Those who think that a factory fresh paint does not need correction because it is "new", cleary have never seen that paint "under the lights". Once they get that paint "under the lights", you will clearly see things you never, ever saw in "natural light".

As others have said, the bulk of the cost in paying to have it done, is with the prep and the paint correction. The application of the ceramic is the least hard part and the material is not that expensive.

The process should be something like.

1) wash
2) decon (remove iron)
3) clay bar
4) paint correction and polishing
5) apply ceramic

there may be a few washes in there depending on your detailer

 

If it's a long term coating (3-9 years rated) then all you need to do to "replenish" it is do a decontamination (decontamination towel or claybar, iron remover, water spot remover) and it should be good as new. This will essentially "unclog" it from all the minerals, road grime, iron, etc. that has built up on it from driving and will "replenish" the water beading, shine, etc. If you want additional protection there are many spray on ceramics that you can use (ex: DIY Detail Ceramic Gloss). Most are easily applied while you're drying the vehicle.

 

Just had my 2022 paint corrected (clay bar, etc.) and ceramic coated. The paint now looks flawless and the Torch Red looks much deeper and has more gloss than I could ever get with polish and wax. $1350 for all exterior surfaces except the glass.

 

My experience.
Advantages:
1) If you have it done professionally, a good paint correction is the best part of the deal. Your paint will look phenomenal and give you outstanding results with whatever type of protection you apply.
2) The car is easy to wash....if you use the proper amount of pH, ceramic compatible, no wax additive soap and make sure it's not done in direct sunlight and be sure to rinse it off thoroughly and dried quickly to avoid spotting. Drying is actually the real easy part as you can just blow it off with an electric leaf blower and dab up any remaining water.
3) The car does look good from a distance even after being driven daily and through rain. However, it does need to be washed regularly to maintain that look.
4) The coating will last a much longer time than a traditional wax or sealant if you follow the rules.

Disadvantages:
1) Locked into a system of ceramic compatible car care products, wash soap, detailer, etc. Not every ceramic product plays well with each coating product. Also, those products and method of application/removal need to be followed exactly or you run into potential problems with streaking, spotting, oily sheen, fingerprints and water spots.
2) If and when you get swirls, scratches or other marring from normal use, you simply can't polish them out with a polish or compound and throw a little ceramic back on. Google it.
3) The annual "boost" required by most detailers to maintain the coating's "hydrophobic" properties and warranty if there is one. You're protecting the protection that protects the factory clear coat protection.
4) Personal preference , but you can not get the depth and warmth on darker colors with a ceramic that you can with a pure traditional wax.
5) Again personal preference, but If you enjoy washing and waxing you lose the ability to wash, dry, put some music on, open a beer and go over the car with your favorite wax or try and new one to see how it looks. If you don't like the results, easy to remove and use a different choice or try a new one. No so with ceramic.

 

I own a Detailing business as a fun/side hustle. You will get alot of "experts" here saying what to use and what to do when unfortunately, they are buying a product at Walmart that says "Ceramic" on it, and they think their Vette is now "ceramic coated"...and its not. So lets first start with an education:

1) Ceramic coating does not make your paint bullet-proof. You can still get paint chips and scratches. PPF is the only way to PROTECT your paint for actual damage. Ceramic creates a hydrophobic layer on your paint which makes washing / maintaining your car so much easier.
2) Just because a product says "ceramic" on the label, does not mean its a true ceramic coating. There is a simple rule of thumb - if the product doesn't "rainbow", if it doesn't have a cure time and/or it doesn't create "high spots" if neglected, than its NOT a ceramic coating.
3) Regardless of what brand you select, 80% of the ceramic coating process is in the paint correction.
4) ALL CARS - let me repeat - ALL CARS that are to be ceramic coated require some level of paint correction. I dont care if it just rolled off the showroom floor, under any decent light, you will see imperfections. Now everyone's definition of "perfect" is VERY different but if you want your paint to look absolutely perfect, you need to do some paint correction before locking in its condition with ceramic. Also, be aware, that a ceramic coating only exaggerates paint imperfections...which is why its necessary to do paint correction.

Now as for which brand to use, after trying 5 or 6 of the top brands, I exclusively use Adam's Advanced line of ceramic products. They make a 9 year coating (60ml bottle) and a 1 year spray. Both provide insane gloss, outstanding protection, and are super hydrophobic which makes maintenance so much easier. What makes Adam's stand out over ALL other brands is the fact that they offer UV properties in their formulation. Under a UV light (which they include in their kit) you can see where you may have missed a section during the application phase. More importantly it also helps see where you might have missed buffing the coating away, which helps reduce the risk of high spots... The picture below is my wife's C7 (sorry I haven't coated my C8 yet). This was after 10 hours of paint correction and applying Adam's Advanced Coating - you be the judge...

