ceramic coatings on newer cars
 

got a 2011 and 2016 I would like to coat with the ceramic sealant/coating.
Getting prices here of $600 plus.
Looking for input.
I will prep the cars first as the + was for paint correction.
The 2016 has 15K and is always in garage so it needs no corrections.

If you are doing prep and paint correction, then you can coat the cars yourself. The cost is usually mostly tied in to doing paint correction.

One of the best products out there is Modesta

https://www.modesta.co/

I guess I still do not understand what "ceramic" is.
True Ceramic is an oxide of metal- such as Iron oxide, Aluminum oxide, Zink oxide & such.
Yeh, I passed Chemistry, are we really talking about metallic oxide??

When I was a kid prepping cars in a dealership the big thing was "Poly Coat" .. we'd clean a new car that had never been waxed, go to the parts department and get a tiny tube of the product and haphazardly wipe in on the car, wait a bit, wipe it off. $200 thank you ... in 1983'ish.

I was all but ready to get my cars ceramic coated. Havent ruled it out yet. In my younger days I could spend days washing/waxing detailing. But anymore I cant stand any of those tasks. I have seen cars that have had it done professionally and they look fantastic. Long term, no idea? I did a little research and what I found was that most said pro products are better than off the shelf stuff? I was told with a show car, weekend cruiser the product would last a couple of years. With a daily driver a year plus. I would imagine the prep is the time consuming part of the deal. For a full paint correction and coating on my 77 TA I was quoted 1500.

You can buy the sealant from many of the suppliers, it's not difficult to apply. There are newer sealants that are coming out that make the original 'ceramic' sealants a thing of the past.

https://www.meguiarsdirect.com/megui...t-coating.html

https://www.meguiarsdirect.com/megui...ant-16-oz.html

As stated, the key is prep. The sealants not only 'seal', but fill all the micro-divets in the surface, which prevents 'foreign' materials from gathering/sticking there.

Clay bar removes the crap in micro-divets, the 'leveling' sealants/product fills them.

Many of the detail places use Chemical Guys stuff:

https://www.chemicalguys.com/collections/ceramic-kits

https://www.chemicalguys.com/collections/ceramic

You can homework it, find one to try, and save big by you doing the prep.

With that said, there are better, 'hybrid' products that apply & remove easier, and last just as long, if not longer. Used to be if you messed up on the ceramic application you would have to strip it off and try again. The newer and the hybrid products prevent that.

Call around to the detail places and ask what product they use.


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Here's a pro shop that gives advice and has some generic, basic info, as well as some pro product listing:

https://detailingcapecod.com/2022/01...ramic-coating/

One key take-away:

"The best ceramic coating is whatever coating an experienced installer is using!"

Some manufacturers provide a training course before they will sell their product, FYI. To prevent a 'bad' reputation, and, make money.

"What is SiO2? Silicon dioxide is the active ingredient that makes a ceramic coating what it is."

I recently tried this:

https://www.meguiarsdirect.com/megui...300-32-oz.html

I only wanted the polish portion of the product, but was happy to find it works almost as described. It's pretty safe, and won't ever use 'compound' again.


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So paint correction could include touch-up on like scratches and minor dings. A lot of times it includes buffing too. Then it's cleanup after all that, so, it probably is worth it, depending on the car and it's condition.

Buffing isn't that difficult, but if you have never done it, caution is required. Especially if there's a lot of body angles.

Not everything can be buffed with a buffer too, has to be done by hand. So depending on how good of a job they do, it may even be a bargain.


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angles? have you seen late model Cadillacs? Done my share of "paint correction"
but it would need to be on a lift for me to buff the bottom half of car.

Heheh! Yeah, the angles is what I was getting at! And yes on Caddys! Many newer cars are like that!


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Do it yourself.

This is the sh*t I use. I don't know what category it fits into, hybrid, newer, older, etc. I've never been a body and paint guy...in fact I'm an ignorant buffoon when it comes to body and paint. But I've done the ceramic treatment to more than one car and had excellent results. If I can do it, anybody can as I'm not very bright.

I have a Griot's Garage random orbital system, and with their products it's next to impossible to fu*k up a modern car paint job or "burn through" the CC and paint. There's a lot of paint on most new cars. I can't speak to anything but factory paint because otherwise there are too many variables. So I don't worry about curves, body lines or angles too much.

With the Armor Shield IX, you first hand wash the car thoroughly with a soap mix that helps to strip any old wax off the car. I think it's alkaline-base IIRC. If the car is super dirty or there's tar or crap on the paint, then those areas need to be addressed directly before you wash the car. Then, it doesn't hurt to wash it again, if it was extra-dirty in the first place.

After that, you clay bar the car. I don't use actual clay for this anymore...now there's synthetic clay which is as effective without all the downsides of actual clay. Then you must polish the paint. I use the finest polishing compound available and then wipe off.
After that's done, then you have to wipe down the entire car with an isopropanol solution. This removes any traces of the "lubricant" you used when claying and gets rid of any small amounts of polish that didn't come off when you wiped it after the buff.

Now it's ready for the ceramic coating. I do one panel at a time and I make sure not to miss any spots. It should be done in a bright garage and out of direct sunlight. Once applied and dry, then you "level" it, which is a fancy way of saying you buff it off by hand with microfiber towels. No rain or moisture (or morning dew) for 48 hours.....That's it..!! It truly IS ALL ABOUT THE PREP.

I additionally will do the glass, wheels, and any hard plastic surfaces, like the body-colored side mirrors. The process takes me most of a day....probably 6hrs or so.

heres a video I just watched
3 different products mentioned but only 2 are tested.
Ethos Graphene,Crystal Serum Light
Also mentioned is Dr.Beasleys,which is highlighted and some of the chemical properties are broken down and explained.
This may also answer some questions a few have(are you following along Dave S.)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbfr35YkDzk
This is a rather lengthy video so allow plenty of viewing time.

For me the Crystal Serum Light seems to be the least expensive,but Ive also been looking at the 3M stuff,which is at least 2x the price.

ordered stuff to do myself
large bottle,50ml,(ha yea on the large) Crystal Serum Light
a new foam pad,clay mitt I thought I would try vs clay bar,3M prefect it,microfiber towels etc.
Even a 1 gallon sprayer for $15(made in USA to boot) for soap foaming vs the awkward attachment for foam cannon
on the pressure washer

"Ceramic" has been the term used for an oxide of Silicon, or " Si " which you see marketed. A even longer lasting similar coating involves Graphine. I have experience with the actual graphine coating ( 350 for 4 oz bottle) it's not a wash on product. Needs same prep as a REAL Si coating.
Graphine handles the car wash with brushes very well on my Black GMC . It has to be the most hydrophobic stuff I have ever seen. Water is just scared of it! Be looking for graphene radiators soon as this stuff has a huge heat transfer advantage over even copper ( which is best FYI)

Graphene must be the new improved version (goat) of the AS-ix I described in post #11.

Im guessing you didnt watch the video I tagged.
It shows that graphene isnt quite there yet as to outperforming ceramics.
What totally sold me on the Crystal Serum Light was how slick it is.
That gloss meter wouldnt stay put on the CSL treated surface.

Good guess.....there are quite a few links in this thread that I haven't clicked on and additionally I haven't set aside an hour to watch the video you referenced.

I ll save you the trouble
go right to the 20 minute mark