Ceramic paint protection worth it?

[GSquared]

Is this for CQuartz Professional, or CQuartz Finest Reserve? CQuartz Finest is now a legacy product. What CarPro did was revise the legacy Finest and improved on it, re-introducing it to the market as CQuartz Professional.

CQuartz Finest Reserve is on a whole different level of coatings.

As for the pricing - there is always more to the price than the coating itself. Proper prep, any required paint polishing, then the application and (possibly) IR curing of the coating can easily add up to several - if not dozens of hours of labour. Which coating are you looking at? There are many reasons that spending the extra money is worth it.

Sorry, that was for Finest Reserve. Thanks for all the details! Yeah they explained the prep process but $2,000 still seems a bit high. Maybe my value for the product is skewed. I'm planning on getting PPF for the front but was going to CQuartz the rest since I'm not a fan of waxing the car all the time.

Sponsored

 

[2SLOW2BFURIOUS]

I would go after the paint correction work first before applying cquartz or any other product. If you don't feel comfortable in doing this then there is one person in NYC metro area that can help you.

Big "A" Detailing & Paintless Dent Repair
(516) 777-7088

His shop is in Plainview NY.

I have heard of Big A from other forums, I have always wanted to give him a try. Thanks for the info.

 

[OldPirate]

Plus he is cquartz vendor. Say Hi to Andrew from Angelo in Florida, if you do call him.

 

[brienp]

Buy a can of Liquid Glass and put on a total of five coats after that you can drop down to applying a coat every six months and each new coat will result in a deeper shine.

Liquid Glass is easy to apply and just as easy to remove and you can do it in the sun.

I use liquid Glass on all my vehicles. You can buy it online or you can get it at most AutoZone stores.

I have wondered about Liquid Glass, saw it on Amazon a while back. I actually really want to do this but Ive got a few questions:

I live in a condo, no garage, just covered parking. After I wash my car can I put it on outside or do I need to go park my car at a friend's garage while its drying?

When you wash your car before hand, do you need to strip the wax off? I haven't actually waxed my car yet, its still pretty new but not sure if just a normal wash, with attention to detail, is all that's needed.

Could I apply multiple coats in one day?

 

[Tyler]

If you have any swirls or scratches that bother you now - have them professional removed prior to applying a coating. At that point, I would recommend reaching out to an Authorized CQuartz Installer and having them quote you on the applicable services.

If you are set on applying a coating yourself, there is CQuartz Ti02 (commonly referred to as "Classic"), and CQuartz UK. Both of these can be purchased and installed by any consumer. Depending on your install environment, one may be easier than the other.

However, I would recommend having a professional install the coatings, as they are not something you will want to make a mistake with!

Quick question, of the cquartz coating products, which one is the easiest for a DIY amateur detailer to use and can I skip the paint correction prep stage. I have some very minor swirls but I do have some deeper scratch marks on the hood that can be best seen under brighter lights. Or is it recommended that I only use a professional to apply the cquartz?

Thanks!

 

[Si_chRis]

These prices for ceramic coating services are outrageous. If you are a DIY type of person, you can buy a kit for around $100 and apply it yourself. Youtube is a very helpful source these days on applying ceramic coating.

Ceramic coating services should not be in the thousands of dollars. Period.

 

[TimberWolf]

These prices for ceramic coating services are outrageous. If you are a DIY type of person, you can buy a kit for around $100 and apply it yourself. Youtube is a very helpful source these days on applying ceramic coating.

Ceramic coating services should not be in the thousands of dollars. Period.

That is not the proper way to apply ceramic coating. If you are going to DIY, you should actually know how.

 

[GSquared]

These prices for ceramic coating services are outrageous. If you are a DIY type of person, you can buy a kit for around $100 and apply it yourself. Youtube is a very helpful source these days on applying ceramic coating.

Ceramic coating services should not be in the thousands of dollars. Period.

Yeah I just got another quote at ~2700 for Finest Reserve and ~2000 for Professional. Seems absolutely crazy. The product is good, but not 2,700$ good based on an example car they showed me. Prep I understand and am willing to pay for, but when a bottle of publicly available CQuartz is no more than 100$, anything over 1,500$ seems just like price gouging at that point. Am I paying you 300$ per hour or something?

