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Ceramic coating, is it worth it?

So I had Rich from Suffolk Detailing call round this morning, having looked at my car he said he would need it for a week to do it properly. Not because it's particularly bad, he actually said it's in pretty good shape, but he said it would take him three days to prepare the car properly for final polish and application of the ceramic coating.
He was sceptical of getting the whole job done in two days, although I believe Nanotech would have two guys working on the car and use infra red lights to cure the coating more quickly, so decision time as to who I go for? :)
 
Just thought I'd mention, after polishing a headlight, I applied an expensive ceramic coating, made for the purpose, in two coats, after 3 weeks it started to take on a misty appearance. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but how do you find out ?
 
So I had Rich from Suffolk Detailing call round this morning, having looked at my car he said he would need it for a week to do it properly. Not because it's particularly bad, he actually said it's in pretty good shape, but he said it would take him three days to prepare the car properly for final polish and application of the ceramic coating.
He was sceptical of getting the whole job done in two days, although I believe Nanotech would have two guys working on the car and use infra red lights to cure the coating more quickly, so decision time as to who I go for?
 
Nah, the prep was meticulous, last bit was a wipe with 2% alcohol and the temp was spot on.
 
Just had another quote come through from Detail Your Eyecandy, £340 - £520 plus £120 - £420 extra if I wanted ceramic coating depending on which brand plus £75 - £150 for the wheels depending on just the wheel face or face and inside - so go for the top service and it's £1090.00 strewth!!!!! :)
The initial price includes Swissvax Shield polish and yes the £120 - £420 is in addition not instead of. :(
 
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That's a hell of a price to make washing your car a bit easier !
 
gramey said:
So I had Rich from Suffolk Detailing call round this morning, having looked at my car he said he would need it for a week to do it properly. Not because it's particularly bad, he actually said it's in pretty good shape, but he said it would take him three days to prepare the car properly for final polish and application of the ceramic coating.
He was sceptical of getting the whole job done in two days, although I believe Nanotech would have two guys working on the car and use infra red lights to cure the coating more quickly, so decision time as to who I go for?
Click to expand...

I would be inclined to be going with this chap. A week (I assume he means 5 days) is what my detailer took to do each of my cars (not at the same time). What was his quote?
 
with that kind of money i would buy all the stuff and DIY it. you can use the stuff over and over again.

If ceramic coating is proving to be difficult to apply, just get some decent wax that will last a good year.
 
Out of interest ...... has anyone brought the Cquartz stuff and applied it themselves after giving the car a thorough claying and hand polishing ??

If so what result did you get ?
 
chrisk2010 said:
Out of interest ...... has anyone brought the Cquartz stuff and applied it themselves after giving the car a thorough claying and hand polishing ??

If so what result did you get ?
Click to expand...

Ok ok okayyeee just though i'd ask :p

77c.jpg
 
chrisk2010 said:
Out of interest ...... has anyone brought the Cquartz stuff and applied it themselves after giving the car a thorough claying and hand polishing ??

If so what result did you get ?
Click to expand...

Before I got my car (retirement gift to myself) I had about 3 months living alone in the Middle East on my own with very little work to do> I watched 100's of hours of YouTube on detailing and coatings. I'm a pretty handy guy and can repair, fix, make a lot of stuff and do lots of DIY. My conclusion was that if I want a (good) ceramic coating, I'd leave it to the experts......there were a few videos on what a mess you can make as well.

IMO, it was not value for money (not a case of affordability). I don't believe the scratch/chip resistance is as good as most people expect and MB have a pretty hard clear coat already. I decided to use Sealers (different to ceramic) and to try the Carlack range (shampoo>polish (non abrasive)>sealer). Very happy so far - have polished 2x and sealed 2x in 6 months - very easy to work with and the result and durability is excellent (washing about every 2 weeks with the shampoo).. after the next wash, this weekend, I'm going to put more sealer on....and do a couple of layers of sealer (can be applied and removed in about 30minutes).
 
Your SLK320 is now 17 years old and from what you've told us, the paintwork is still in pretty good condition. Without a doubt a professional paint correction through multiple stages of machine polishing is what will produce a retina-searing gloss. Your decision beyond that is simply which type of sealant you will use to protect that gloss. On the one hand an SiO2- based sealant will offer the hardest coating and greatest longevity. But these ceramic sealants still, and will, get damaged and now further correction becomes a lot more problematic since, not unsurprisingly, the coating is a lot harder to remove.

