it? And did you have the hard top done too? Thanks!

 

[Classics Fan]

My first experience with ceramic coating began in November 2019 when I purchased a new F350 Super Duty. After clay bar and paint correction using a DA buffer and Chemical Guys’ Optical Grade line of polishes I applied 3 layers of Avalon King coating to lock-in and protect the jeweled finish. The result was a lustrous deep shine that shed water and helped greatly from dirt and grime sticking making it easier to wash and keep clean. My pickup is garaged 95% of the time and I only hand wash, never would I use an automatic car wash (coated or not). Under these conditions the ceramic did its job for 4 years until I redid the entire clay bar/polish/ceramic process a couple of months ago.

As was mentioned previously the work is in the prep. Even brand new vehicles have correction work that needs to be done to achieve optimal results. That said, total time invested in the Super Duty was around 30 (yes, 30!) hours. It’s a big vehicle with a Leer shell on the bed. Around 25 hours of paint correction and 5 hours applying the ceramic. I got a 4 door Bronco WildTrak Shadow Black hardtop in September and clayed/corrected/coated it in October. Total time on that vehicle was approximately 20 hours.

Obviously I feel the results are worth the effort as I keep repeating the process but 1) I’m anal about my vehicles, 2) I enjoy working on them, and 3) I’m retired and have the time.

Highly recommend Chemical Guys Optical Grade polishes and Avalon King ceramic coating.

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