Is it worth getting ceramic coating from the dealership?

[MikeInWimbledon]

If only... never seen a new car with completely fault free paint yet. In fact on most cars you can see small patches and swirls where high points and marks have been removed with an abrasive during final inspection if you look in the right light. If not there are always areas of orange peel and inconsistent finish. Cars are just mass produced items don't forget.

Amen. Check out the condition of the next "brand new car" that an owner shows off.

 

[Mickyh7]

I worked in a car factory for 15 years, well in one of the Labs.
Almost every car coming off the final line would need some type of repair or paint correction.
These aren't Ferrari build cells, they are incredibly busy and fast factory's.
Around 40 cars an hour, off each line.
The final coat, Topcoat, is applied by robots, (because it's carcinogenic), at speed, and it's more lacquer than paint.
It's thicker, and cured at high temperature
The paint is water based, it would wash off in the rain! All repair and correction is done to the clear topcoat, not the colour.

 

[Spider10]

When was the last time you saw a new car off the production line in this condition

 

[Mickyh7]

A long time ago, I've been retired for 10 years!

 

[Mickyh7]

I do remember a guy getting sacked, and on his way out, he hung a chain up over a girder in the paint oven.
The freshly painted car shells went in to this pitch black oven, bit like a ghost train layout, for hours.
I think around 50 shells with paint damage down to the metal, bonnet, roof and hatch, took some sorting out, when it was finally noticed!
Don't know if they ever proved it!

 

[Burtonization23]

At that price many detailers will be able to have you covered with a good paint correction to give your eqs a true base.

I'm a detailing company based in London should you need an idea of what services we can offer.

www.dbdetailing.co.uk

 

[Alex225]

I can only reiterate what others have said and it's a no from me.

The last time I bought a brand new car (way back in 2010!) I was offered a coating, G3 Glasscoat. I knew the salesman well enough and declined them applying it but he kindly put the unused product in the boot along with a full cleaning kit. So I had a neat little box with a vial of this coating, I assume an early form of ceramic coating.

Purely out of interest I had a read through the instructions and there were multiple steps which you would expect for a professionally applied coating. The short version is that the car had to be polished and then fully degreased, so I'd assume panel wipe the car over. The coating had to then be applied, indoors and left to cure for 24 hours out of direct sunlight. Now I don't believe that a valeter who has multiple cars to do every day will be following those steps. More suspicion is that they likely wash the car down and dry with a chamois, then slap this stuff on and buff it off after a few minutes.

For nearly a grand, you'd get a proper detailer to correct the paint and apply a really good coating. That'd be my choice although if it's a car that I'm going to chop in after 3 years anyway, I'd simply use a decent sealant at home and top up the application after 3-4 months myself.

 

[sgregory124]

I can only reiterate what others have said and it's a no from me.

The last time I bought a brand new car (way back in 2010!) I was offered a coating, G3 Glasscoat. I knew the salesman well enough and declined them applying it but he kindly put the unused product in the boot along with a full cleaning kit. So I had a neat little box with a vial of this coating, I assume an early form of ceramic coating.

Purely out of interest I had a read through the instructions and there were multiple steps which you would expect for a professionally applied coating. The short version is that the car had to be polished and then fully degreased, so I'd assume panel wipe the car over. The coating had to then be applied, indoors and left to cure for 24 hours out of direct sunlight. Now I don't believe that a valeter who has multiple cars to do every day will be following those steps. More suspicion is that they likely wash the car down and dry with a chamois, then slap this stuff on and buff it off after a few minutes.

For nearly a grand, you'd get a proper detailer to correct the paint and apply a really good coating. That'd be my choice although if it's a car that I'm going to chop in after 3 years anyway, I'd simply use a decent sealant at home and top up the application after 3-4 months myself.

There are coatings available now that have much quicker cure times. The last one I used was under an hour from memory, but that time is relative to how long the product is supposed to last. The 'next version up' of the product I used needed a 24 hour cure time and a heavily ventilated area to apply it in, but was a much longer lasting product.

From my experience, once applied, you need to wait whilst the compound self levels on the panel (which you can see happening if you look closely enough) and then remove the excess with a clean microfibre cloth/towel and leave to cure.

Then its job done, (for the lower end product(s) at least.

 

[W1ghty]

No sign of the op since his question 3 weeks ago .

 

[kevg]

Mercedes done my c class in December £499 from London Loughton dealership, washed it 3days later the paint work had contamination all over the bonnet boot lid and part of the doors that wouldn’t wash off.
Went to detailed was told gard x was applied to the car without being cleaned properly, the orange pit markings were brake dust which came out when water was applied.
Mercedes denied of course but eventually agreed to refund the £499
Never again

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Mercedes done my c class in December £499 from London Loughton dealership, washed it 3days later the paint work had contamination all over the bonnet boot lid and part of the doors that wouldn’t wash off.
Went to detailed was told gard x was applied to the car without being cleaned properly, the orange pit markings were brake dust which came out when water was applied.
Mercedes denied of course but eventually agreed to refund the £499
Never again

My neighbour paid Lloyds of York £400 for the service , they told him half a day to do it , I knew myself it wasn't going to be possible in 1/2 a day . Needless to say it lasted all of a week and the water stopped beading .

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

My neighbour paid Lloyds of York £400 for the service , they told him half a day to do it , I knew myself it wasn't going to be possible in 1/2 a day . Needless to say it lasted all of a week and the water stopped beading .

That’s terrible, a good quality spray on hydrophobic sealant will result in excellent beading for many months.

 

[SpikyMikey]

That’s terrible, a good quality spray on hydrophobic sealant will result in excellent beading for many months.

Yep, even a quick spritz of Sonax BSD lasts about a month or more.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Yep, even a quick spritz of Sonax BSD lasts about a month or more.

I recon that's what they used or autoglym ceramic coat , it's a ceramic coat still so their ****s are covered , they did say however,and he should of chased it up , that it was for either a year or 3 years. Not 3 weeks !!!!

 

[Adamski151]

BMW always used to do a fantastic tour of the 3 series production line in Munich, where you can actually stand behind a screen and see the "paint" if you can call it that being applied by Robots. It is instructive. Friend of mine rejected a car recently because the orange Peel was SO bad...... looked like a drunk teenager had done it. I also run a Rolls Shadow, and the 50 year old paint is as hard as nails (and full of toxins no doubt!) .