Ceramic coating......yes or no?

If you use an automated car wash, then nothing is going to help. Those belts and the chemicals they use will erase whatever you have on it.

 

I thought that probably would be the case, thank you for the reply.

 

No sweat. Don’t know where you live, but @Pudge deals with harsh winters. He may have more advice for you.

 

Thank you..... all of you..... for the feedback on this topic.

 

Thanks, I am in Mass, I see he is in CT so pretty much the same weather.

 

Don't do touch washes if you can help it. Touchless still use harsh soaps but they don't grind dirt and grit into your paint at least... I use them in the winter for lack of alternatives where I live in Canada. I'm not hand washing below freezing but I absolutely must get the salt off my truck at least once a week if I want to keep my truck more than 5 years.

I have the dealership "coating" I was dumb enough to fall for but anytime I run it through the touchless wash, I usually use some carpro Ech02 as a detail spray within a day.

 

Concur with @War Machine and @sensei . I've had similar experiences. I've just coated my third vehicle (first one with Opti Coat, the recent two with CQFR double coating) so its something I personally would highly recommend. Depending on your area $1200 sounds low. I wouldn't do it on the cheap unless you are doing it yourself (this requires supplies, equipment, experience and your time)

I would find out what you are getting specifically for $1200. If they aren't doing a full decontamination, clay and paint correction (if needed) and polish it would be a hard pass from me. The decontamination, paint correction and polish makes the greatest difference in making a vehicle pop, the ceramic adds some shine but will really highlight any defects if the aren't addressed. The shop I used also coated my wheels which required them to remove them, clean the barrels, and coating them as well; its something to consider.

I would also look at what other vehicles the shop has coated and worked on. Most pro installers showcase their customers' vehicles and often show before and after shots. If the shop doesn't have a gallery I would avoid them. Proshop will often back their product with a warranty of sorts, given you follow their maintenance instructions.

Their are newer consumer friendly products that are one year coatings that look great and provide protection, again I think the paint correction and polish is where you get the most bang for your buck in terms of shine. It really depends on your expectations.

 

Its a hard coating that bonds to your clearcoat, over time it does get worn away. I wouldn't expect 5 years on a daily driver especially in a metro area and/or harsh climate. Two to three years is more realistic; five for garage kept vehicles that are meticulously maintained. The vehicle will still require maintenance washes and occasional application of a "refresh" product.

 

Thank you for being long winded, and thank you for all your very informative abs helpful posts.

I have ceramic coated my last three vehicles (all with CQuartz), and have have had the same experience. Vast majority of benefit coming from decon, clay, correction, polish, and regular reload.

On my next vehicle I will be skipping ceramic coating, and going with PPF.

Am very tempted to take my almost year old 4Runner Pro in to have the rock chips fixed, all required prep steps, and do PPF.

 

Man that’s rough news about the hail. Great looking truck and glad to hear your happy with cquartz.

 

Perfect even for the morning. I truly believe there is no set and forget way of protecting your truck inside or out. Even with ppf I would apply a coating or sealant to protect that.

 

I'll use a touchless wash as well in the winter or just blast it off in a local coin-op then at home I'll go over it with a rinseless wash like Optimum. Generally though winters in Canada are impossible but at least using these two methods helps keep swirls etc down to a minimum.

I thought good ceramic coatings, even the DIY like carpro light etc stand up to the harsher soaps found in touchless carwashes?

 

They do but you take a little away from them with each wash. It’s better than salt on the truck but I would imagine a product like cquartz getting cut down to 6-12months max. Right before weather really turns for you I would recommend a good top coat of griots 3-1 or reload ect that way the washes can go after that stuff first.

 

Pro coatings are usually rated 5-10 years and the coating is closer to 100% si02 they also cure them under temperature regulated lights to bake the coating on. Real shops will have a booth dedicated to this step of the process.

 

Old reddit thread on winter car care; some newer more effective product may have been releases since then but general care is the same:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/2jjvil/winter_car_prep_howtoproduct_suggestions/
From their wiki:
https://www.howtoautodetail.com/knowledge-base/winter-car-care/

 

Thank you, now I have a lot of very shiny dents all over but mostly the roof and hood. When I took that photo it was getting smaller, a lot of them were golfball to tennis ball size and sounded like we were going to get killed...lol

 

Yeah that’s not cool at all. No coating in the world will help with that.

 

Like your advice @War Machine! Was thinking about ceramic coating then researched local place has pkgs $300-$1k. The "Annual inspections..." is where they get you. Its more of paying for convenience think Im going to stick with regular car washes/waxes/clay plus I garage my car. $1k could go to set of wheels/tires.

 

Everything in the ceramic world is key word usage and the latest craze. Companies are simply adding graphite powder to their coating cocktails and claiming it is graphene. While I don't necessarily know how much better they may be or why yet, certainly most all ceramic coating companies are following the craze and introducing "graphene" into their coatings.

 

I’m lucky enough to have year around detailing weather and plenty of these products to do my truck multiple times. Once I get done with the projects around the house I plan on completing this process and refreshing with BSD.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZVbRLQeDphM

 

Agree that consumers cannot get their hands on the pro coatings. I had a pro coating applied to another car. It was awesome but decided to apply CQuartz UK on my Tundra myself. Primarily because I'm interested in that kind of stuff. To be honest it is a LOT of work! I'm sure there is a longevity difference between the pro coating and the consumer coating but look and feel is no different. CQuartz UK is advertised as a 2 year coating. I put 2 coats on the entire truck and an additional third coat on the hood and roof. I garage my truck and decontaminate and Reload a couple times a year. It's been going strong for 2 years now and still looks the be in great shape. I've tried the coating vs Reload only experiment. Reload only on my wife's car and as I said CQuartz UK coating on my Tundra. The issue is you need to be VERY diligent about applying reload as a stand alone product. I would say you need to apply every 2 no more than 3 months. It simply doesn't last. Reload is also a bit difficult to work with straight. I usually mix with Ech20 plus distilled to make a solution that is much easier to deal with. I would highly recommend a Sio2 coating. Do your research as many posters have said. I think the one biggest advantages is when i wash my truck I blow dry it with an electric leaf blower in no time. No more dragging a rag over it (which induces scratches). If you want to learn more go to the APEX Detail YouTube channel. He's great and really knows his stuff. BTW I have no affiliation to Apex. Good Luck and Have Fun with it.

 

Great post and agree with everything stated. Try griots 3-1 ceramic spray as a maintenance top coat on your cquartz it works so much better then reload. I just use reload now as a step on coating. Which is great because that stuffs not cheap. I’m coating a new pro in a few weeks. Can’t wait to do it. Yes it’s a lot of work.

 

I'll try the Griot's. Thanks for the tip.

 

Good gouge there. Thanks.

 

I would