AZ HEAT

I just purchased a new 2022 Torch Red Corvette. It's ready for its first car wash. I called a local mobile detailing company and they suggested ceramic coating my car. I know nothing about ceramic coating, so I'm asking if it's worth doing? I'm watching some YouTube videos related to ceramic coating to understand the process. For those of you that have done it, please advise.

charley95

Esoteric Detail who posts here often has a YouTube channel that can answer about every question you have. His channel has the best logic on how to detail and protect your finish. Use his suggested methods and you won't be disappointed. Lot of Tuber's out there that don't know what they're doing.

Esoteric Detail

While there is no single, silver-bullet, universal method regarding Car Care and protection, if ceramics fit your 'style' they certainly have their advantages (and disadvantages for some). An overview of ceramics can be found in our Car Care Sub Forum Post ESOTERIC FAQ: Ceramic Coatings - Are they for me?

Topics addressed include:

1. What is Ceramic Coating?
2. What are the differences between ceramic and spray coatings?
3. Will I Be Disappointed with a Ceramic Coating?
4. Making the RIGHT decision! Wax VS. Coating
5. 5 Common MYTHS About Ceramic Coating!
6. Professional vs DIY application

There are differing levels of ceramic, ranging from spray sealants infused with ceramic all the way up to multi-year true ceramic coatings...and many things in between.

With plenty of great, easy to use products available you can not only make your car a look stunning but also make it easier to keep it looking that way! While there is no single BEST product or approach for everyone (too subjective to declare anything the BEST), there may indeed be a "Best For You"!

Should you decide to go with a ceramic, some tips on maintaining it in our Ceramic Coating Aftercare Guide.

Thanks for the kind words!

vader86

Did it myself to all my cars, about to do it on my new 4Runner when I can do without driving the car for about a week for the work.

For me, I just don't like waxing. Wax looks good and sometimes looks way better than ceramic (depends on the ceramic brand), but it doesn't last long and I just don't want to have to keep doing it.

Correct the paint, coat it with a couple ceramic products, and the car looks shiny and great for a couple years at a minimum if kept inside, usually longer. You just have to use the right car wash product to help maintain it.

NextOne

Yes, I highly recommend it!

AZ HEAT

Thank you Charlie95. I will check out his YouTube chanel

captaineddie

There are quite a few quality products out there right now. The most important things to do are to properly prepare the paint and read the directions on the label of the product you're going to use. Personally, I like Avalon King.

tractman

Highly recommend having your car ceramic coated.....does a great job protecting the paint while making it very easy to maintain. I've done all my cars myself. I like to try different coatings.....my '22 was polished with Sonax Perfect Finish, Paint Jeweling was completed with Menzerna P3800 and then ceramic coated with Apex Metal Oxide Ceramic Coating.

rnjroz

It's far easier than it looks. I've done it multiple times now on various cars and have found it to be pretty simple, especially if you spend time researching the process. There are many different products out there today that as mentioned above will last up to a couple of years for the do it yourselfer. Find what you like and give it a shot. It is definitely time consuming though. You need to prep the surface properly to get the best results. That's typically the difference between "hey, that looks great" and "wish I had done that differently ".

diverdan

I’ve been using the Griot’s foam cannon, foam wash, and foaming Polycoat, with good results. The system works well with the Ryobi 2000 PSI electric pressure washer I use.

AZ HEAT

@diverdan Do you simply spray (with foam cannon) with soap? How do you dry it? Anyone?

macguyver

Coating the car is WELL worth the $ and effort. A polishing prior to application is HIGHLY recommended but not required.

DR PAINT

Well It's my opinion these coatings are more marketing BS than anything. There have been so many of these coatings over the years and guess what? There all "the wonder coatings."
Sure, they have great gloss and that's cool. But show me the DOI (distinction of image) data. Yes, you can quantify it. Here's what they don't do. They don't improve scratch resistance, provides zero UV protection to mention a few. It does create a dirt buff zone, but so does simple wax. Check the paint section of your owner's manual. I know I wrote it. So, do your research and ignore the marketing spin.

