Talk me into ceramic coating

It sucks that they aren't cheap, but I really feel like it would be the last hose reel I'd have to buy. I don't think I would get mad at it either, haha.

I would go with the portable one because I often move mine from the back to the front. Those big wheels look like it would make it easy.

 

I am hard on hose reels, man. I’ve never seen these before. Damn you.

 

Stay strong! I didn't buy a thing during the 40% off TRD sale, haha.

On side note, they do look king. Doesn't look like they ever go on sale, free shipping over $75 though.

Wife's uncle is in the OCD club like us, a Lexus guy so you know he's alright! Loves his Eley reel and spray nozzle.

 

Sounds like you are suggesting a group buy!!!

 

I wish!

I don't think we would have such luck. They seem pretty strict on their anti-discount policy.

https://www.eleyhosereels.com/pages/discounts-and-special-offers

 

Yeah, seem pretty resistant...

 

Buy two. My birthday is coming up in 8 months.

 

Might be in this thread but I missed it.

What size bottle of CQuartz do we need to do our Tundras?

 

I think you need 50ml, it may get you 2 coats? @driverdog @SouthBoundSteve

 

Idk where Jim's reply to this went but he had stated that 50ml would be enough to do 2 coats of cquartz. He also recommended using cquartz UK 3.0 for you areas weather. @SouthBoundSteve had recommended 50ml of the UK 3.0 to me as well being in CT, a cold weather climate, and I believe he told me I could get 2 coats on my tundra with 50ml. For me, if I'm gonna take the time to do cquartz at all, I am absolutely going to do 2 coats. Sorry about the confusion with the deleted posts. I hope you got the info you needed.

 

Apparently Jim has left the forum

 

I tried tagging him and realized that too. What the heck is going on? He okay? It's weird all his content is gone as well

 

He's fine.

 

@Pudge I saw what he posted. I appreciate it. Im going to do 2 coats for sure.

 

Thanks good, idk what is up with him but it's too bad he's gone. He had some good info to share. I think 2 coats is a great idea, some guys recommend topping it with another ceramic like product such as gliss for more gloss and durability. To me that seems like it's just doing a 3rd coat but there is clearly something else to it that I just don't understand. @southboundsteve recommended that I did gliss or some kind of Ti2 coating over CQ UK but I didn't get to talk to him about on the reason why or benefits. Maybe he will chime in here.

 

Looks like Steve is gone too?

 

What is going on? Someone has to know something.

 

I think I'm gonna text Steve tomorrow and see what's up. He has always been so good to me and super helpful. He is single handedly THE reason I got into detailing and enjoy it so much.

 

I don't post much but I enjoy coming on here a few times a day. Just weird that we lost a few of the guys that have been on here since I joined leave. Always enjoyed those guys knowledge

 

Any shop in Bay Area to recommend for ceramic coating?

 

I decided to do ceramic coating. But still debating on the options for paint protection, full front end ppf? Partial ppf? Hood Deflector? Car bra? Never used any of them. Any suggestion and advice will be appreciated.

I don't have garage for parking. Drive 100 miles freeway per week on average and 50 miles per week at local. No off-road, no construction site.

 

If you have the funds, go for full PPF (xpel or 3M are brand I know, there are more). Do that at least up front, but maybe more if you can swing it (grill, lights, hood, bumper, fender, fronts, rockers, whatever the shop recommends for high risk areas, oh and one place that I would love to do that gets overlooked as a high scratch area.....the TAILGATE, at least the top half of it). I think I would set a budget and get as much done as you can within reason, but remember that you'll also be paying for ceramic coating on top of PPF. I don't know about prices but I'd guess full front PPF, plus tailgate, and ceramic coating the truck will be north of $2500 but I could be way off.
Then get the PPF coated and the rest of the paint ceramic coated. I think PPF requires different ceramic than the rest of your truck but there are coatings for it to keep it looking clean and glossy.
IMO Don't do the bug- flector thing, they have been proven pretty useless other than causing possible paint wear damage from rubbing.
So now that I have spent your money I will move on to trying to find myself a bargain on some 3.5" polishing pads. I decided today there are enough areas on the truck that will make it worth investing in the smaller size.
I never thought I would use anything other than set of six, 6.5" pads that I started with. Lol now I have a dozens in 5.5" and 6.5", why not add some 3.5"?

 

Thank you so much for the suggestions. The best price for a full front end ppf in my area is $2200, a lifetime ceramic coating is $1600 plus $185 recharge every year. I just can't justify that kind of expense (>$4700 for 5 years) though I love my truck.

 

I have not used Ceramic on my Tundra yet, but I just clay bar it and waxed it. Makes a big difference to the finish.

 

Damn PPF is expensive, but it's really the most durable paint protection that you can get. As far as the ceramic quote you got goes....I wouldn't trust a "lifetime" ceramic job. Sounds like basically you're getting charged for paint correction and 1 application of ceramic the 1st year, then a "lite or topper" ceramic every year after that. A good ceramic can last 4-7 years with proper washing and drying and doing your own "recharge" at home. You can buy a liter bottle of a "ceramic recharge" product for 35-50 bucks. Its basically an sio2 sealant that needs to be applied every 3-6 months. Its spray and wipe so you can do that at home. I would try to get that PPF cost down to $1800-2k maybe by paying cash or something, then find someone else to do the ceramic for under $1k, or do it yourself for around $150. Its easy enough especially if you don't need paint correction. 2 coats of Carpro CQuartz UK 3.0 + a layer of Gliss could last 5 years. Get yourself some carpro reset for washes, and IronX for decon, then some Reload to apply every few months. Idk if you can use cquartz in PPF but gives the folks at detailedimage a call or email and see what they say or recommend for that part of the job. If you do your own coating or can find a detailer who will apply it for you, go with carpro, optimum, gtechiq, 22ple and the products they recommend to maintain it.

 

The first time I used clay my mind was blown how clean the truck looked. And how much depth and gloss it brought out after waxing. It was a red 99 Tacoma, it looked like a different truck after I clayed it. Nice job! What did you use for clay and wax? I'm always interested in what guys are using to get good results

 

I used apollo auto spa in Walnut Creek. I'm happy with the work. They had my truck 3 days and coated everything. It really makes washing easy.

 

Anyone heard about double black inspiration coating? A shop's quote is not bad but they use this coating instead of ceramic pro. I am wondering if it is inferior to CP.

 

It is from P&S Detailing, the same company that makes Beadmaker.

https://psdetailproducts.com/i-23875480-inspiration-ceramic-coating.html

While I love Beadmaker, and P&S has some other decent products, they are pretty hit or miss on quality. Some of their products are below average for sure.

I haven’t seen any reviews on their ceramic coating, so I’m not sure how good it is. The only thing that gives me any idea about the quality is that The Rag Company sells it, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard them recommend it on their podcast. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad, it may just mean those guys haven’t used it much. It’s relatively new, so it may just not have had a chance to get a lot of market penetration yet.

If I were doing it myself, I’d go with something more proven like Ceramic Pro or Cquartz, but when you are having it done by a shop it’s not likely to be an option. It may be really good, you just never know until enough people try it. I’ll just say that P&S isn’t one of the companies that I’m 100% confident in.