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That’s what I have, a ceramic coating with no PPF, previously I had partial PPF (full front) but no ceramic.
The ceramic coating makes washing easier and quicker, a large percentage of the dirt rinses away (we can still use water here) and the remainder comes off easily when you soap it up, no hard rubbing at all.
The real time saver is when drying, I use a cordless leaf blower and it’s half the time of wiping it down, plus your not adding swirls. I do give it a quick wipe, but most of that is time inside the doors, inside the hood and drips from the mirror.
And the overall time saver is I don’t have to apply any wax or sealant, and ever time I wash the car it looks as if I just waxed it. I’m almost a year and 1/2 from my original coating and it still looks great. So how much time you might save depends on how often you normally wax your car and just a wax doesn’t equal a two or even single stage color correction, if your paint is not right you’re just glossing up your scratches and swirls, lip stick on a pig type of thing.
I got pricing of around $1100 to do a two stage correction and ceramic coat by a mobile detailed who would do the work from my home. I had an appointment to see a guy who did it at his shop, but knowing he would be more expensive decided to cancel because I didn’t want to spend the $1100.
Low and behold he offered to let me stop by and offered to walk me through the process, recommend products and share some techniques - I accepted the offer and he spent about 3 hours walking me through the whole thing and although he didn’t ask for it gave him some $$$ for his time and he gave me some goodies he gives his clients so they can do regular maintenance.
I did my car over a period of 4 days and probably spent a total of 20-24 hours on it; wash, decontamination, clay bar, wash, alcohol wipe, 2 stage compound/polish (2 passes each using very non-aggressive products/pads), alcohol wipes, finishing wth 2 coats of CarPro ceramic followed with one coat of CarPro Gliss. Did the black pieces with one of their products too.
Would (will eventually) do it again in a heartbeat. I think it’s a game changer as compared to wax, unless you are going to wax it often and polish it several time a year.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Very helpful reply, thank you.
I got two quotations from local shops that had high ratings. Prices in San Diego seem to be higher than for a lot of other places I'm hearing about here. We do have a high cost of living, and I don't begrudge anyone trying to make a good living either. I have to say the shops I visited gave me a very different experience than yours. Both had "greeters" up front who....how can I put this.....could have walked right out of a Hooter's franchise. When I did finally get to meet management, I felt there was quite a bit of up-sell going on if you know what I mean. "We can do it for $, but we think you really would do better with the $$$ super deluxe coating that comes in the crystal bottle" kind of thing. I have to admit those experiences soured me a bit on the concept. Perhaps I just need to find the right shop, that's one reason I'm asking these questions here.
Interesting you and @myrr both said that blow-drying the car is much easier after installing ceramic coating. I bought the most powerful cordless blower I could find (can't easily plug in where I wash my cars), but it still takes as much or more time than doing it by hand. Other than the advantage of getting the water out of the cracks, for me it was more hassle than it was worth. If ceramic coatings can significantly improve on that process, that's a big benefit of not having to touch the paint during drying.
I am a hardcore supporter of Ceramic Coatings. I do not baby my car and drive it in everything but snow as I do not have snow tires for it as I did for my previous Porsche (2011 911 4S). I just took these pictures of my car that has now 28K miles on it and had about 4-5K when the Gtechniq was applied in September 2017. I do not hand wash the car - I take it through a touchless wash and wipe it dry. I think it looks fantastic and I doubt it would if it did not have the coating.
I am NOT aware of any professional mobile detailer who will come to your garage and "claybar, swirl removing, waxing etc" for only $150. Maybe that's why you've been quoted the +$2,500 pricing to remove all the damage from $150-guy?
My latest job was $1500 with a two stage correction on a new car with scuffs etc. Gold C-Pro.
04-28-2020, 10:29 PM
