Is ceramic coating worth it? Fk8

CanadaCivic

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2017
Threads
8
Messages
184
Reaction score
163
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
2020 Honda Civic Type R (CW)
Country flag
I think one thing that might be getting overlooked is the maintenance side of a ceramic coating. If you pay for a fancy expensive coating, it will only perform like you are expecting (and as advertised) if you take extremely good care of it- that means decontaminating it regularly and boosting it so it retains it's thickness and hydrophobicity. If you are going to that much effort already, it is the same effort to simply re-apply a coating, defeating the purpose of the super expensive coatings claiming to last multiple years in "simulated" conditions (none of these coatings have actually been tested for multiple years).

I am of the opinion that it's much easier for people to just not worry about any of the expensive coatings and do it yourself, refreshing it every time you wash the car with almost zero extra effort. After the initial application, you simply use a spray-on ceramic or graphene product that is designed to be used as a drying aid, so as you're drying the car, just spray each panel a couple times, and viola - you have just refreshed the coating on your car for another few months. Assuming people wash their cars more frequently than every few months, you will always have a fresh, strong, coating on the car that will perform much better than a year or two into a "7 year coating" that requires the same if not more effort just to maintain. That is far better and far easier than getting a $2,000 coating and trying to maintain it flawlessly with zero mistakes, otherwise you wasted that money. A $15-20 bottle will last you 6-12 months of washes easily and you'll end up with a fresh coating with fresh UV protection every time you wash your car.

The only scenario I would suggest paying someone is if you need more than a stage 1 polish, and after that I would still suggest people apply the coatings themselves. It's not like it was a few years ago where all the good products were only sold to detailing shops for professional application only. You can now get high quality 1+ year coatings for $15-20 that you can apply in 10-15 minutes and if you just refresh them every time you dry your car, you will always have the best possible protection and shine.

The best cheap graphene coating is Turtle Wax Graphene FlexWax - they use real graphene and not graphene oxide. You can use it as the base coating as well as a drying aid.
Sponsored

 
Last edited:

Lust

Senior Member
First Name
Michael
Joined
Apr 17, 2018
Threads
16
Messages
1,411
Reaction score
1,774
Location
Bay Area
Vehicle(s)
2019 Champ White Type R
Country flag
Thanks for the input. I'm going to scoop this stuff up before doing my first wash after my ceramic coat job a few weeks ago.
Don’t just put any spray ceramic on top of your coating… use what your coating recommends. For example CQuartz recommends using Carpro Reload to maintain the coating.
 

WindJunkie

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Threads
47
Messages
799
Reaction score
744
Location
St Augustine, Florida
Vehicle(s)
2021 CTR LE USA-367, 2011 Civic Si (FA5)
Country flag
Don’t just put any spray ceramic on top of your coating… use what your coating recommends. For example CQuartz recommends using Carpro Reload to maintain the coating.
Got it, will do, thanks. Actually the CQuartz UK 3.0 I bought came with a small sample bottle of Reload, so I'll use that up and then buy a larger bottle.
 

CanadaCivic

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2017
Threads
8
Messages
184
Reaction score
163
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
2020 Honda Civic Type R (CW)
Country flag
Thanks for the input. I'm going to scoop this stuff up before doing my first wash after my ceramic coat job a few weeks ago.
I didn't realize you already had a coating, but if you don't then the Graphene stuff I mentioned is great for base coat + rinse aid / refreshes.

If you already have a ceramic coating, use a similar product to refresh it. You can put graphene on top of ceramic as well, shouldn't be an issue, it just won't last as long as if it had virgin paint to adhere to.

Just don't get caught up in the multi-year claims. Use a cheap, easy to use/apply product in spray form on a semi regular basis and you will never have anything to worry about. Most of them last 6-12 months but that is totally irrelevant if you are refreshing it occasionally after a wash and you will end up with way better protection than if you had a multi-year coating that isn't' being flawlessly maintained.

If you want to really be lazy, there are products that last about a month that you spray on and pressure wash off (zero buffing required), but obviously the protection is more short lived. I like that stuff for wheels and annoying places to coat, like grilles.
 
OP
OP
Ajk42189

Ajk42189

Senior Member
First Name
Arthur
Joined
Jan 24, 2021
Threads
48
Messages
166
Reaction score
37
Location
Revere, MA
Vehicle(s)
2021 Honda Civic type R
Country flag
I think one thing that might be getting overlooked is the maintenance side of a ceramic coating. If you pay for a fancy expensive coating, it will only perform like you are expecting (and as advertised) if you take extremely good care of it- that means decontaminating it regularly and boosting it so it retains it's thickness and hydrophobicity. If you are going to that much effort already, it is the same effort to simply re-apply a coating, defeating the purpose of the super expensive coatings claiming to last multiple years in "simulated" conditions (none of these coatings have actually been tested for multiple years).

I am of the opinion that it's much easier for people to just not worry about any of the expensive coatings and do it yourself, refreshing it every time you wash the car with almost zero extra effort. After the initial application, you simply use a spray-on ceramic or graphene product that is designed to be used as a drying aid, so as you're drying the car, just spray each panel a couple times, and viola - you have just refreshed the coating on your car for another few months. Assuming people wash their cars more frequently than every few months, you will always have a fresh, strong, coating on the car that will perform much better than a year or two into a "7 year coating" that requires the same if not more effort just to maintain. That is far better and far easier than getting a $2,000 coating and trying to maintain it flawlessly with zero mistakes, otherwise you wasted that money. A $15-20 bottle will last you 6-12 months of washes easily and you'll end up with a fresh coating with fresh UV protection every time you wash your car.

The only scenario I would suggest paying someone is if you need more than a stage 1 polish, and after that I would still suggest people apply the coatings themselves. It's not like it was a few years ago where all the good products were only sold to detailing shops for professional application only. You can now get high quality 1+ year coatings for $15-20 that you can apply in 10-15 minutes and if you just refresh them every time you dry your car, you will always have the best possible protection and shine.

The best cheap graphene coating is Turtle Wax Graphene FlexWax - they use real graphene and not graphene oxide. You can use it as the base coating as well as a drying aid.
Thank you!!! Definitely going to do it myself!
Sponsored

 


 


Top