My Ceramic Coating Journey

[tciotti2003]

So I did my usual investigation regarding if ceramic coatings were worth the expense and/or the work (If I was to DIY it) and once I decided to have it professionally done I found Celan Freaks Company who are mobile and the young man named Austin who also is the owner gave me quite bit of good information regarding ceramic coatings both on the professional and DIY front.
And the results are totally awesome! here are the pics

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[LGM30G]

Looks nice!
How much did the ceramic coat cost? How long did it take?

 

[TomD]

So I did my usual investigation regarding if ceramic coatings were worth the expense and/or the work (If I was to DIY it) and once I decided to have it professionally done I found Celan Freaks Company who are mobile and the young man named Austin who also is the owner gave me quite bit of good information regarding ceramic coatings both on the professional and DIY front.
And the results are totally awesome! here are the pics

I really would like to get mine done. The prices scare me to death. Locally it seems to be dictated by how much clay bar work they do.
I just can’t put I arms around paying several thousand dollars for waxing my truck.

 

[HarboCat]

Our son, a professional detailer specializing in ceramic coat, did our truck right after we bought it last year. It still looks fabulous. You already spent big on that sexy truck, spend a few more bucks to keep it looking good, and protect the paint.

 

[Tim d]

So I did my usual investigation regarding if ceramic coatings were worth the expense and/or the work (If I was to DIY it) and once I decided to have it professionally done I found Celan Freaks Company who are mobile and the young man named Austin who also is the owner gave me quite bit of good information regarding ceramic coatings both on the professional and DIY front.
And the results are totally awesome! here are the pics

Curious if ceramic is worth the extra cost over regular paste wax? I wax my vehicle once a year at a cost of about 75 cents. The paint on my 14 year old ram still looks new.

 

[tom_tucker]

On an exotic car, you probably actually make money on investing in ceramic. Not so much on Maverick.

Nobody's doubting the killer looks and effectiveness over wax though....on the paint. That's maybe half the overall car washing.

Even with the ceramic coats, underbody treatment, etc., I would still need wash the car at the same frequency, especially everything underneath. I'll stick with a 6 month wax I think.

 

[colinl]

On an exotic car, you probably actually make money on investing in ceramic.

No.

Exotic cars, really anything $80-100K+, tend to come from the dealership with PPF already applied. The owners pay $5-10k for it, and in the case of an actual exotic, this is a tiny fraction of the vehicle cost and offers significant protection against stone chips, scratches and even minor door dings. Unlike ceramic, which is just a wax with a clearcoat on top.

You can then ceramic on top of the paint protection film, but why? It's not paint, it's vinyl.

 

[colinl]

Curious if ceramic is worth the extra cost over regular paste wax? I wax my vehicle once a year at a cost of about 75 cents. The paint on my 14 year old ram still looks new.

Yes and no.

If you wax very well with a high quality wax (more than 75 cents per application, but I think you were being facetious) then there is no real difference in shine or rainy performance on day 1.

Depending on how much the vehicle is outside and exposed to dust and rain, both will start to break down. It happens a lot faster with the regular wax job, because ceramic coating has a resin top coat that protects it. However, if a vehicle is garaged and low-mileage like my wife's Bronco, I find that Meguiar's hybrid wax lasts on it for (actually) 9-12 months, still beading fairly well at the end. Same wax on my truck which is parked outside all day at work or customer offices, starts to degrade in 3-4 months. I wax the Bronco 1-2 times per year and my Maverick 4 times a year.

Ceramic lasts longer. How much longer depends on the conditions and mileage, as I wrote above. But for most, probably a few years. There are some ceramic installers offering a '10 year warranty' which I doubt is enforceable or valuable in any way.

Obviously, you can't take any car through a car wash with brushes and expect the finish to last, but it is especially harmful for ceramic coating, it will scrub off the resin topcoat in no time.

 

[WoodWorks]

Yeah, I’m one of those barbarians that takes my truck through a regular car wash (with brushes and everything) every few weeks. A ceramic coating would be completely wasted on me.

 

[Tim d]

Yes and no.

If you wax very well with a high quality wax (more than 75 cents per application, but I think you were being facetious) then there is no real difference in shine or rainy performance on day 1.

Depending on how much the vehicle is outside and exposed to dust and rain, both will start to break down. It happens a lot faster with the regular wax job, because ceramic coating has a resin top coat that protects it. However, if a vehicle is garaged and low-mileage like my wife's Bronco, I find that Meguiar's hybrid wax lasts on it for (actually) 9-12 months, still beading fairly well at the end. Same wax on my truck which is parked outside all day at work or customer offices, starts to degrade in 3-4 months. I wax the Bronco 1-2 times per year and my Maverick 4 times a year.

Ceramic lasts longer. How much longer depends on the conditions and mileage, as I wrote above. But for most, probably a few years. There are some ceramic installers offering a '10 year warranty' which I doubt is enforceable or valuable in any way.

Obviously, you can't take any car through a car wash with brushes and expect the finish to last, but it is especially harmful for ceramic coating, it will scrub off the resin topcoat in no time.

Actually I wasn't being facetious, the wax cost about 5 bucks and I get 5-6 applications out of it. My ram is parked inside,so I'm sure that does help it last longer.my wife parks her maverick outside so will be interesting to see how it holds up with the past wax.

 

[tciotti2003]

Looks nice!
How much did the ceramic coat cost? How long did it take?

Costs $900.00..He also did all the glass...And just drove through a bug storm and a few days later noticed a ton of bugs on my lower front end and all I had to do was take my microfiber cloth, lightly rub and they all came right off, including the glass so I'm definitely impressed

 

[Edge Haley]

I've found Ceramic Coatings pretty amazing. Have done 4 cars, Maverick and 2 motorcycles. It is a lot of work to CC a vehicle but no way any wax lasts as long as Ceramic Coating. The Porsche to the left was done 5 yrs ago and still beads like the day it was first CC'ed. All 3 of my vehicles with CC can mostly be washed off by rinsing off with a garden hose to wash them, but then use Ceramic SOAP to refresh the CC. Maverick took 8 hrs to claybar then Ceramic Coat the paint. A CC'ed vehicles shines much, much more than a MacGuire wax job and last for years instead of a few months.

CC simply leave a very hard glazed coating on the paint and you have to leave it indoors without dust or water on the paint until it cures for 12-24 hours.

Material: CC =$120, Claybar kit=$45, Microfiber RagShop-$40
Total Around=$220 in materials but that will do 2 or 3 vehicles.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

Curious if ceramic is worth the extra cost over regular paste wax?

I had the same question. Six months after a DIY ceramic coat with Cerakote, I would definitely say yes, it is. Water still beads off it like the week after I applied it. And dirt just doesn't stick to the paint.

Totally different product than paste wax.

 

[Tim d]

I had the same question. Six months after a DIY ceramic coat with Cerakote, I would definitely say yes, it is. Water still beads off it like the week after I applied it. And dirt just doesn't stick to the paint.

Totally different product than paste wax.

Thx for your input! I wax my vehicles once a year.every spring with paste wax. I don't keep track of how long the water beads on the paint but the paint looks like new on my 14-year-old Dodge ram. Cost is also a factor, where as it's about a dollars worth of product to wax my car with paste wax. How much is the ceramic coating?

 

[Ozarkbeard]

... How much is the ceramic coating?

I do not recall. But I think CeraKote was around $15, which was more than enough to do the truck, and probably enough to do it twice.

At almost 7 months later, the truck still has that just waxed feeling when you rub your hand across it. I will never go back to old school paste wax products.

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