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Can you move this over to that detail polish forum you recommend?
Sorry I posted in wrong forum section..... you guys have a nice weekend.
I'm going out for a beer
Ok, just to clear up a few things, I do both at my detail shop in the form of Zaino and Ceramic in the form of Ceramic Pro
My Zaino details run anywhere from $300 - $500. Ceramic Pro runs $1000 to $3000 based on the coats and the warranty. $3000 gets your a lifetime warranty, enough said
Bottom line the Ceramic is simply incredible. Every vehicle that has come into my shop for a wash coated in ceramic is simply a rinse versus an actual wash. Nothing sticks to the coating.
I am simply blown away by the end results. One of my biggest issues is bird crap and sap that will etch paint literally within an hour. With the ceramic coating it simply wipes off with zero etching even with the stuff on the car for weeks. Anything else etches the paint and some require wet sanding to clean up.
Say what you will but after doing hundreds of cars as a pro detailer the Ceramics are beyond anything I have seen to date for ease of maintenance.
Are they expensive, yes my prep time on a Ceramic is 8-16 hours as the finish needs to be prstine/swirl free. The product costs are astronomical, and the application time is 8-16 hours versus Zaino which is 2-4 hours.
Big money ceramic coats are for suckers and/or lazy people with a lot of money. If you are thinking of spending big money on Ceramic, watch this and decide:
Big money ceramic coats are for suckers and/or lazy people with a lot of money. If you are thinking of spending big money on Ceramic, watch this and decide:
Yeah...cuz the opinion of a guy who owns a WAX company is completely unbiased.
To the OP...oops, see you posted in Off Topic first, eh? Pretty unbiased and objective opinions from those guys, eh?
Coatings cost so much when having a pro do it because of the labor involved prepping the car (compound/polish) as you don't wanna drop a semi-permanent coating on a car full of swirls and scratches.
Coatings have the benefit of *somewhat* reducing marring/swirling from things like washing's, not gonna protect against stone chips or driving through a forest of tree branches.
That said, makes maintenance much, much easier and you can find decent consumer-grade coatings anywhere from ~ $60 to $250 if you apply yourself; takes some patience and attention to detail but certainly not rocket science for the most part.
Was a Zaino-zealot from 2004 thru 2016 and while the shine is nice and durable, it doesn't really offer much protection from bird bombs and water spotting. Coatings *help* in this area and the car stays *looking* cleaner longer.
I dropped close to $300 on product to coat our new, $16K HONDA CIVIC last fall because, while I'm not rich, I AM lazy and the coating makes it much easier for the car's finish to stay nice.
Sure, you could wax/seal every 2-3 months but you'd still have a finish that, day-to-day, does not come close to a coating in terms of staying *pretty* clean.
Do your research and make your choice...go visit Autopia or Autogeek forums for valid info as opposed to opinions from the CFOT crowd who are more concerned with sharing their upcoming probings...
Yeah...cuz the opinion of a guy who owns a WAX company is completely unbiased.
To the OP...oops, see you posted in Off Topic first, eh? Pretty unbiased and objective opinions from those guys, eh?
Coatings cost so much when having a pro do it because of the labor involved prepping the car (compound/polish) as you don't wanna drop a semi-permanent coating on a car full of swirls and scratches.
Coatings have the benefit of *somewhat* reducing marring/swirling from things like washing's, not gonna protect against stone chips or driving through a forest of tree branches.
That said, makes maintenance much, much easier and you can find decent consumer-grade coatings anywhere from ~ $60 to $250 if you apply yourself; takes some patience and attention to detail but certainly not rocket science for the most part.
Was a Zaino-zealot from 2004 thru 2016 and while the shine is nice and durable, it doesn't really offer much protection from bird bombs and water spotting. Coatings *help* in this area and the car stays *looking* cleaner longer.
I dropped close to $300 on product to coat our new, $16K HONDA CIVIC last fall because, while I'm not rich, I AM lazy and the coating makes it much easier for the car's finish to stay nice.
Sure, you could wax/seal every 2-3 months but you'd still have a finish that, day-to-day, does not come close to a coating in terms of staying *pretty* clean.
Do your research and make your choice...go visit Autopia or Autogeek forums for valid info as opposed to opinions from the CFOT crowd who are more concerned with sharing their upcoming probings...
His points were all factual. Are you discounting the fact that you will HAVE TO SAND THE CERAMIC COATING OFF YOUR PAINT in a few years?
I am a car detail junky, and initially I was excited about Ceramic coating. I met several guys who had it done, some paying $2,000 - $3,000 to have their entire car done! Parked next to mine, it was not worth $2K more than my Zainoed car!
I'm not ******* ceramic coating, but you just need to be educated about it fully before jumping IMO. The price to have it done properly is crazy, and the stripping process will be crazy later (sand your car!).
To each his own, but I'm going to stick with waxing my car.
His points were all factual. Are you discounting the fact that you will HAVE TO SAND THE CERAMIC COATING OFF YOUR PAINT in a few years?
