theepiphany

Hello,

I'm not wanting to start a debate on the million different brands of ceramic coats, but more just want an opinion on whether or not Ceramic coats (in my case, Opticoat) is worth it over just a standard wax job? It's about $400 CAD more for ceramic over wax.

I'm taking my truck in tomorrow to have it done top to bottom (detailed, interior protection, undercoat, rust prevention, wax (or ceramic) and I'm going to let them know when I drop it off if I want to do ceramic or not.

I will likely trade it in when the second year of the next gen is out (so 2020-2021 or whatever) so the longevity doesn't matter much to me but I'm more interested in the benefits of the harder coating for scratch protection, easier washing etc.

Thanks in advance.

Ecoshineauto

The ease of maintenance after being coated makes it all worth it in itself!

e85erall

I think it was this video that this guy talks about ceramic coatings.

IIRC it's about half way through he talks about it (I'm not in a position to find the exact time at the moment, sorry). I don't know how accurate he is though.

DeltaNu1142

I'm getting a detail soon and was interested in this also. Subscribing the lazy way.

rsutton1223

Mine is getting down next week with CQuartz. It does make keeping the car clean much easier and it does make the car have a deeper gloss.

rsutton1223

haha! That guy is so full of ****! Modern paint is now water based (thanks EPA) and chips easier than ever. The clear coats are also much thinner. Just look at the front of your truck and see how easy the paint chips. There has been numerous threads on this board and every auto board about how every year the paint gets worse and worse. Old cars had much more durable paint. Sounds more like he has a hard on for dealers. They do over charge for that stuff by a lot but that does not make it not beneficial.

True paint protection from a company like XPel prevent rock chips/swirl marks/etc. Ceramic coatings make it so you don't have to wax every 60 days for 3+ years and offers a little bit of protection as well.

Napalm

the whole paint get's thinner and thinner or clear coats are softer . . . .


sorry - talk to people that work in the actual paint industry if anything clear coats are getting harder.

My thing is the ceramic coatings aren't fully clear and they do have to be put on right. but to do their magic - they have to be put on top of quality, smooth, clear coats.

prep work like major - which is ironically just like putting on paint.

Let me put it another way if Ceramic coatings were all that and a ball of cheese then all the custom car shop would be putting it on right after the clear coat dries on their ______ project cars. Never see it.


For less cost I would tell them to put 2 extra passes of their finish protectant on there. Take your pick. and from the day you get it back every other washing or so - you need to run over the car with some flavor of a spray wax I like Optimum products stuff but mostly because it's local to me.

and you'd get better results with most likely just as good protection - and less issues in the future if for some reason you need to touch up an area or worse get in an accident and they need to repaint and match.

theepiphany

To be honest, I'm not just interested in the protection aspect as much as I'm interested in the keeping it clean. This is my daily driver and I love to have a clean vehicle; I've given my truck a full wash every week since I bought it. Pearl white is a pain in the *** to keep clean.

Mark_604

It's worth it if you don't like waxing your vehicle every so often. It's probably more worth it for someone who isn't able to wash it every week and doesn't keep it super clean because you know even if a bird craps on your paint it won't etch it.

If you're the type who loves to wash and wax your vehicle religiously then don't bother.

I personally love it because I hate waxing such a big vehicle. It takes forever and it's not fun for me, so it's nice knowing I'll I have to do it wash it and I'm good.

Steven Westberry

I haven't gotten around to doing it on my truck yet but I have ceramic coated both of my parents cars and makes washing them much easier... there's not much difference gloss wise compared to a high quality wax job but it has held up and you get that fresh detailed/waxed look from just a good car wash... planning on doing my truck but haven't had the time to do it yet( took me 8 hours to paint correct and apply to my moms explorer plus 24 hours of cure time with no water contact)