Adam's Advanced Coating: https://adamspolishes.com/collection...39450748092513

Adam's Advanced Spray: https://adamspolishes.com/collection...84%A2-advanced

 

[QUOTE=Mayor111;1607657091t I exclusively use Adam's Advanced line of ceramic products. They make a 9 year coating (60ml bottle) and a 1 year spray. Both provide insane gloss, outstanding protection, and are super hydrophobic which makes maintenance so much easier. What makes Adam's stand out over ALL other brands is the fact that they offer UV properties in their formulation. Under a UV light (which they include in their kit) you can see where you may have missed a section during the application phase. More importantly it also helps see where you might have missed buffing the coating away, which helps reduce the risk of high spots...
[/QUOTE]

I have a friend with a detailing business. He had never used Adams products, only 1 year things because he thought that his customers wouldn't be willing to pay the price of what is needed. Most especially since he's OCD (Just what you want in a detailer!) I convinced him to try Advanced Ceramic on my C8 with me providing the product. He watched vids on technique and did a fantastic job. He like it so much he did his C6 with the remainder. When others started seeing how it turned out, they started asking for him to do their cars. Now it's about a third of his business.
I have been gradually shifting over to Adams products from Griots. Some products I like more, others not as much, but the Adams Ceramic line seems top notch. If I actually get 5 years out of the 9 year coating I'll be happy.

 

Absolutely STUNNING !!!

 

Did that car just come out of an automatic car wash ? ?? !!!

 

I thought it would be good to mention that the 24's have a coating on them that GM puts on all cars to protect the car from acid rain when they park it outside. My detail guy here in Atlanta said they have to work pretty hard to get that coating off so the PPF will stick. I'm not sure how it affects ceramic but you might want to mention it to your detail guy .....it might be news to him!

 

This just can across my FB feed. Good time to save a little money.

 

I go through the process with every new car I buy….takes a week at my installer.

1. wash
2. Paint correction
3. PPF (Stek Ultra)
4. 4 layers of Ceramic ( GTechnique Crystal Serum Ultra) including wheels/barrels.
5. Ceramic window tint on all windows (includes windshield and sunroof/pano)

I only use a waterless wash and with the exception of the Mini Cooper, if driven in the rain, never have washed a vehicle in probably a decade. Warranty is 8 years with annual “maintenance” in which my detailer washes then applies a top coat of GTechnique. Yes it’s an investment, but every vehicle that I have sold with this process has returned the cost and then some.

 

Is this the preferred coating??

red coating??

 

Yes that is the kit you want... Make sure to use the discount code at the top of the Adam's website - currently its "EGG" for 25% off (as of 3/27/24)

 

I've used Adams Graphene on several cars, including our C8 3.5 years ago. I also use their Graphene Detail spray as a daily ( as driven) basis. Great stuff. Still performs like I just applied it !!!!

I also think the UV flashlight is VERY helpful for busy areas like the front grill area, rear vents, wheels, etc. Only need to buy that once and then as you do additional cars, only need the bottle of the juice !

NEW QUESTION for those with stripes......... I just added the Jake front hood Stinger vinyl decal to our hood. Prior to installation, I polished off my Adams Ceramic Coating with my Porter Cable DA polisher on the entire hood. So now that the decal has been on a few weeks, I want to apply my Adams Graphene Ceramic Coating back onto my hood....... I assume it's OK to do the stripes too, correct ???

 

Ask 20 folks and you'll likely get 20 different answers on what the best (or preferred coating is); truth is that if sticking with a major player in the coating game (i.e. not some e-bay or heavily marketed through social media product) it's a pretty safe bet that 90% of folks will be happy with 90% of the coatings available to them. It's when you start looking for that extra 10% of 'goodness' that some products stand out. Does that extra 10% matter to everyone...I'd guess not.

But for some of us the journey is just as important as the destination and that extra 10% matters so down the rabbit hole we went, enjoying the ride the entire way down

A few other items of note after wandering through this thread:

1. Do you NEED to polish your paint prior to coating? No...but it's like anything, the prep work is the key. All the coating needs to bond/work is a clean, bare surface. It will certainly look better in the end with the complete, proper decontamination & polishing but it's not a requirement for the functionality of the coating.
2. Don't clay your car unless you plan to polish; clay is abrasive and you'll likely end up with some marring...whether you can see it or not.
3. If it comes out of a spray bottle, it's not a true ceramic coating (a few outliers like Gyeon CanCoat & Kamikaze Over Coat Ceramic are sort of the exception; a 'coating-lite' if you will but still basic chemistry of a true ceramic.)
4. Not all true ceramic coatings 'rainbow' as they flash
5. At its most basic level, applying a ceramic is indeed a wipe-on, wipe-off proposition. The issue lies in making sure that wipe-on, wipe off is done correctly otherwise you'll be polishing off a high spot, likely an entire panel. You don't catch that spot nearly immediately when applying, it's not just gonna wipe away the next day.

End of the day, it's well within the average DIY guy's ability to do with proper tools and a modicum of patience and attention to detail if that's your thing. Reason pros charge what they do is for the simple fact is that it IS their thing and it is labor intensive in some stages. Everything is generally more expensive when you have someone do it for you.

As with anything, YMMV.

 

When you get your car home, get a sandwich bag, put it on your hand and lightly pass your hand over the surface of the car. You will be surprised to feel the grit on the paint surface. Clay bar will remove the grit and then a good polish job and then the ceramic. My first day of having the car, I was clay barring the surface preparing for ceramic.