I am a car detail junky, and initially I was excited about Ceramic coating. I met several guys who had it done, some paying $2,000 - $3,000 to have their entire car done! Parked next to mine, it was not worth $2K more than my Zainoed car!
I'm not ******* ceramic coating, but you just need to be educated about it fully before jumping IMO. The price to have it done properly is crazy, and the stripping process will be crazy later (sand your car!).
To each his own, but I'm going to stick with waxing my car.
His points were all factual. Are you discounting the fact that you will HAVE TO SAND THE CERAMIC COATING OFF YOUR PAINT in a few years?
I polished off last year's WG Uber Ceramic a month ago with M205 and a orange pad. The Pro-only version of Gtechniq Crystal Serum is the only coating I've ever heard of that 'needs sanding' to remove.
And with the consumer-level coatings, once the surface is properly decon'd, corrected and prepped, application, while requiring a certain measure of 'attention to detail', isn't rocket science.
Last edited by BudgetPlan1; 06-12-2017 at 10:20 PM.
I polished off last year's WG Uber Ceramic a month ago with M205 and a orange pad. The Pro-only version of Gtechniq Crystal Serum is the only coating I've ever heard of that 'needs sanding' to remove.
Not to take sides, but you actually just confirmed what RedC6 (and the video) said. Sanding v/s polishing is just a question of how large the grit is. You had to use an abrasive compound to remove the coating QED.
Not to take sides, but you actually just confirmed what RedC6 (and the video) said. Sanding v/s polishing is just a question of how large the grit is. You had to use an abrasive compound to remove the coating QED.
Well, if we wanna start splitting hairs on vocabulary and terminology, I'll stop washing my car and go sand it using a wash mitt as an abrasive medium along with some Auto Bathe & water as a carrier fluid. After all, to clean correctly the surface needs physical abrasion to remove the dirt/bird sh*t otherwise touchless washes and foam cannons would do the job without ever having to touch the paint. If I get really lazy I'll take my vehicle down to the Automotive Abrasion Center (formerly known as a 'car wash') and have them deal with it for $9.95.
Given his knowledge as a "car detail junky" and his strenuous use of phrases like
you will HAVE TO SAND THE CERAMIC COATING OFF YOUR PAINT
and
the stripping process will be crazy later (sand your car!)
I'd say it's pretty safe to assume he's not referring to the pretty much standard terminology relating to 'compounding' and 'polishing'.
Regardless, to each his own, find something you like and use it (often); just much less often w/ a coating as opposed to a wax. Just don't tell the president of the wax company whose likely own purpose with this video is to keep his profit margins healthy on things like the below:
Well, if we wanna start splitting hairs on vocabulary and terminology, I'll stop washing my car and go sand it using a wash mitt as an abrasive medium along with some Auto Bathe & water as a carrier fluid. After all, to clean correctly the surface needs physical abrasion to remove the dirt/bird sh*t otherwise touchless washes and foam cannons would do the job without ever having to touch the paint. If I get really lazy I'll take my vehicle down to the Automotive Abrasion Center (formerly known as a 'car wash') and have them deal with it for $9.95.
The purpose of washing is not to modify the surface as is the case with sanding, buffing, and/or polishing. I feel like you're trying gloss over (pun intended) that very important detail.
.... If I get really lazy I'll take my vehicle down to the Automotive Abrasion Center (formerly known as a 'car wash') and have them deal with it for $9.95.
I've been to a couple places where that would be a fairly accurate description rather than exaggeration, haha.
The purpose of washing is not to modify the surface as is the case with sanding, buffing, and/or polishing. I feel like you're trying gloss over (pun intended) that very important detail.
The purpose of washing, is actually modifying the surface. It removes crap from it.
I don't really consider using a pad and m205 sanding. I corrected a Wolfgang Uber Ceramic high spot on my car with a white pad, and M205. I then just touched up the area again with the coating.
My main point is that it's not too hard to remove a consumer coating, and nowhere near the skill or effort of wetsanding a car.
Both have Ceramic Pro! Best decision I've ever made! The shine is unbelievable, bugs rarely stick to it, and I wash em maybe every thousand miles ! Usually, quick wipe it down with the detail spray and it looks like I spent a weekend waxing it! Seriously, this stuff is awesome !
Both have Ceramic Pro! Best decision I've ever made! The shine is unbelievable, bugs rarely stick to it, and I wash em maybe every thousand miles ! Usually, quick wipe it down with the detail spray and it looks like I spent a weekend waxing it! Seriously, this stuff is awesome !
In my experience "ceramic coating", "paint protection package", "scotchguarding" are all synonyms for rip of schemes practiced by unscrupulous car dealers and amounts to no more than waxing the exterior and cleaning the interior.
The stuff that dealers sell, yes.
Quality pro detailers offer legit products and proper prep that makes for a solid foundation prior to coating. There are detailers that DO cut corners, but outside those unscrupulous people, its a worthwhile thing to do. Unless you like to wax your car 1-2x a month.
06-11-2017, 03:41 AM
Grumpy
