Is ceramic coating worth it for a new car?

[MrSquished]

Glad someone else called him on his bullshit.

Saying paint will only last a few years is insane.

That guy is pretty much always an idiot about everything. It's uncanny.

 

[Red Squirrel]

uh, you are absolutely insane.

paint and corrosion protection is miles ahead of what it used to be, including electrostatic paints for improved adhesion to the frame.

My dad has sold cars for over 30 years, he can attest to this. They also put way more salt on the roads now, which doesn't help either. Just look at any car that is a couple years old and you'll start to see rust spots already if it doesn't get undercoated regularly or touched up. Especially the bottom part of the rocker panels and fenders, which sees the most salt.

The newer Ford F150's with aluminium body are better for this though as they don't rust as much. Any form of protective coating can't hurt either way though.

If your car is a pavement princess that only comes out in the summer, then that's another story, the paint is going to last decades. I'm talking about daily drivers that see all sorts of conditions.

 

[repoman0]

Pretty weird that my wife’s 40k mile, four year old year round driven never washed Mazda has all of its paint and no rust on any of the body panels. If Red Squirrel knew what he was talking about I’d expect the car to be ready to go to the boneyard by now.

 

[Fenixgoon]

My dad has sold cars for over 30 years, he can attest to this. They also put way more salt on the roads now, which doesn't help either. Just look at any car that is a couple years old and you'll start to see rust spots already if it doesn't get undercoated regularly or touched up. Especially the bottom part of the rocker panels and fenders, which sees the most salt.

The newer Ford F150's with aluminium body are better for this though as they don't rust as much. Any form of protective coating can't hurt either way though.

If your car is a pavement princess that only comes out in the summer, then that's another story, the paint is going to last decades. I'm talking about daily drivers that see all sorts of conditions.

So under more aggressive conditions, vehicles still rust.
Which means if you could magically obtain a fresh-off-the-line vehicle from 1970 or 1980, it would rust even worse than a modern vehicle.

It's like saying they don't make cars as durable as they used to because they're no longer rigid steel framed deathtraps. The whole point of the car crumpling is that *you don't*.

 

[evident]

I don't know what people's deal is on this thread. Ceramic coat is TOTALLY worth it. have you tried washing a car that had ceramic paint applied and one without? night and day difference. FYI if you were to DIY it, you would need to have it parked in a garage, and you would need to give yourself a weekend to do it "right". alternatively, you can take it to a detailer and have them claybar and paint correct your paint , and then you can take it home and do one final pass and then apply the ceramic coating.

I reapplied it to my 07 Lexus RX since almost new and the paint is still in great shape, minus a rust spot on the wheel well.

So under more aggressive conditions, vehicles still rust.
Which means if you could magically obtain a fresh-off-the-line vehicle from 1970 or 1980, it would rust even worse than a modern vehicle.

It's like saying they don't make cars as durable as they used to because they're no longer rigid steel framed deathtraps. The whole point of the car crumpling is that *you don't*.

The stuff they use to salt the roads up here is nasty... ceramic coating isn't going to do jack to help with subframe and underbody rotting out. and paints on certain manufacturers are notoriously horrible, particularly Honda! Every honda (2003 and up) i've owned or my family has owned has had paint issues, especially older ones. Made in Japan, Made in USA, don't matter. People love to blame the EPA but i claim BS because alot of brands have figured out how to work within the confines of those regulations and still have decent paint. Just saw on the news that hyundai kia have issues with their white paints now too.

 

[NutBucket]

A proper ceramic coating yes. Anything from the dealership, just run.

No judgement, if you're happy with the appearance of your car without paint correction, waxed and such then enjoy. Us OCD folks want more

 

[purbeast0]

So I washed my car yesterday to get off all the salt just from the snow.

I also learned that the foam canon doesn't work very well hooked to a normal hose. After using it and seeing how the foamn looked nothing like what I saw in videos, and rather just looked like a wet soapy mixture that slid down my car pretty quickly, I kind of rushed to wipe it all off before it dried and left spots. Afterwards, I googled and yah, you need a pressure washer to get that true foam, which I do have, so next time I will try that.

I did notice today that the trim between the windows almost looks like it already has swirl marks from washing it. I used a microfiber mitt to wash it and did not put much pressure at all when wiping down the car before rinsing it off.

I did dry it with a brand new microfiber towel and definitely noticed A LOT of fuzzies on my car, but a lot of them have since fell of after driving. I noticed what I thought were swirl marks today when I got to the gym with the right light angle hitting it, but I dunno if it could possibly just be fuzzies.

I mean is that common to get swirl marks on your FIRST wash of the car, using (what I thought at least) was the right equipment and applying very minimal pressure?

Also, is this something that would just go away with the ceramic coating, like as they are prepping the car and doing that whole procedure?

I am still in the talks with the one shop and I think I am going to do it. I actually read up on PPF as well and got a quote for doing the front of my car, but that is more than I want to spend right now so I am going to pass on that.