 

[Si_chRis]

That is not the proper way to apply ceramic coating. If you are going to DIY, you should actually know how.

That's subjective. If you have no idea what you are doing, then yes, take it to a professional. But the labor you're paying should not be more than 10X the cost of the product. Most kits from CarPro/CQuartz are floating around $100 USD from distributors, and some closer to $50 USD for their entry level products. Ceramic coating has become popular in recent years, and many brands have flooded the market like Gyeon Mohs, Pinnacle, GTechniq, Optimum, Wolfgang etc. making the market very affordable for a DIY-er. Using Youtube as a resource is a great starting point, if you are a DIY-er. There are hundreds of professional car detailers on Youtube worldwide that create content and tutorials for people to view, and take away from.

Applying ceramic coating is not rocket science. If you know how to apply car wax in a overlapping side to side motion, you can apply ceramic coating. I have detailed cars for years, and while ceramic coatings are all the rage nowadays, there are better options out there (Paint Protection Film) for the amount of money customers are being charged for the ceramic coating service. Shoot, if I was paying in the thousands for ceramic coating, it better be invincible, which it is not since you can still get rock chips, scratches, and it will only last 2 to 3 years at most.

Ceramic coating versus cost is controversial. However, there are cost effective options out there for it.

 

[KMG]

That's subjective. If you have no idea what you are doing, then yes, take it to a professional. But the labor you're paying should not be more than 10X the cost of the product. Most kits from CarPro/CQuartz are floating around $100 USD from distributors, and some closer to $50 USD for their entry level products. Ceramic coating has become popular in recent years, and many brands have flooded the market like Gyeon Mohs, Pinnacle, GTechniq, Optimum, Wolfgang etc. making the market very affordable for a DIY-er. Using Youtube as a resource is a great starting point, if you are a DIY-er. There are hundreds of professional car detailers on Youtube worldwide that create content and tutorials for people to view, and take away from.

Applying ceramic coating is not rocket science. If you know how to apply car wax in a overlapping side to side motion, you can apply ceramic coating. I have detailed cars for years, and while ceramic coatings are all the rage nowadays, there are better options out there (Paint Protection Film) for the amount of money customers are being charged for the ceramic coating service. Shoot, if I was paying in the thousands for ceramic coating, it better be invincible, which it is not since you can still get rock chips, scratches, and it will only last 2 to 3 years at most.

Ceramic coating versus cost is controversial. However, there are cost effective options out there for it.

Honestly your only looking at the product cost in what you are saying. The large expense really is not the product, but more so the many hours of prep work that lead up to the application of the coating. There is a big difference between the average detailer and the guys who are at the top of their game. There is a lot of time put into getting a car nearly as perfect as possible, not everyone can take a car that most people feel is already perfect and make it look drastically better. It comes down to knowing how to squeeze every last bit of gloss out of the finish prior to applying the coating.

PPF is the best option in terms of protection to possible damage from rock chips and scratches, however most coatings will last quite a bit longer than 2-3 years. I have seen many coatings going strong well past 2-3 years, however in many cases they set the life window at that due to marring from year worth of washes or just general flaws from use. This however does not mean the coatings has failed or is no longer offering protection.

These services are clearly not for everyone. If your the type of person that likes to wax and do stuff to your car yourself, then clearly this is probably not going to be the type of service for you. But if your looking to keep your cars as nice as possible, while also making it extremely easy to keep that way this could be the service for you.

Yeah I just got another quote at ~2700 for Finest Reserve and ~2000 for Professional. Seems absolutely crazy. The product is good, but not 2,700$ good based on an example car they showed me. Prep I understand and am willing to pay for, but when a bottle of publicly available CQuartz is no more than 100$, anything over 1,500$ seems just like price gouging at that point. Am I paying you 300$ per hour or something?

What exactly are you being quoted for receiving at those prices? Are you getting a wheels off service with the coating applied to wheels and calipers also? Glass coating? Interior coating?

