To ceramic coat or not?

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bill-e

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Got the truck in for the post winter maintenance detailing. Washed, clayed and topped with Ecocoat Premier. I was going to do this myself but there was a lot of contaminant in the paint on the hood and roof and the price was cheap enough to have him do it for me. The coating and the paint in general weathered the winter very well and the detailing came out great.

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Greif

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What would be a good coating for diy. Did it 2 years ago and time for it again
 

Treburkulosis

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I have mine ceramic coated. I did it myself using Adams. I just made sure that my paint was clean and fully corrected before I did it. Its now closing in on 3 months and I love the stuff! I did my Charger and my wifes Pacifica. Hers sees a lot of rain, and no change in beading or shedding water.
 

rotts4u

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What would be a good coating for diy. Did it 2 years ago and time for it again
Up until now I have been using Carpro CQuartz UK 3.0 topped with glass. But just tried ArtDeshine Graphene and even with one layer it feels way better to me than the 2 coats of UK and topped by Gliss. The ArtDeshine I have is the professional stuff and it isn't cheap. About $200 for enough for 1-2 vehicles. I dont know how long it will last but the look and feel tells me it will last as long or longer than CarPro.
 

bill-e

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I've been maintaining my Kenzo with IGL Premier and Ecoshine.
 

MoPowered

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I can only add that for true paint correction and ceramic coating 1,400 is not a bad price. You neeed to understand that ceramic and graphene’s do a lot for paint protection but are not the do all end all of vehicle maintenance.

If you’re looking for high gloss, protection and ease of use at a much lower cost try some sealant after first de-ionizing, clay bar, paint correction, sealant then a high quality wax. If you like cleaning your truck yourself that is.

Ceramic and Graphene will still scratch, mar, and get halo’s after application within a given time frame, upkeep and contaminants.

The harder the ceramic coating the better protection it will give you and also the harder it will be to correct if applied wrong or starts to lose it values, due to improper care and environmental factors.

Use a simple sprayable ceramic detailer first after a thorough paint prep. See how you like the use, shine and protection then you decide if you want to pull the trigger on a complete ceramic detail.

I will say this I have detailed for several years (Over 40) with Polisher’s be it Random orbital, Dual orbital, long throw and short, lambswool pads, foam, microfiber, etc.
Hard paint’s, medium paints and soft paints, single, dual stage and triple. Lacquers, enamels, urethane and waterborne and each paint is different on how it will look with different products.

The reason I tell you this is because it’s about trial and error with some test area’s and understanding that you really don’t need a a ceramic coating.

You can get as much luster, shine and protection albeit for a shorter period without the worry of scratching the ceramic coating and having to remove it to correct it, with a simple polisher, yellow pad and an all in one polish and sealant.
There are several one step products that you will be amazed by that can accomplish this at 95% less cost than a 1400 detail.

Ceramics were designed for the show car circuit for cars that would be kept in a climate controlled showroom and although they work great for those weekend toys I don’t recommend them for daily drivers. If you get scratches and swirls or an uneven application the headache involved to remove them isn’t worth the expense.

Remember they molecularly bond to the paint surface so you remove them guess what will come off with them

If you need any advice, you know how to find me
 
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