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I am about to take delivery of my first ever Corvette. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a ceramic coating put on the car so it's easy to keep clean and looking shiny. When talking to the detailer, he also recommended putting on a Paint Protection Film on parts of the car to protect from rock and stated the ceramic coating could only do so much.
So my questions are... does a ceramic coating really keep a car easy to clean and shiny once rinsed with water?
And, for those who have had there C8 for a while and have put some miles on it, what parts/sections would you recommend receive PPF?
How long are you keeping the car? Just take the cost into account. If you’re only keeping it a few years, maybe you can live with a couple small rock chips. It’s easy to leave a lot of car lengths between you and the person in front of you to mitigate a lot of them.
I can't recommend a good ceramic coating enough. I did the full car and wheels and it's been worth every penny on easy of cleaning and the great gloss the car maintains.
I had PPF installed on the entire front, rockers, A-pillars, behind rear wheels, top and mirrors. Then the whole car was ceramic coated. This was all preceeded with some paint correction. That was nearly 4 months and 3,500 miles ago. Not a single rock chip and have not had to perform a traditional wash, only rinseless washes to get the bug splatters.
This was my third Corvette, but first time with PPF or ceramic coatings. Was tired of rock chips and constantly washing. I'm now sold on both products, and would do it all over again for the peace of mind and ease of maintenance.
However, I recommend doing this directly with an independent detailer you trust. There's a thread in the C8 section that lists some reputable installers that may give you some leads. Chose an installer carefully and research what to look for when getting quotes. Ask if they remove and re-install the hood emblem, wrap the edges of panels like the hood, use pre-cut or pattern-modified PPF.
My quote was $1050 for the PPF and $600 for the Ceramic, $1650 for the two.
That's not bad at all. I wonder if I could get someone in Los Angeles to do it at that price, or if Criswell in Maryland can do it before I pick up the car.
Neither ceramic or PPF for me. For the cost of these options, you can have the car repainted.
It is a car. Drive it, clean and polish it and enjoy it. Don’t sweat the small stuff unless you plan to make it a showpiece!
On my last car it was $1800 to have the front bumper and hood professionally repainted prior to selling it. It was a 2003 with 46,000 miles....I absolutely will go with a PPF on the front this time. I did just about everything I could do to avoid rock chips, bug splatters, etc etc etc. But, after 17 years, there was no avoiding it.
I am very happy to spend under $2k for the added protection this time.
I cant even imagine what a full repaint would run.
That's not bad at all. I wonder if I could get someone in Los Angeles to do it at that price, or if Criswell in Maryland can do it before I pick up the car.
They do work with some local companies. That is where I am picking my car up. They offer a ceramic coat at the dealer BUT not PPF. You would want PPF before CC.
If you driving cross country, I would at LEAST do "Race Wrap" or NoviStretch or SOMETHING.
They do work with some local companies. That is where I am picking my car up. They offer a ceramic coat at the dealer BUT not PPF. You would want PPF before CC.
If you driving cross country, I would at LEAST do "Race Wrap" of NoviStretch or SOMETHING.
Yes, NoviStretch is a type of "bra". I just got mine in the mail yesterday. Will use it for longer highway runs. mostly helps with smaller debris and bugs. Rocks will still do some damage if not protected under it. Small debris and bugs being hit at hurricane force speeds take their toll for sure.
Race Wrap is a temporary clear "wrap" or film you can apply yourself. Ive watched a couple YouTube vids of people picking cars up (C8 and McLaren) far from home and applying it for their trip back. The C8 was picked up from MacMulkin.
The McLaren was picked up from the midwest and driven back to Cali. It was "Speed Phenom" (YouTube name). He later had the car done up with PPF and CC.
It is NOT overly "pretty", it is certainly noticeable from 10 feet away, BUT , it is just temporary.
I’ve got Xpel Ultimate on my Z & my wife’s ‘20 Grand Cherokee, but no ceramic coat. Obviously the ppf protects against rock chips but what I’ve noticed is other things (bugs, pollen, etc.) stick to it and are more difficult to remove than if those items are on the paint. I’ve also noticed it takes more effort to towel dry the car on the Xpel portions, the towel (yes expensive microfiber waffle whatever towels) just smear the water across the Xpel.
Will be adding ceramic coating which should alleviate those issues.
If paint cosmetics are important to you, you are willing to make a several thousand $ investment in appearance preservation (i.e. you intend have the car long term), then I recommend:
1. First and foremost, find the best PPF installer/detailer in your area. Find out where the high-end stuff (McLarens and Ferraris) are done. Not hard because they usually post them on instagram. High-end imports are often covered with paint defects by the time they make it all the way across the pond and these shops have a lot of paint correction to do, and they're usually very, very good at it. Inspect their attention to detail and then you can decide on the level of perfectionist-autism you are willing to pay for.
2. Full car top shelf self-healing PPF. Whichever brand your installer likes best as long as it's self-healing. Not all films install the same and working with the installer will almost always give far better results than demanding "must be XPEL or nothing" out of the gate. I'm partial to Suntek due to better haze and orangepeel (at least as of 2017 when I had my car done) and it still performs great, self-heals great, and looks great 4 years later.
3. Ceramic only in places where PPF is NOT used -- i.e. on the grillework and wheels. DO NOT waste your time or money with ceramic on top of PPF. Ceramic coatings increase water spotting problems.
4. Durable hydrophobic coating on everything. On top of areas that are ceramic coated, and definitely on top of PPF. Not all PPFs are hydrophobic out of the box. And I'm talking a multi-year durable coating. I'm a huge fan of Gtechniq EXO. Had 2 coats put on my car 4 years ago and it still works quite well and the car still looks fantastic.
SoCal, great detailed information regarding the list of things you had done. I am still up in the air about whether I do either and if I do, how much of either to do. Mine will be a nice weather driver only, so not sure. Of course, where you are, that's pretty much every day I suppose....!
I must say though, I am disappointed that you posted pictures showing the great results of your PPF/Ceramic, but they were NOT taken to showcase those fantastic FF11's
Beautiful SOT.
For the OP, I am also getting a red mist tintcoat, being built tomorrow, and I am in the same boat as you regarding what to do.
Ceramic Coating or PPF or both?