And I can tell you there is quite a large difference between CQuartz Classic ($100 bottle) and the two professional products you were quoted for. It is still a great product, however it will not offer the same appearance and protection that the professional product do. I am going to attach a chart showing the benefits of each of these coatings.

 

[Si_chRis]

Honestly your only looking at the product cost in what you are saying. The large expense really is not the product, but more so the many hours of prep work that lead up to the application of the coating. There is a big difference between the average detailer and the guys who are at the top of their game. There is a lot of time put into getting a car nearly as perfect as possible, not everyone can take a car that most people feel is already perfect and make it look drastically better. It comes down to knowing how to squeeze every last bit of gloss out of the finish prior to applying the coating.

PPF is the best option in terms of protection to possible damage from rock chips and scratches, however most coatings will last quite a bit longer than 2-3 years. I have seen many coatings going strong well past 2-3 years, however in many cases they set the life window at that due to marring from year worth of washes or just general flaws from use. This however does not mean the coatings has failed or is no longer offering protection.

These services are clearly not for everyone. If your the type of person that likes to wax and do stuff to your car yourself, then clearly this is probably not going to be the type of service for you. But if your looking to keep your cars as nice as possible, while also making it extremely easy to keep that way this could be the service for you.

I agree that there are hours of prep work involved, and that labor should be paid for.

However, the quotes I have seen on here that reach into the thousands is just overkill, and is leading into PPF pricing territory. When you compare ceramic coating to PPF on these prices, you can start to see that the price is too high for just a ceramic coating, and cons start to weigh in. Pricing can vary by region and detailer, but for a paint decontamination/claybar, polish/swirl removal, and a IPA mix surface prep prior to a ceramic coating, or a wax/sealant application, I would expect the cost to be a couple hundred dollars. If the paint condition is severe, I can understand that pricing might go up for needed labor and extra steps in the detail process, but it should not be reaching over a grand for a surface prep and application.

Most people on this forum are inquiring on their new cars they just bought which will have a more than decent paint condition to start with. In some cases, the paint might need some work but in most, minimal surface prep will do the trick for ceramic coating. Another thing is ceramic coating also acts as a fine scratch filler, which can literally make light swirl marks disappear when applied. Is this a right approach to take when applying ceramic coating as a professional detailer? Maybe not. But if you're a DIY-er and not looking to spend large amounts of money, and can learn how to claybar or even use a iron/tar decontaminate prior to applying ceramic coating on your new car yourself, why not?

Overall, there are options out there. And ceramic coating is not too difficult to approach if you want to do it yourself. If you prefer a professional detailer to do the work, there is nothing wrong with that either. If you're new to paint protection and have no clue on the subject, there is no better way start educating yourself if you want to have the service done on your car, and to not overpay for it.

 

[ikbenben]

I paid 495€ for a complete detail with a CQuartz Finest coating.
It included washing, claying, degreasing, machine polishing and coating. Was a 2 days job.

 

[Si_chRis]

I paid 495€ for a complete detail with a CQuartz Finest coating.
It included washing, claying, degreasing, machine polishing and coating. Was a 2 days job.

This is the type of pricing I would expect for a full detail and ceramic coating. Roughly $570 USD when converting the Euro. Given the you're in a different country, I would not expect the US market to differentiate by double or triple the price.

 

[ikbenben]

Here you can see the work that was done :
https://www.facebook.com/pg/DetaileDbe/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1606919759338427

 

[KMG]

This is the type of pricing I would expect for a full detail and ceramic coating. Roughly $570 USD when converting the Euro. Given the you're in a different country, I would not expect the US market to differentiate by double or triple the price.

You will never see any type of Professional grade coating applied for that type of pricing in this country. That wouldn't be totally out of line for a new car prep with a consumer coating with a very light polish to clean up the surface however. We have standards we need to follow when it comes to the Professional coating we apply, not to mention @ that price I would be losing money due to my material costs and other expenses. Also the coating market is much more controlled and regulated then most other counties. It's a premium product/service that carries a premium price tag.

Sponsored