cheapthrills

Meh, IDK about all these expensive treatments, Blackfire crystal and Duragloss 951 Automotive Aquawax when drying, she always looks awesome for very little $$. Did the same on my 15 with 26k miles and she looked liked brand new when I traded her in. I will say in FL we get a lot less gravel/rocks on the road.




That's the reflection of the sunset clouds on the hood.

STYX450R

Last March I applied 7H Ceramic Coating to my new 2017 Z06. I was worried about applying 9H (hardness). From all the research I conducted, 9H is very difficult to repair if you make a mistake. After applying 7H to my car and my wife’s car, I made the leap and purchased two (2) 9H ceramic kits. I can’t wait until this spring to apply it! I just bought my wife a brand new SUV. Her first black vehicle. I can’t wait to detail. This is becoming a really fun hobby ��. I love the results.




9H Ceramic Coating Kit (Going to apply when it warms up).



7H Ceramic Coated (Completed last March).

pkincy

People that do it the old fashioned way with wax and sealant can get as good of a result. It just needs to be done every 6 months or so. With a good ceramic coating it needs to be done every 3 years or so. I do shoot a bit of reload on every few months. Also the ceramic coating is much easier to apply than wax and a ton easier to buff out as it requires no buffing when applied. Just a gentle rub out with little pressure as you are only removing high spots not removing or buffing wax or sealant.

Ceramic coating is somewhere in the $70-100 range for enough for 3 cars. Wax and Sealant would be about $30 for the same cars. So it is not enough more expensive to mention. If you are not going to do it then you have somebody else's labor to consider. My triple black 2001 Z06 cost me $350/quarter to get detailed. That was $1400/year. I was working and simply didn't have the time to do it. So if you would rather pay $2000 every 3-5 years to ceramic coat because you are busy or simply not a do it yourselfer it prices out very competitively to wax and sealant.

But if you want to do it yourself have at it. Watching You Tube a few evenings will tell you all you need to know about how to do it. Do be careful of cheap no name brands. Somebody can sell you 30 ml of sugar water for $70 if you don't stick with the known brands.

madrob2020

I've been considering go to the Professional to have this done. So questions, do you absolutely have to wash the car 1 to 2 times a month? Is there anything special about the coating, such as special soaps/reapplying/don't use buffer on it? How hard is upkeep for real. Thanks (I KNOW, COULD HAVE GOOGLED IT BUT TRUST VETTE FORUM REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE).

pkincy

Forget the coating, wrap or wax question, you have to wash your car at least twice a month simply to avoid the paint failing. Clear coat has some hardness but will easily scratch or pit, so if you don't get contaminates off you will have a sorry looking car before long. Coating is much harder than the clear coat but it will still pit or scratch so yes, you do need to maintain your car. Wrap has some self healing properties so will actually help on scratches and pitting. My installer recommends steam if you can as it will heal even bad scratches on wrap. But there is nothing extra to do in maintaining a car that has been coated. In fact less debris will adher to the coating simply because it is harder.

Nevertheless don't expect to drive a car for 5 years, never washing it and expect it to look good. None of these 3 good choices are magic.

Innovate

Firemedic301

I had a bumper issue that GM had to replace my whole nose piece. GM paid my Ceramic installer to re-coat my nose piece. GM/dealer should pay to get it done on your new roof?

pkincy

Come on folks, let's don't make this harder than it is. Clear coats have a hardness between 2H and 4H. They are easily damaged. Ceramic Coatings have a hardness in the 7H to 9H range. Although they can be damaged it takes much more force or abrasion to do so.

Anything that you would do to clean a painted and clear coated car that would not damage the clear coat you can do to ceramic coating.

There is not a single thing I do to a ceramic coated car I would not do to a waxed or sealed car or a new car with no treatment. Wash it as you have time to. Whatever your schedule is it will be better given the hard coating than if it was uncoated.

Ceramic coating is simply an applied liquid that hardens and fills the pores in the clear coat, much like clear coat is applied and fills the pores in the base paint. It is harder so it is less susceptible to damage than the untreated clear coat. It is harder than wax or sealant so it less susceptible to damage than the waxed or sealed car is.

Heck if you never want to wash the car, do it your way, but recognize most of us would never buy that car from you when you are finished with it, whether it was uncoated and unwrapped or whether it was wrapped or whether it was ceramic coated. As neglect makes for a dirty car with damaged paint.

