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Ceramic coating on new car?

2K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  Blackroc 
#1 ·
Due to pick up my estoril blue M140i next Friday :D cant wait.

Anyway iv requested that the dealer does nothing more than remove the protective film and give it a rinse down to avoid any possible damage.

Iv always been pretty keen weekend warrior when it comes to detailing my previous cars and take great pride in how they look!

Planning the following for the car shortly after I get it home:

1.pre rinsed with citrus wash.
2.pre washed with Ph neutral foam.
3.hand washed with wool mitt,and 2 buckets with grit guards.
4.Bodywork clayed.
5.re washed.
6.dried.
7. Polish as needed. Hoping to get away with a single run with Megs ultimate compound??

Now heres where I'm stumped. Seen alot of stuff about Ceramic coatings lately. Iv always been a Wax guy, Used a large verity or brands/styles and used to wax my old focus ST once a month or so with PoorBoys Nattys wax is it was by far my favorite to work with.

Just looking to see if anyone has applied a ceramic coating VS a wax or normal polymer based sealant? Good chance to show off your hard work :wink:

Heres my old Focus with the above done + CG blacklight and CG V12


And My E46 330ci before she was turned into the track/Drift wepon



Any chance to show off the cars :redface:
 
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#2 ·
The idea of the ceramic coatings is they last much longer than a wax, maybe as much as 2-3 years.

The trade off was that they didn't leave a finish as good as a wax would be - shine, water beading etc. I'm not sure how true that still is.

What is apparent to me is that although many laud the durability of ceramic coatings many "top up" to help it along - lots of people who use Gtechniq for example also use C2v3 or EXO periodically - just to keep the finish looking good.

The other downside is (imho) they are miserable to apply - you need a certain temperature for it to cure (some as long as 24 hours!), can't get wet or be too humid in that time, you need to apply thinly but they are very difficult to see, so how do you know where you've been ?

I've used gtechniq C5 on wheels before and whilst I have no doubt it really does work it was horrid to apply and offered no hydrophobic properties at all. I've abandoned it and use raceglaze sealant now which I'm quite happy with.

I think if someone comes up with a ceramic that has a colour to it that evaporates / goes away as it cures they'd be on to a good thing.

For bodywork have a look at Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax, its cheap as chips and is really quite good. If correctly applied it'll last months.
 
#3 ·
My mate had his A45 AMG ceramic coated, I'll see if he can send me the details (pun intended :D) and some photos.

I suppose it depends on your wash regime and how much your car is exposed to the elements. I had the M135i detailed shortly after taking delivery of it and because it was garaged every night and protected the beading and paint condition was still unbelievable when we traded it in 2 and a half years later.

Ours was not ceramic coated but treated with a good quality wax and topped up by myself on a couple of occasions with Collinite, I say a couple of occasions because I felt the less I touched the paint the fewer make it was likely to get.

Horses for courses.

Andy.
 
#6 ·
Ok....I put a post up on my Business Facebook page last week with some info about Ceramic Coatings - hopefully it translates ok on here but it covers most questions I get asked about them.

Also enclosed is some images of cars I've prepared for customers using CarPro CQuartz or GTechniq products.

Feel free to add any questions if you guys get any [emoji106]

"one of the main questions and enquiries I'm getting asked about these days is about Ceramic Coatings on cars, what they are, how they differ from normal products, are they suitable for different vehicles and of course are they as good as they are supposed to be....

From a simplistic point of view, Ceramic Coatings are liquid glass that is applied and bonds to the paint itself, as apposed to Waxes and Sealants that sit on top. The chemical composition of Coatings is such that they resist wash chemicals, road salt, heat and airborn contaminates over 2-4 years that will degrade a wax or sealant in a few months. They are as you can imagine much more intricate to apply, and have to be applied Indoors to perfectly clean paint (hence a machine polishing stage or two) and need to be left indoors after application for a minimum of 12- 24Hrs.

They provide a glass like, ultra slick finish that rain, road salt and general road grime finds very hard to stick too, and as such washing is stupidly easy to do afterwards. These products of course are perfect for those that like a low maintenance car to look after, or want a long term solution to protecting paintwork, glass and wheels. The only maintenance strategy a coated car needs is a yearly / bi-yearly deep clean to remove the airborn contaminates that will over time sit on top of the coatings surface robbing it of its self cleaning properties. The coating will still be fine sat underneath and will return as normal once the deep clean has been done."

























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
Blackroc said:
Ok....I put a post up on my Business Facebook page last week with some info about Ceramic Coatings - hopefully it translates ok on here but it covers most questions I get asked about them.

Also enclosed is some images of cars I've prepared for customers using CarPro CQuartz or GTechniq products.

Feel free to add any questions if you guys get any [emoji106]

"one of the main questions and enquiries I'm getting asked about these days is about Ceramic Coatings on cars, what they are, how they differ from normal products, are they suitable for different vehicles and of course are they as good as they are supposed to be....

