Opinion on Ceramic coating and paint correction

Just got my Lexus done this week. Black is a pain to maintain. Just make sure go to a proper shop, paint correction if done properly makes all the difference. Once they apply the coating you can’t really tell the difference.

mksliao wrote: ↑ Just got my Lexus done this week. Black is a pain to maintain. Just make sure go to a proper shop, paint correction if done properly makes all the difference. Once they apply the coating you can’t really tell the difference.

How is it after its done? Notice a big difference? Yes black is very hard to maintain.

I am having this shop do mine:

Vypr Auto Care

Mind telling me how much they quoted you? I am also looking to get my car done

ninety5teg wrote: ↑ How is it after its done? Notice a big difference? Yes black is very hard to maintain.

I am having this shop do mine:

Vypr Auto Care

Yes, you definitely notice it. Once coated, the car is easier to keep clean. In my experience it is kind of like a wax that lasts longer.

xSynChrome wrote: ↑ Mind telling me how much they quoted you? I am also looking to get my car done

I was quoted $399. Here is the copy and paste from the conversation I had:

So this 3 year package price is $349.99 includes a stage one correction, given your scenario it’s more likely you will need atleast a stage 2 correction $499.99 for the 3 year w/ the stage 2 correction.
In terms of the process, we begin by doing a full exterior shampoo/ wash x2, clay bar the exterior paint, iron removal on the paint, to remove any contaminants.
We then begin the process of correcting the paint by doing a cut on the full exterior, followed by a polish on the full exterior.
After this we clean the car once again, ceramic prep spray the full exterior and apply the 3 year ceramic coating to all surfaces
Package also includes a coating on the rims and windows The process takes around 8 hours to complete

Mine might need stage 2 paint correction but I will be taking my car in to get the correct quote. Reason why I might need stage 2 is because I have a lot of white spots on the hood from rock chips. Every time I wash it all the white spots just pop up.

My prediction - Prices are going to go down because all the DIY kits.

My neighbour next door got a new Tesla and he did it himself. Tons of work, but at the same time, not really. Waxing your car by hand would be about the same amount of work. It looks great.

Note: On a new car is so much easier than on an older car.

If it was me: I would like a professional to do it, but the $$$ savings of doing it yourself are very significant. I would probably just do it myself.

Prices have plummeted, I did my wrx about 4 years ago from a highly reviewed shop and paid about $1600 for Cquartz but competition has dropped the price dramatically, $500ish is fairly reasonable

That seems awfully low. Ceramic coating jobs have only got more expensive. Prices have not dropped as far as I know. A good ceramic coat, including paint correction, starts at $1k.

ninety5teg wrote: ↑ I was quoted $399. Here is the copy and paste from the conversation I had:

So this 3 year package price is $349.99 includes a stage one correction, given your scenario it’s more likely you will need atleast a stage 2 correction $499.99 for the 3 year w/ the stage 2 correction.
In terms of the process, we begin by doing a full exterior shampoo/ wash x2, clay bar the exterior paint, iron removal on the paint, to remove any contaminants.
We then begin the process of correcting the paint by doing a cut on the full exterior, followed by a polish on the full exterior.
After this we clean the car once again, ceramic prep spray the full exterior and apply the 3 year ceramic coating to all surfaces
Package also includes a coating on the rims and windows The process takes around 8 hours to complete

Mine might need stage 2 paint correction but I will be taking my car in to get the correct quote. Reason why I might need stage 2 is because I have a lot of white spots on the hood from rock chips. Every time I wash it all the white spots just pop up.

Don’t waste your time and money for $399. The paint correction takes a lot of time.

Ask them what Coating brand they are using?

$399 or even $499 seems very low considering the decent coatings start at around $200 & up.
Also ask if you need to do any sot of maintenance to keep the 3year warranty?

Will you notice a difference? Yes with paint correction you will notice a difference even if its stage 1. The coating won actually add much gloss as that all comes from the paint correction, however the coating will help keep the car looking cleaner longer (ie a few days) and it will make it easier to wash and so on. But really with just the paint correction and throw on some protection would look almost the same as it with ceramic coating.

ninety5teg wrote: ↑ I was quoted $399. Here is the copy and paste from the conversation I had:

So this 3 year package price is $349.99 includes a stage one correction, given your scenario it’s more likely you will need atleast a stage 2 correction $499.99 for the 3 year w/ the stage 2 correction.
In terms of the process, we begin by doing a full exterior shampoo/ wash x2, clay bar the exterior paint, iron removal on the paint, to remove any contaminants.
We then begin the process of correcting the paint by doing a cut on the full exterior, followed by a polish on the full exterior.
After this we clean the car once again, ceramic prep spray the full exterior and apply the 3 year ceramic coating to all surfaces
Package also includes a coating on the rims and windows The process takes around 8 hours to complete

Mine might need stage 2 paint correction but I will be taking my car in to get the correct quote. Reason why I might need stage 2 is because I have a lot of white spots on the hood from rock chips. Every time I wash it all the white spots just pop up.

sickcars wrote: ↑ Ask them what Coating brand they are using?