Crushinator

Call me a skeptic, but they all look like freshly waxed Corvettes to me. They look great, no doubt. But I can't tell any difference.

Innovate

Detoxx03

Pictures won’t truly capture how much better a coated car looks in person vs a waxed car.

Grzldvt1

Let me dive in on this one. I do Ceramic Pro, Kamaikaze, Miyabi with Over Coat and ISM and Gyeon MOH's Q2.

Cliff Notes -
Ceramic Pro for scratch resistance and warranty, but must be professionally installed is the overall best of the bunch I deal with. Plus a plethora of high quality products for wheels and interior that really work. I absolutely love the Wheel and Caliper product. Have had BMW, Porsche and Benz wheels be almost spotless after weeks of driving, what is left simply rinses of with a hose.

Kamaikaze Miyabi, ISM and Overcoat - Best shine of the bunch, scratch resistance is excellent and very user friendly for the non-professional.

Gyeon - OK shine, scratch resistance -the jury is still out. Easy to apply, BUT needs 24 hours for the car to sit and cure before being driven.

Details:
Ceramic Pro needs to be professionally installed - Great self cleaning and an OK shine. Does have a warranty, based on what you purchase, no one else does this.... Excellent scratch protection, of the 3 it is the best. Very labor intensive, but costs are justified if you car wash your car. at a car wash

Kamikaze - Simple application, very user friendly, Excellent shine, great self cleaning and incredible beading good for 18-24 months on a daily driver in the Midwest. Awesome pro line and we are talking

Gyeon - Same as Kamaikaze, but the shine is not as good. Had to use Polish Angel Gloss to almost equal the other two shines. Plus contacting them to use the Pro line ended up with a very, very superficial situation. So this will get dropped from my selection of products.

While many are skeptical, I have been doing Ceramics for well over a year and several hundred cars, the final product from a maintenance and scratch perspective cannot be beat.
I have done more black cars with ceramic than I care to think about and they remain swirl free. I have never seen any wax/polish that can make that statement.

Is ceramic for everyone ... nope, I still do a ton of Zaino details, is it a passing fad, no way.. It is awesome and well worth the money spent.
As with all things somewhat technical, more products are coming out, creating competition and lower prices. Many I suspect are snake oil with outrageous claims. As we progress with this particular technology it will be interesting to see how products survive and actually work as claimed.
I am testing more products as I discover them but not interested in being the 10,000th clown on youtube a review in hopes of free products. I have certain criteria I use to filter the junk.

Detoxx03

Gyeon Mohs+ on mine and the stuff has been great. A lot shinier and protected vs the cars with cquartz that the shop has done. They switched to Gyeon after using cquartz initially.

Deicide

I went with Feynlabs Self-Heal nanoceramic coating. If you do get minor scratches in the coating, you can get them out with a few minutes and a heat gun.

Link to a scratch I repaired at the link below
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...lly-works.html

BudgetPlan1

Short of IR curing, pretty much all coatings require 24 hrs curing before getting wet, No?

Kamikaze, Cquartz, Gyeon, Nanolex, Gtechniq, etc all specify that in their instructions.

as for 7h, 9h, eleventy-billion h...moztly marketing hype IMO; will help protect from scratches from light drying towels but I don't care what 'h' ya got on there, a pine tree branch running down the side if your car is gonna leave a mark.

I'm a coating junkie but also realize 50% of the marketing is total nonsense. Mist notably, in my eyes, are the ones who suggest 8, 9, 10 layers for the Ultimate in Protection...what a load of garbage.

pkincy

Frankly I always leave mine inside the garage for at least 48 hours after applying. No reason to push it.

Grzldvt1

Have your friend trey Kamaikaze products. There is a blatant and obvious difference in the shine on a car I did with Ceramic Pro 9H, Gyeom MOH2 and Kamakaze Miyabe.
I just did a detailing seminar for the local Jaguar club with 41 attendees. Thos, which was a majority, all noticed the Miyabe side had a different unique look that was well liked.

wetscheid

I also am awaiting a Long Beach Red Grand Sport. I have a quote for full body $895 plus $150 to do the full wheels and $350 for the interior.

Firemedic301

pkincy

I paid $80 for my 30 ml bottle of CQuartz and it did 2 full cars.