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Rather than spend a king's ransom on a 30ml potion which needs specialist dust-free application and curing, you could try Gyeon Q2 Cancoat, a £31 product that is a kind of halfway house for the DIY owner:

Gyeon Q² CanCoat | Spray-On Wipe-Off Quartz Coating

For more traditional synthetic treatments I'd steer you to the previously mentioned Carlack "twins" or Soft 99's Fusso Coat for its immense longevity and sheeting abilities. If you have a dark paint colour and prefer that warm, oily, mile-deep shine that you can only get from carnauba wax then Autoglym HD Wax is a hybrid wax/sealant which will give you the best of both worlds and is readily available as a £47 kit from your local Halfrauds.

In view of the value of the car, I think the best bang for your buck will come from getting the SL professionally polished but applying the protection yourself.
 
[QUOTE.............Your decision beyond that is simply which type of sealant you will use to protect that gloss. On the one hand an SiO2- based sealant will offer the hardest coating and greatest longevity. But these ceramic sealants still, and will, get damaged and now further correction becomes a lot more problematic since, not unsurprisingly, the coating is a lot harder to remove[/QUOTE]

Good comments but, the terminology is not quite correct....the so called Ceramic products eg Gyeon etc are Coatings, the others like Carlack Long Life, Chemical Guys Jetseal etc are Sealants and are essentially synthetic waxes (some do have natural waxes in the formulation) and a wax product is pretty much a form of sealant as well.

Good point re a scratch in a Coated car being a lot more trouble to repair than otherwise.
 
I have some experience of ceramic coatings, being a trained detailer for the Kenotek Ceramic Shield product for over 18 months, though apart from bits of my own car, I haven't done a complete car.

The time and kit required, and therefore the costs, depend to a large extent on:
a) the product being used
b) the condition of the car
c) how keen the guys are to get your business
d) a bullsh*t factor

a). Not all products are the same, some need only 1 coat, others more, not all need infrared lights in laboratory-clean dehumidified environment and chaps in white coats and face masks. Kenolon doesn't for example. Time and extra coats = (your) money. Most products are made in the Far East and not optimised for colder, European climates, hence the gear required here.

b) Prep is everything. Ceramics accentuate, not hide, defects like wax will. How bad and big the car is will define this cost element.

c) You'll have to figure this one out.

d) Some guys are making a stack of money by clouding this in phoney science. A well formulated product will need 1 coat, no special gear and just care in application by someone half intelligent. Better if they have been trained by the manufacturer to give you some reassurance, otherwise, by experience. Ask to talk to other customers who've had it done, and ask the detailers how many they have done over what time period.

I'm very sceptical of warranties as the ones I have read have so many exclusions and get out clauses they are worthless. But I'd expect a decent product, applied correctly, to last 40-60,000m or 3-5 years.

£450 on the face of it isn't a bad nor too low price, but what product are they using ?

Hope this is useful.
 
George talks some good sense here, and I agree with him on ceramics not being suited to classics, as the work required to get them to a suitable state may be too great or not even possible, and changing the state of the car is not necessarily a good idea - 'original paint' isn't 'original' if its coated with a ceramic.

But you can always add a wax to a tiring ceramic coating, you can sand and reapply a ceramic to high impact areas suffering from mechanical abrasion too.

Swissvax of course don't have a ceramic coating product....
 
Right so the comments so far are steering me towards having it suitably prepped with a full paint correction but then going with a high quality wax to protect it thus avoiding the possible draw backs of these 'ceramic' coatings. Basically due to having previously had major surgery on both shoulders I want to get the car to a standard that I can maintain myself without suffering to do it. I'm guessing once it's been professionally detailed then I should be able to keep up the protection on the car by washing it correctly and keeping up with finish with regular applications of my chosen wax polish? :)
 
Given your limitations due to surgery, I'd steer you towards the Fusso Coat I mentioned in my earlier post. It claims 12 months protection so will outperform any traditional carnauba wax by a country mile in terms of longevity. It is available in two formulations tailored to light and dark coloured cars. Here's the permalink to my post in a thread discussing washing a car over the winter period:

Thinking of using local carwash this winter

And this is a photo of a somewhat abused 12-year old Ka which I corrected before topping off with Fusso Coat.

EZMDkt.jpg


I assume your car is the one in your profile. Silver cars work better with synthetic waxes like this PTFE-based one. You can get 12-month Fusso Coat Light from here for £21.99 +delivery:
http://nipponshine.com/shop/body-sealant/fusso-coat-light/
 
Hi yes that is my one and only car and thanks for the heads up re Fusso. :)
 
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