$399 or even $499 seems very low considering the decent coatings start at around $200 & up.
Also ask if you need to do any sot of maintenance to keep the 3year warranty?

Will you notice a difference? Yes with paint correction you will notice a difference even if its stage 1. The coating won actually add much gloss as that all comes from the paint correction, however the coating will help keep the car looking cleaner longer (ie a few days) and it will make it easier to wash and so on. But really with just the paint correction and throw on some protection would look almost the same as it with ceramic coating.

Thanks for that...I messaged the guy the questions you had asked and let me see the response I get back..

From their IG, it looks like "Nano Brite"

I recently used meguiars hybrid ceramic wax about a month ago. Car sits outside 100% of the time. Water beads really well. Will see how long it lasts, but for the cost($20) it's a joke compared to what these places are charging. I had one of my past cars ceramic coated with cquartz and yes the car was cleaner and easier to wash. But not doing it again due to cost.

Their IG is pretty jokes. Why do they need models to advertise their work? Also VW Type R lol

I agree, I do it all myself which is why I ceramic coat my cars but if i had to pay somebody $1,000 to do it forget it! You can buy a spray that will make it look like you a coating on your car and it still protects.

EP32k2 wrote: ↑ I recently used meguiars hybrid ceramic wax about a month ago. Car sits outside 100% of the time. Water beads really well. Will see how long it lasts, but for the cost($20) it's a joke compared to what these places are charging. I had one of my past cars ceramic coated with cquartz and yes the car was cleaner and easier to wash. But not doing it again due to cost.

Imho, ceramic coatings are a joke and a waste of money (if paying 1-2k+ and the yearly upkeep they want etc etc)...

For that kind of cash I can pay a place do a quick polish and wax 2-3x a year and it will be shinier/better looking and just as protected...

This is what they use"

"Nanobrite, and yes, clean every 2 weeks, just to maintain the coating"

I ceramic coated both of my cars myself, with CQ UK 3.0--it's only like $120ish for the larger bottle which can do two compact cars or one larger car/SUV. The results are kind of intersetting...

The ceramic coating itself is certainly great so far, but on the black car I'm not so sure I would go to the trouble again. The black car (the TT-S) ends up getting a lot of water spotting after a rain storm and you can't even rinse it after a wash if it's even remotely sunny (if it's hot) because it will spot pretty quickly like that--it's a must to either wash late afternoon, early morning, or do the final rinse in the garage. I mean I'm not fool enough to try to wash in full sun but even in partially cloudy conditions, yeah not a good idea if it's not early/late or shaded.

Also going through a touchless wash, for whatever reason the black car doesn't get clean, it ends up still having some dirty looking parts on the doors and stuff so basically it's a total waste of $$ to take it through there, even when pressed for time (which is typically the only reason I'd go to one in summer).

The other vehicle which is a brighter colour (and a colour instead of black) looks perfectly fine after a touchless wash, and even if it rains outside and then stops and gets sunny out, it will almost "clean itself" and will look pretty clean afterwards. It seems to have become lower maintenance with the ceramic coat, while the black car almost seems like more. But it's probably just more of a black car being a black car lol.

The coating is applied and "working" on both cars as you can tell by the water action, so wasn't anything to do with the application, it's just that black (and white) cars are a goddamn pain to keep clean. I have to hand wash the black one every week if I drive it that week, almost no doubt about it. I have no idea why these "colours" (and they aren't even colours) are so popular on the road in the mass of dull, drab, and boring cars out there that come in some 1,078 shades of black, white, and grey, which all look the same lol. Black is not really a car I'd buy if I were buying new but this car was bought used and it was simply the right car, at the right price, at the right time otherwise, hence why I got it. Never owned a black car before as I always knew they were both a pain and not something I'm that keen on as I'm not Generic Joe, but there you have it.

Paint correction if your paint is bad is a definite must if you want it to look good, but ceramic coating on a black car in particular...ehhh I'm not that convinced TBH. I mean I'm fine with and all but if I had to do it again I probably would just go with a regular sealant instead. Also as others have said the prices seem low as doing this job properly is gonna take like 2 days if it's one guy working in a shop; possibly less if more than one person is working on it. If you're gonna DIY, it's a three day job easy if you need to do a full correction and that's with power tools. If the paint is really bad you'll also likely need a rotary, which requires skill to avoid doing something stupid like burning the clearcoat.

Keep in mind if the paint has a lot of deep scratches, paint chips, dings, etc. then no correction is really going to fix that--you might want to have that stuff refinished before paying someone big bucks to detail and coat it. Otherwise DIY it and save yourself a considerable amount of $$$.

Ceramic coatings are the equivalent of 'softer' 'clearcoats'. They're strong as nails, sure, but they suffer from a whole lot of problems that regular clearcoat doesn't *generally* suffer from. For example, if you live in an area that uses hard water, enjoy dealing w/ it with a ceramic coating.

I haven't played with graphene coatings yet, but I am no longer a user of ceramic coating. The time/money spent to maintain ceramic coatings + all of that far exceed more frequent applications of, say, Menzerna power lock plus paint sealant.