Ceramic coatings, what have you used?
 

What brand ceramic coatings have you guys used, and were you happy with the results? Is there one brand that stands out, or any to stay away from?

I myself have tried the Kamikaze Miyabi, ISM v2.0, and Blackfire.

I love the Miyabi the most because I like the pure reflectivity of it. Blackfire is probably even easier to apply but not as reflective. ISM is duller, more like a wax look.

BudgetPlan's writeup of what he's done is very useful for your question. https://budgetplan1.wordpress.com/gl...amic-coatings/

I just tried Adam's spray ceramic on mine. It gives an awesome shine but I haven't washed car yet. My friend tried it on his an he said it doesn't bead after a wash. Guess I'll find out.

Same here. Ease of application was far superior over what the previously had with the 3 step process. Like above haven’t washed it yet but did initial water test and it looked good. During prep I was going for 85-90% correction and what minimal scratches I left or just did t bother chasing during that process, I noticed it did fill in some of those. Also darkened the color just a hint.

I am am a big Adams fan.

For those using the Adams ceramic spray, did you follow up with the booster? Waiting now to do my daily drivers.

Yes, I just finished mine topped with Ceramic Boost. My car is metallic black and I think Adam's recommends applying CB after a ceramic coat. I does give the black a deeper dark shine.

My cars are fair-weather vehicles. I've been using an annual regimen of polishing with Gyeon Q2M Primer (a light abrasive polish which prepares for a coating). No need for IPA wipedown if you wait 24 hours before applying the coating product. I use Gyeon CanCoat - simple wipe-on, wipe-off.

If bucket-washing during the year I use Gyeon Bathe+, else for detail-spray wipedowns I use a mixture of Carpro Ech2O / Carpro Reload / distilled water in a 1:1:14 ratio. Water sheeting is excellent all year-long.

I had mine professionally installed. Ceramic Pro Gold.Attachment 48302360

For me and my individual preferences, Kamikaze has exceeded my expectations and is what is on my personal cars. 22ple is a very, very close 2nd...excellent products as well.

Kamikaze offers a bit more complexity and depth of appearance than 22ple and the Zipang offering with its "...semi self-healing characteristics, meaning that the appearance of small swirls or imperfections in the coating surface will reduce when exposed to heat.", is a nice plus. Not a suit of self healing armor by any means but a nice benefit.

The Kamikaze stuff just plain works for me and I enjoy using it.

However...

First thing you should do is decide what YOU want out of a coating; things to consider:

1. Durability, longevity

2. What kind of appearance? i.e. hard, candy-like gloss or deeper, warmer wax-like glow

3. Ease of application important?

4. Climate; what might work nice in Arizona (dry) might not be so nice in New Jersey (rain/snow)

5. Do you like beading or sheeting?

6. Are self-cleaning characteristics important to you or are you gonna wash your car weekly regardless?

7. How much do you wanna spend?

8. Daily driver or hobby car?

While quartz/glass/ceramic coatings are all in the same general category with respect to LSP’s, there are subtle differences in them and you may as well go with one that is strong in your primary areas of concern.

And FWIW, claims of hardness, scratch resistance and such are, IMO, way over-marketed with coatings. While they may provide some minor resistance to light marring, it's a harsh world out there and many things (jewelry banging paint around door handles, boxes hitting trunk areas while loading, leaning on hood of vehicle with grimy sweatshirts, etc) *will* leave a mark. Problem with coatings is the only way to remedy those marks/marring is to re-polish (removing coating) and re-coating that area, generally an entire panel as many coatings don't lend themselves well to spot fixes. If you're horribly OCD-ish about having a totally defect free car for 2 years, a coating may not be the best way to go...

Longevity is likewise impossible to truly predict due to variations in climate, vehicle usage and maintenance habits. Claims listed on packages/advertisements are generally somewhat, uh...optimistic. Not always, but usually...

I live in NE Ohio so all ny findings/thoughts are based on that climate. The characteristics of a coating that matter most to me are:

1. Great Self Cleaning Abilities: Our cars see rain and often get rained on in the morning and then sit outside in the sun in the afternoon; don’t like waterspots. I like clean cars but don’t like cleaning cars.

2. Durability and resistance to environmental contamination like water spots and bird bombs. Don’t wanna have to worry about running home and immediately dealing with removing things that would otherwise etch bare paint. Like hard water spots did to our Corvette during the Zaino years. Also has to last cuz I don’t wanna be hauling out compounds and polishes every Spring, given reasonable maintenance.

3. Appearance: Well, stuff has to look good. Has to accentuate body lines, curves and hard edges. It needs to make me stop and admire it when walking towards it, walking away from it or catching a glance in the garage when I take out the garbage.

Have tried a few different coatings, watched 'em over the course of 20k-40k miles in NE Ohio, variety of vehicle usage and maintenance patterns.

To be honest, of all the coatings I've tried, there were really no bad products but some did particular things a little better/different than others so I went with the one (s) that excelled in areas I found important.

Read, research, try a few if you can. Or, just go with someone else's favorite as determined by insightful comments such as 'Product XXX is the shiznit!" with no further elaboration on why it's so funk-tacular.

YMMV. Keep in mind that what may be best for me may not be best for you. Lotsa varying considerations.

If you like reading, kept some notes and thoughts on coatings I have used over the past 2-3 years. 20+ different coatings, 15+ different toppers/boosters used in about 36 different combos. Can find 'em here if interested:
https://budgetplan1.wordpress.com/gl...amic-coatings/

I have use both Opticoat 2.0 and Gtechniq crystal serum light followed by EXOv4. I prefer the gtechniq stuff for ease of application and exov4 hydrophobic properties are very hard to beat. Both coatings are good but opticoat switched to gloss coat and their pro coat and while gloss coat works great it does not have durability of the old prosumer 2.0 coating i used. Both cars that were coated have been done for over two years and still bead water and clean up with ease.