But ideally I want to get the 10yr coating + window tint. I am currently waiting to hear back from them in regards to pricing if I do both if they offer any discounts. From what I have been reading, these places often will negotiate and drop prices if you just ask them about it so I figure it won't hurt to see if they offer any discount. With the PPF and ceramic coating and tint, they were offering a $400 discount but it was still nearly $4k.

 

[NutBucket]

There's no such thing as a 10 year coating unless you just leave the car parked in the garage.

Also it's likely the dealer washed your car with a brush as part of their PDI, so there's your swirls.

 

[purbeast0]

Well he never said it lasts 10 year, rather the warranty covers a 10 year period as I posted in his reply earlier in this thread.

And this brings me to a couple of questions about those of you who have experience with ceramic coatings or are just knowledgeable about it. I am pretty sure I do want to get it though.

1. All things equal, with the information I've given in this thread, does the 10 year one seem worth it over the 4 year one? It is a $600 difference and I am going to see if I can get it down to $1700 so it would be a $500 difference. As I explained he said the "10 year" one takes 4 more hours so they do more coatings of something as I posted with his replies in this thread as well. Based on the response above that it won't last 10 years, how long should I expect it to actual last, and is this something that people tend to get done again after like 4-5 more years? And if that is the case, does the 10 year warranty one make much sense?

2. Would getting this done in the winter time be better or worse since the car is going to be more dirty in the winter due to snow and stuff, if we get more bad weather, and it's harder for me to wash it manually myself in this weather in my driveway. Keep in mind I have only had the car for 2 weeks so if I do it now, it would be sooner than if I waited a couple of months until it's warmer in the spring time and it's going to be out in the elements over that time.

 

[I'dluv2]

I live in Hell Arizona, and the sun is brutal on cars. It's not so much the paint it's the clear coat that fails. We had a 2014 car that the clear coat started failing. Got rid of it for a newer model, had it ceramic coated. This car stays outside, it's been 2 years and still looks good and smooth. After every other wash a "tune up" with a ceramic spray cleaner makes it shine.

 

[NutBucket]

2 years? Time for fresh application.

 

[purbeast0]

I think I am going to go with the 4 year warranty one strictly for $$ reasons. I can get that + the ceramic tint for the front windows for $1325, or the the 10 year one for $1825. At this point it is just looking like I'm going to do the cheaper one with a shorter warranty though.

They do an annual check to be sure everything is still looking good, however he said the car has to be extremely clean for them to check it so most people just opt for a full detail + booster application, which is $100. That sounds fair to me for the detail alone so I am okay with that.

I just want to wait for all this damn snow/salt to be gone before I do it though because my car is just going to get super dirty as soon as I get it out of there if the roads are all still nasty.

 

[BoomerD]

I think I am going to go with the 4 year warranty one strictly for $$ reasons. I can get that + the ceramic tint for the front windows for $1325, or the the 10 year one for $1825. At this point it is just looking like I'm going to do the cheaper one with a shorter warranty though.

They do an annual check to be sure everything is still looking good, however he said the car has to be extremely clean for them to check it so most people just opt for a full detail + booster application, which is $100. That sounds fair to me for the detail alone so I am okay with that.

I just want to wait for all this damn snow/salt to be gone before I do it though because my car is just going to get super dirty as soon as I get it out of there if the roads are all still nasty.

Of course...you COULD look at it like..."Damn, if I get it done now, then all my rig will have a better chance standing up to all that nasty salt and slush..."

 

[purbeast0]

Of course...you COULD look at it like..."Damn, if I get it done now, then all my rig will have a better chance standing up to all that nasty salt and slush..."

Yeah I am not talking waiting like 2 months, I'm talking more like 1-2 weeks.

 

[yottabit]

Protecting against underbody rust is a totally separate thing from exterior paint.

If you live in an area where roads are heavily salted I have become a big believer in annual application of Fluid Film or similar lanolin wax style product for the underbody / frame / subframe.

Our cars are 2006, 2009, and 2013 and after starting application of that there’s been barely any rust progression and no new rust forming. Wish I knew about it sooner. I just use the cans from Home Depot, only takes a few cans to do the important bits of all the vehicles but it is time consuming and you want to do it on a 60-70 deg F day. I also pressure wash the underbody first and then let it dry for at least couple days before applying.

Sometimes rust is unavoidable due to poor design, e.g leakage path or improper draining of rocker panels or frame / subframe. For some vehicles drilling weep holes can help

The paint on all 3 cars has held up fine and I barely take care of it…

 

[manly]

Yeah I am not talking waiting like 2 months, I'm talking more like 1-2 weeks.

1-2 weeks? There's no question here. Get it done at your convenience.

Your car is still "brand new" and who knows when a pebble flies at your car on the highway, or some careless person pushes a shopping cart too close.

 

[purbeast0]

1-2 weeks? There's no question here. Get it done at your convenience.

Your car is still "brand new" and who knows when a pebble flies at your car on the highway, or some careless person pushes a shopping cart too close.

Yeah I am just talking I'd like to wait until the current snow is all gone so that when I'm driving home from getting it done, my cars not dirty when I get to my driveway.

