sparky973

Ran across a very good video detailing ceramic coatings vs waxing..

For me, waxing makes much more sense.

1SG_Ret

Did not know that about the nano coatings.

I've always waxed rather than coated all my cars. Just old school mindset I suppose. Meguiars, Mothers, and other good Carnauba wax has always been my choice.

I'll generally put on about four coats over the first few weeks of ownership and then touch up the areas that get the most abuse.

To my eye, my cars always look good and well cared for.

Nice to hear a bit of confirmation.

sparky973

I was a bit surprised as well, glad to hear this from an expert in the field. I always waxed my "weekend" car a few times a month and never had any problems. They looked new 15 yrs later.

gpotski

Might be nice to have some ceramic users give their real world feedback too.

I have used Zaino for years, and now Pinnacle Souveran Carnauba wax and like it a lot.

dvilin

A good coat of wax a few times a year is the way to go for me. The finish always looks good. As for the coatings well people fall in love with the newest fads. It is expensive, has disadvantages when compared to wax, and is very misleading on any benefits.

Mike Campbell

Well I've used & still use Zaino on my cars and will continue to reapply it. Just saying.

thill444

Everyone is going to have their preference. My method on any car I buy:
- Hand wash
- Claybar/claymit (the mits are much quicker)
- Polish to remove swirl marks or any other issues as needed
- Paint sealant
- Wax as needed.

Repeat the above as needed but I find once I claybar and seal, I can wax periodically and then go back to the above steps once a year.

ir0nman11

The video is a bit misleading and not entirely true. I have ceramic coating on my camaro from the carproUK brand.

They are correct to say that the process for preparing the car to coat is a whole another endeavor on its own, but only in the sense of patience and diligence. But the rewards are well worth the struggle. I did the ceramic coating on my own. The tools required for prep can be as simple as a random orbital polisher and your favorite polishing paste. However, the paint correction process to be done right will require a very good eye and lots of good lighting. It took me about a week, I did not drive the car and left it in my garage for the process. Every day after work I would go back, get the gear ready and go at it one panel at a time for a few hours. It is very important that the painted surface must be prepared to look as pristine as possible because any defects not removed will show up and be stuck there once the coating is applied. When all that is good, application of the nano-ceramic coating itself is not hard at all. It's just a matter of following directions and being aware of puttingan even spread of the product on the surfaces of your car. The next important part is that the car needs to dry and product needs to cure for about 24 hours. In this time it is absolutely critical that no moisture touches the paint surface of the car. It is also during this time that you have to keep a close eye and inspect your work because any blotches or spots will appear if application was not done right and at this point they can still be easily corrected.

As for the outcome of this ordeal... I absolutely love it and strongly recommend a nano-ceramic coating over waxing. Once the curing process is done, the car absolutely shines. It looks like it is made of glass. The color is brighter and clearer while also seeming like it has more depth. It has now been almost 2.5 years since application (well past what manufacturer advertises as the lifespan of the product) and the paint surface still looks beautiful. I hand wash the car about every 2 weeks using a two bucket method and I just now am barely seeing faint swirl marks. Water beading is still plentiful. Mind you this is also my daily driver. In this amount of time any dirt that accumulates on the surface just simply washes off. I have never even touched a wax product since I applied ceramic coating to my car. Just a wash with good ph balanced shampoo and then dry it up and car looks good as new.

To cover the point of ceramic coating removal.. I'm not sure why you would do it but if you must just get the polisher out and use that. It's not that bad. I have had to do some spot fixes where people have dinged my doors etc, just requires a bit of light application of the product afterwards. Doesn't need all the prep work as the initial time.

Foosh

In the interests of painting a balanced picture here, the video is from the CEO of a wax company, whose sales have no doubt been affected by the rising popularity of ceramic coatings. That makes him not an entirely credible source.

thill444

Yep, just like I would not trust companies who benefit by having you do an expensive nano coating coating. I am sure they will tell you nano-coating is the way to go.

ZenicaPA

Given the cost of ceramic coatings vs any of the multitude of saran wraps available I do not see the allure of the ceramic. I recently covered my other two vehicles in Suntek after carefully evaluating it against xpel. The finish is certainly glossy enough for me and neither of these vehicles have the factory optioned orange peel my C7 does so no need to wet sand them prior to application. Plus ceramics don't provide protection from physical abrasions caused by rocks or road debris.

jonn127

Its been awhile since I watched that video, but wasn't his main point about older collector cars where you want to maintain as much paint as possible? So why would you risk damaging the value by taking off paint to make it perfect before coating?
Besides, new coating products have come out now that basically ADD to the layer of the coating, so it seems that the coating would never need to be removed.

I could see saving the carnauba for the collector cars and coatings for the daily drivers.

Crossed Flags Fan

^^^^Yup that's the way to do it ^^^^^^^^

ir0nman11

nano coating costs $80, about $200 in tools that will always come in handy for other things, and time spent working on the car if you do it yourself. But if you love your car, then the latter shouldn't be a problem.

jonn127

Yes it definitely depends on if you do it yourself or have someone do it. If you have a reputable detail shop doing it, you are looking at $800+

thill444

With tax, I think the quote I got was just shy of $1K. I passed.

I agree with doing it yourself. You just need the time and patience.

jonn127

and cause a detailer isn't going to really need to see you for the next 3-5 years if you properly maintain, so he's trying to make what would be a client for 5 years, and make that all at once. Plus they definitely take some time to apply, cause you want the paint perfect before applying. Some will spend upwards of 20 hours in prep work before applying the coating.

joemessman

Listening and analyzing his statements, I didn't detect any false information even though he represents a "wax" company. To each their own. You'll get hundreds of methods to protect your cars if you ask, and they are all correct if you believe in them and they work for you. The only bias in regard to end users of the products is that they don't want to hear anything negative about what methods they use. They tend to justify and rationalize their method because they don't want to be wrong. Human nature.

pickleseimer

I've been in both camps. Have used several premium wax products and various sealers all with good results. Surface prep is the key - the more the paint is corrected the better it will look regardless of the product used. Putting any product over poor paint is, to be blunt, like putting lipstick on a pig. No product will ever hide a poor foundation. Those who own older cars sometimes walk a fine line when it comes to how much correction you can do before damage occurs - here in the C7 forum that's not much of an issue.

Lately have swung over to the coatings. Not the professionally applied products, rather the retail products that are easy to apply and forgiving. A compromise of sorts. Currently use Pinnacle Black Label Paint Coating on the dark colors. I consider this product a light-duty coating product (definitely not permanent) that will last at least a year. Each year, I use the Pinnacle Black Label Paint Cleansing product with a DA and a no-cut pad to re-prep the surface then just re-apply the coating. This can all be done in about 90 minutes. The clarity and shine are consistent through the year, better than any wax product I've used, and the chemicals they use on our roads in NE Ohio don't penetrate the coating. When wet washing, I dry with a blower and the water effortlessly blows away throughout the year. The daily drivers also stay cleaner between washings, and a pre-rinse before washing takes most of the surface grime and bugs off - not much sticks to a coated surface. In my experience, recently applied waxes will do this, but not as well and certainly are not as durable over time.

The PBL products aren't cheap, but neither are the Swissvax products. In the end, it depends on what you're looking for. Perhaps putting a coat of wax on top of a freshly coated surface is the best of both - you get the appearance of a coat of wax and you get the longer-term durability of a coating for protection. PBL suggests just this procedure although I've found the coating only to be just fine by itself.

sparky973

exactly what I thought. I didn't sense any bashing just facts of both methods. You decide which one works better for you.