-Original Corvette Action Center Member, the one and only paint and body guy

macguyver

Anyone that compares a coating to a simple wax just doesnt know much about coatings

Grzldvt1

Not total BS, BUT yes most of the Ceramic products are actually quite pathetic. As a Pro Detailer I agree with you 99% of the people in this world that get a ceramic coating think it is great and for them that is wonderful. As someone who built a multi 7 figure detailing business, in Silicon Valley where I had several $millions of dollars of cars in my shop at any one time. I needed more than just a shine and the people who visit this part of the Forum will be tired of this, but it is not about the shine, it is about the accentuating the depth, and bringing out what the paint manufacturer was trying to promote with that color, metallics, pearls and solids. Very few products do that(I only know of one), you just have to spend the time like I did to get it figured out.
But you are wrong about UV protection it actually does protect the paint, albiet the junk coatings don't, and my own cars are a perfect example. My experimental car was starting to have it's clearcoat get just a bit milky. I have Ceramic coated it with 4 different products and 5 years later I have absolutely zero change in how the clearcoat looks. Keep in mind I am a VERY serious pro detailer and know when there are subtle changes in how the clear coat looks. Cars I detail simply win shows period. Wax at best is only good for a couple of weeks. I know I tested them extensively and quite frankly found them useless for any real protection.
Zaino comes the closest to a Ceramic for protection, depth and shine.
So you show all of us your quantifiable data that shows Ceramics are no good and wax is better. My successful my multi 7 figure business and show winnings say otherwise disprove my comment with your data

DR PAINT

The point was that they both create a dirt buff zone. GET IT

Grzldvt1

Oh I GET IT, but you are calling Ceramic Coatings BS,which IS the real point of your post, right in the very first sentence and NOT the"dirt buff zone" you are promoting. Claiming you wrote the section in the owners manual that we should "wax" our cars is recommending a 60/70/80's wax. Old school stuff, plus you didn't mention most off the shelf waxes only last at best a few months and that is stretching it, as my testing proved out. So the dirt buff zone is gone very quickly with a wax, ceramics let the dirt slide off and with the good products, the so called dirt buff zone lasts a lot longer.
You want quantifiable data, my carnuba and hybrid wax test on 2 hoods divided up into sections with I think 12, different products, at best they lasted through 6 hand washings with a very well known car wash product and were completely gone.
I did the same with ceramics and figured out how to accelerate the time frame by washing both with a wash for ceramics and a regular car wash off the shelf.
The spray on coatings lasted about 9 hand washings, with the wash for ceramics, and less with a regular wash.
Applied coatings varied from 15 hand washings to 25 hand washing with regular wash, and 30 to 50 washes with a ceramic oriented wash.
I had one individual that I hired who was a "Coating Nerd" , along with me, we really did a great job of getting products sorted out. He and I created a spreadsheet to track all the products and the testing we did.
Ceramics by far out do any wax that you are promoting, from a shine and most importantly preserving the paint from aging, allows such a slick surface the dirt does not stick to the paint, plus giving a long term shine, just to keep it simple. I won't even go into discussing various ceramic products with the head chemists and discussing how to bring out the absolute best in the paint the manufacturers were trying to promote with their paint chemists.
I agree ceramics do not protect from deep scratches, but I have had cars in my shop that had door hits that would have chipped the paint had it not had multiple coatings of ceramic. Those were quite easily fixed,
AND as I pointed out my Ceramic coating test car, 5 years later still looks absolutely amazing and I have NOT touched it up, only washed it with a Feynlabs Car Wash for Ceramic Coating and used Angel Polish High Gloss as a detail spray. No way is "wax" from the owners manual going to last like that and look so good.

endus

The tangible benefit of ceramic is longevity.

I have had ceramic on my wheels for the last few years. Absolutely no question better than polymer sealants or waxes in terms of longevity. It is not even close. I would say it's ability to shed brake dust is also materially better than wax or poly sealants.

I had not used it on the main vehicle until I had the Vette repainted at the beginning of summer. It looks amazing, but it also has a fresh, expensive paint job on it. I will be doing ceramic on both vehicles from now on, but it's more due to the fact that I am trying to minimize the effort I have to put in to driving clean cars than it is about the look.

From what I have seen, Ceramic does give a deeper shine than poly sealants. Poly sealants tend to accentuate the metallic in the paint, rather than giving it depth. Wax is usually the winner for depth. How ceramic compares to wax in that regard, they're close enough that you would really need a direct side by side comparison to tell.

I think a big part of this is how often you want to detail the car. Are you the type who wants to be out there polishing or applying additional coats a few times over the summer? If so, ceramic is definitely not for you. Are you the type that is just having a detailer do the work, or are you trying to minimize the amount of polishing and applying you're doing? Then ceramic is almost certainly the right choice.

jimmbbo

I had a PPF specialist do my 2019 C7 when I got it in September of '19, with XPEL film on the front, rocker panels and mirrors, and XPEL ceramic on the rest of the car. The result was spectacular, and made living with the car much simpler. The depth of color is amazing, as the car has a "wet" look. Accumulated dirt washes away easily and water forms into tight beads and blows off the car like magic.
The car is garaged, but with only occasional touch ups, it still looks fantastic after three years. Highly recommended.

Grzldvt1

Still waiting on your data that your wax is better than the BS Ceramic coatings and provide a much better dirt zone.