 

[purbeast0]

Well I dropped my car off today for tint on the front windows and a ceramic coating.

It takes over 8 hours for everything so I'll be picking it up tomorrow at around 5pm.

I'll post some pics afterwards. I didn't take any before pics since it was dirty but I have some from the dealership and right when I got home so it will be somewhat of a comparison shot.

 

[purbeast0]

I am VERY happy with the results. I'd say the pics don't really do justice to just how everything looks in person with the shinyness/reflections. I wish I had gotten a rear shot from inside their shop with the perfect lighting.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow looks like something from the video game Grand Tourismo or something. So shiny!

 

[bbhaag]

Looks very nice. So now that you have owned it for several weeks how happy are you with it? Any quirks or features that stand out?

 

[purbeast0]

Wow looks like something from the video game Grand Tourismo or something. So shiny!

LOL you are EXACTLY right though. Especially when I was in the showroom where they had the bright powerful lights everywhere, it looked like in the games when you are picking your car and can spin it around and just see everything reflecting off of it.

Of course tonight I drive to get dinner like 5 mins away and there is like a fire hydrant or some shit leaking all over the road and I had to drive through it. I drove really slow through it though lol but I'm sure shit already sprayed up on my car.

Driving at night with the side windows tinted is also something I have to get used to.

 

[purbeast0]

Looks very nice. So now that you have owned it for several weeks how happy are you with it? Any quirks or features that stand out?

I love everything about the car lol. There is just so many little things that I really enjoy about it. My wife has a 2008 Infiniti sedan and I had a coup, and I still drive her car sometimes and man it just feels so old to me now lol. I do miss the power of my Infiniti though.

I'd say the best feature is one that I never expected to like so much, and it is all of the cameras that come on the SX lines. It has this birds eye view of your car that you can get and it auto comes on when parking or pulling out. I thought it was just neat and cool when I went with this one, but I can't believe how useful it is for parking. Just making sure I am parked in the lines, or close to the curb when parking. You can also get the side front wheel views pointed towards the ground when you are parking, so I can have a top down, and both sides to get perfectly in the lines or close to the curb. I never expected it to be as useful as it is and assumed it was just going to be neat.

I do have my new vanity license plates that I have to put on this weekend lol. They arrived yesterday while I didn't even have my car.

 

[Kaido]

I am VERY happy with the results. I'd say the pics don't really do justice to just how everything looks in person with the shinyness/reflections. I wish I had gotten a rear shot from inside their shop with the perfect lighting.

I had ceramic professionally applied (Opti-coat). It doesn't last forever; the warranty is more for them to reapply it if needed. Properly going the DIY route takes like 3 full days of effort with washing, claybar, etc. My buddy did it himself at the same time I had mine done & both are still holding up terrific! A good DIY product is Adam's ceramic with UV because then you can use a special flashlight to make sure you got full coverage:

Adam's UV Ceramic Paint Coating

Adam’s UV Ceramic Paint Coating is a long lasting, durable form of protection for your paint. Providing a 9H hardness and years of protection against the harshest elements you can think of, Adam’s UV Ceramic Paint Coating has increased longevity, but the ending result of the finished coating is...

adamspolishes.com

I also had ceramic tint applied (3M) because my car got so hot in the sun. Kind of made the windows a bit blue in color. It did help reduce the heat, but I would probably just get a foil windshield accordion in the future. My wife had her Subaru's ceramic done at the dealership, which had a warranty & covered the paint & interior. It made the seats a bit stiffer, but easier cleanup! I'm sure it wasn't as carefully applied as a detail shop would have done, but it only tacked on a few bucks a month to the payment & they clean it inside & out every time we take it in & can reapply the coating as needed.

For exterior windows, I've found that Rain-X works great, it just needs to be reapplied once a month:

Original Glass Water Repellent - Rain-X

Rain‑X® Glass Water Repellents dramatically improve wet weather driving visibility. Easily repels rain, sleet and snow. Simply apply the treatment to exterior glass and watch the raindrops fly off your windshield while driving.

www.rainx.com

For paint protection, from best to worst:

1. Paint-protection film (PPF)
2. Vinyl wrap
3. Spray wrap

The guy who did my car had people who would buy thick PPF & then had the PPF ceramic-coated, so they got both paint protection & shine, as well as easy cleanup. The PPF helps with rock chips & resale value because you get perfect original paint when you peel it off. On higher-end & larger cars, this was in the jaw-dropping $12,000 range. But this was typically going on $100k+ cars.

I'll never go back to not having ceramic. I used to triple-wax my cars on a regular basis with a several days (to let each layer cure for 24 hours) of carnauba & synthetic waxes, which is a trick I learned from a car show detail guy. Now I just hose it off lol.

 

[Greenman]

I picked up a bottle of the cheap spray on "ceramic" coating, not for my car or truck, but for my table saw. For the last couple of years I've been using paste wax, which wears off quickly. Hopefully it will last longer and protect it a bit better.