is a ceramic coat worth it.

I think half the fun is doing it yourself.
Use a decent Si02 ceramic from likes of Meguiars, Autobrite etc, easy to apply. Then every couple of months top it up with a spray on Si02 wax using a jet wash.
 
Simply, no.

It's another another scam.

They will spray something onto a still dirty car that they've just washed (scratched for you) then call it protected. How could you prove otherwise? ;)

Buy a spray on sealant yourself, it's better to buy one with a shorter life so you can easily top it up, E.g Lavish ceramic foam. Plus if you get stone chips and the like, you can fill those in without having to sand off a "insert fancy overpriced ceramic coating name here".
 
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Its 100% not possible to fully protect a car!

You can PPF all you like but they eventually peel away & need redoing plus direct sunlight is real bad for PPF (and vinyl wraps!) after a while so you really need a garage to park in warmer weather.

PPF offers some degree of protection from minor damage but as its nowhere near 100% protection not sure its worth the thousands installers charge to fit it properly either!

Just accept you will get minor damage as & when it happens try to get it fixed.
 
Yep whatever you put on the paint to protect it, that will just wear instead. These coatings will still get swirl marks etc. And after a few months it will just look the same.
 
I got a ceramic coating put on my car in January. It was completed by a car detailing company and included minor paint corrections. The ceramic coating was Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra and topped with Exo 4.

The car still gets a wash and snow foam every couple of weeks by me using two bucket method. The car has an excellent gloss shine to it and the paint flakes pop well in the sun.

I paid £1200 including minor paint corrections.

Was it worth it? Yes, as I don't have to wax the car every few months, and dirt comes away very easily.

However, just to offer some balance I used to wash my previous car and use a spray of Meguiers ceramic wax and I was always pleased with the results!
 
£1200 for a polish and coating is silly and quite frankly a waste of money on most cars.

I did it once and it was circa £750 for a serious amount of correction and Carpro coating.

The well known detailer I used (ran into him on his main day job when we were on a boat) said just get Auto Finesse Lavish foam and use that. Far simpler, cheaper and does a great job for 6months, then just repeat.
 
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-Ad- said:
£1200 for a polish and coating is silly and quite frankly a waste of money on most cars.

I did it once and it was circa £750 for a serious amount of correction. The well known detailer I used (ran into him on his main day job when we were on a boat) said just get Auto Finesse Lavish foam and use that. Far simpler, cheaper and does a great job for 6months, then just repeat.
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It’s not silly if you’re proud of your vehicles and enjoy having a spotless car all the time :-)


At the end of the day, people are fully entitled to spend what they like on whatever pleases them - if that happens to be on keeping their car’s paintwork in excellent condition, then so be it



I personally prefer to learn and do it myself, but I can see why some wouldn’t.
 
MrRockliffe said:
It’s not silly if you’re proud of your vehicles and enjoy having a spotless car all the time :)


At the end of the day, people are fully entitled to spend what they like on whatever pleases them - if that happens to be on keeping their car’s paintwork in excellent condition, then so be it



I personally prefer to learn and do it myself, but I can see why some wouldn’t.
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I'm proud of my whole fleet and have never applied a ceramic coat on them(other than the X5 in the example above, but it needed serious polishing).

Proud of your cars does not mean throwing £1200 away is the acceptable norm.

A wash, decon, clay and foam on coating is simple to do and doesn't really need much learning. Even a hand polish with an AIO container fillers can do a cracking job. Repeating the coating 6 monthly isn't hard and you'd not be able to tell the difference between that and a coating applied by a paid for detailer.

It seems that becoming obsessed by detailing has become the norm for many car enthusiasts. Not unexpected given the internet and social media, a slow motion beading shot makes many weak the knees :D
 
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-Ad- said:
I'm proud of my whole fleet and have never applied a ceramic coat on them(other than the X5 in the example above, but it needed serious polishing).

Proud of your cars does not mean throwing £1200 away is the acceptable norm.

A wash, decon, clay and foam on coating is simple to do and doesn't really need much learning. Even a hand polish with an AIO container fillers can do a cracking job. Repeating the coating 6 monthly isn't hard and you'd not be able to tell the difference between that and a coating applied by a paid for detailer.

It seems that becoming obsessed by detailing has become the norm for many car enthusiasts. Not unexpected given the internet and social media, a slow motion beading shot makes many weak the knees :D
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Never said being proud means you should spend £1200.


What I said was that it isn’t silly if you are proud of your car.


Some people spend money on cleaners, branded clothing, designer kitchens, multi bedroom houses, high end speakers etc etc


Nothing wrong with spending money on what you’re passionate about. Equally, being passionate about something doesn’t mean you have to spend money on it.



Do what you love and don’t judge others for not doing the same (within reason!) :)
 
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I don't know why you're bringing irrelevant things into car cleaning and coating discussions, such as kitchens or houses ;)

At least those two things provide day to day uses and can actually increase the value of the property if done right or are bought in the right area for a good price.

A fancy polish and coating add precisely 0 additional value to a car, although people love to mention them in for sale ads (presumably to try and justify an over inflated asking price).

Once you've spent enough time buying/selling cars and working on cars, all this "Oh look everyone I've paid a pro to coat my car in nano fibre terracotta ceramic adamantium oxide" just becomes another "keeping up with the Jones".

If you truly care about your car, or even if you don't care that much, then give it a clean yourself, cheeky polish and spray on coating. You'll achieve the same result for minimum expenditure ;)
 
MrRockliffe said:
1. If it’s £400 it either: isn’t a ceramic coating or; it isn’t done properly.
2. You might be able to with a good LED light. Not all ceramic coatings are smooth (in fact most aren’t in my experience). If it hasn’t been done perfectly, you might see some slight hazing if the product has flashed before being buffed properly.


Most dealerships use either a “ceramic” wax or “ceramic” sealant. Neither of these products are a ceramic coating in the traditional sense - they won’t cure/bond to the paint work. They’ll sit on top as a coating which will quickly degrade over a 3-12 month period depending on how regularly you wash/which products you use.


Furthermore, they usually won’t prepare the paintwork sufficiently for a ceramic coat



A good detailing shop will charge ~£800-£1200 for an IPace with paint correction and panel preparation.
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indeed, my midget cost £700 to do it properly. And you dont get much smaller cars!
 
£400 is possible, but you will only get a cheap coating, or the paint wont be "corrected" first. just the "coating"
 
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I've paid a little extra to get the dealer to machine polish and apply ceramic coat to the 440i I'm buying.
Proper coat too, not a cheap spray on.

I'm hoping it will really help make the alpine white... shine lol
 
Or more likely, just getting their regular car washers to slap it on after going over it with some cheap shampoo and a rag
 
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I’ve worked at numerous dealerships and as hard as they work they’d be the last people I’d let detail my car. They are not incentivised to do a proper job, they need to get cars in and out as quick as possible. Drop clothes on the floor, jet wash off and used on your pride and joy. No thanks.
 
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