From a simplistic point of view, Ceramic Coatings are liquid glass that is applied and bonds to the paint itself, as apposed to Waxes and Sealants that sit on top. The chemical composition of Coatings is such that they resist wash chemicals, road salt, heat and airborn contaminates over 2-4 years that will degrade a wax or sealant in a few months. They are as you can imagine much more intricate to apply, and have to be applied Indoors to perfectly clean paint (hence a machine polishing stage or two) and need to be left indoors after application for a minimum of 12- 24Hrs.

They provide a glass like, ultra slick finish that rain, road salt and general road grime finds very hard to stick too, and as such washing is stupidly easy to do afterwards. These products of course are perfect for those that like a low maintenance car to look after, or want a long term solution to protecting paintwork, glass and wheels. The only maintenance strategy a coated car needs is a yearly / bi-yearly deep clean to remove the airborn contaminates that will over time sit on top of the coatings surface robbing it of its self cleaning properties. The coating will still be fine sat underneath and will return as normal once the deep clean has been done."

























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It's a shame your not closer to me, I'm looking for a new car detail on our car, place I took the M135i to for the same now wants another 350 quid more to do the M140i. :lol2:
 
#8 ·
DurhamLad1973 said:
Blackroc said:
Ok....I put a post up on my Business Facebook page last week with some info about Ceramic Coatings - hopefully it translates ok on here but it covers most questions I get asked about them.

Also enclosed is some images of cars I've prepared for customers using CarPro CQuartz or GTechniq products.

Feel free to add any questions if you guys get any [emoji106]

"one of the main questions and enquiries I'm getting asked about these days is about Ceramic Coatings on cars, what they are, how they differ from normal products, are they suitable for different vehicles and of course are they as good as they are supposed to be....

From a simplistic point of view, Ceramic Coatings are liquid glass that is applied and bonds to the paint itself, as apposed to Waxes and Sealants that sit on top. The chemical composition of Coatings is such that they resist wash chemicals, road salt, heat and airborn contaminates over 2-4 years that will degrade a wax or sealant in a few months. They are as you can imagine much more intricate to apply, and have to be applied Indoors to perfectly clean paint (hence a machine polishing stage or two) and need to be left indoors after application for a minimum of 12- 24Hrs.

They provide a glass like, ultra slick finish that rain, road salt and general road grime finds very hard to stick too, and as such washing is stupidly easy to do afterwards. These products of course are perfect for those that like a low maintenance car to look after, or want a long term solution to protecting paintwork, glass and wheels. The only maintenance strategy a coated car needs is a yearly / bi-yearly deep clean to remove the airborn contaminates that will over time sit on top of the coatings surface robbing it of its self cleaning properties. The coating will still be fine sat underneath and will return as normal once the deep clean has been done."

























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It's a shame your not closer to me, I'm looking for a new car detail on our car, place I took the M135i to for the same now wants another 350 quid more to do the M140i. :lol2:
You have PM [emoji106]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#9 ·
They all Look amazing! I got in touch with afew local places who offered a "new car detail" or a "ceramic service" most where between £350-£500. some saying it would be done over one full day and others saying they would need the car for up to 3 for curing between products etc :eek:

As i said previous i like giving stuff a go myself but sadly dont have anywhere to control temperature etc for curing a fully fledged ceramic coating so iv went ahead and ordered some Dojo Juice Supernatural nano hybrid to try. seen reviews over on detailing world of it lasting 8-9 months which is more than long enough for my needs as i was just trying to get away from waxing once a month of more while keeping the crazy beading and ease of washing properties :D

roll on Friday for collection :cool2:
 
#11 ·
mike661 said:
They all Look amazing! I got in touch with afew local places who offered a "new car detail" or a "ceramic service" most where between £350-£500. some saying it would be done over one full day and others saying they would need the car for up to 3 for curing between products etc :eek:

As i said previous i like giving stuff a go myself but sadly dont have anywhere to control temperature etc for curing a fully fledged ceramic coating so iv went ahead and ordered some Dojo Juice Supernatural nano hybrid to try. seen reviews over on detailing world of it lasting 8-9 months which is more than long enough for my needs as i was just trying to get away from waxing once a month of more while keeping the crazy beading and ease of washing properties :D

roll on Friday for collection :cool2:
You have to remember that the products used in applying Coatings are not cheap - I easily get through £80 - £100 of coating products per car, and some Detailers will apply 3 or 4 coats on top of what I do to offer 7 year warranties, and that's the time / product cost you have to factor in to a quote. A tub of £40 wax will last 25 to 30 applications, a 50ml bottle of coating at £65 will get used in one go, a huge difference.

DDJ SNH is one of my favourite waxes by the way, so a great choice [emoji106]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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