B Russ

So I had my car done while I was away. I'm wondering what the finnsh feels like after the application. Mine does not feel smooth and glassy at all. I'm concerned they didn't do anything at all. Please let me know before I go over and blow some people up

LexVan

Like glass.

It all about the prep.

Wash
Clay
Wash
Polish
Coat/wax/sealant

What did you pay? Maybe you got what you paid for??

krabman

My last one was smooth and it looked like it was freshly waxed, this one is getting done on Monday and I'll pick it up on Tuesday so I'll be able to chime in on a freshly done car then.

B Russ

Well I totally got hosed, when I run my Palm across the top of the back quarter you can actually hear the texture and it sounds like paper not glass. It's raining lightly right now but as soon as it stops I'm headed to the dealer. I paid well over 1000 so I expect a glass finish not some sand paper feeling ****.

LexVan

Don't let a dealership even wash your car, let alone be expected to do detailing work. Find a quality detailer in your area. Good luck.

B Russ

I was hoping they would be a good source for stuff like that since I dont know many people here. I have become friendly with 2 of there guys there so Im sure they will be pissed as well and get right in front of this.

krabman

Yeah, it shouldn't sound like or have that roughness. The car should look freshly waxed with a good luster and feel smooth, I've heard "smooth as butter" as a description. Water should run off like magic: On that last one I'd try and pour a little water on the hood and see what happens. If you aren't completely shocked at home it ran off so quickly and completely something is up. The 9H that is used now is something like 8 on the Mohs scale and requires abrasives to remove. Sure hope you aren't in a world of hurt.

B Russ

As I expected my friends at the dealer were yeah that's not right, they will come get the car next week when I leave and get it right.

GoBlue!

I paid over $2k for mine. Maybe closer to 3 with wheels and calipers . Lots of paint correction and time in it.

B Russ

I did Ceramic Pro (well maybe not), Tint, and clear bra full front and it was well over $3k

SaratogaLefty

I have Ceramic Pro Gold Treatment (entire car) and Xpel Ultimate on the complete front end. Was done in April, 2018 and still looks/feels perfect. As mentioned above, the pretreatment is critical. The car must be fully detailed with clay bar and polish before the Xpel and Ceramic Pro are put on. Then once a year you bring it back for a Sport touch up (~$200) which includes a full detailing inside and out. I've been very happy thus far and its almost two years. If they didn't do the paint correction properly before applying the Ceramic Pro that could be the reason you are noticing roughness. Problem now will be it is very time consuming and difficult to remove the coating and start over again.

iammacey

Did you confirm that you also paid for paint correction? Ceramic coatings are just a protective layer, like wax. The paint needs to be decontaminated, iron removed, clayed, corrected, and then the ceramic applied.

It sounds like they just did the ceramic application without properly prepping the paint. But that may have been what was expected or what they sold.

Hopefully it gets sorted OP!

krabman

The way I understand it Ceramic Pro installers are supposed to do the correction, it's included in their price. This is only basic correction, what can be removed with clay bar, polishing, and so on. Bigger defects are charged on a per case basis. They told me about this up front both times I did it previously, it's on their literature, web site, etc. Even now when on the phone making the appointment for tomorrow they told me final cost could change after inspection if any larger defects were found.

B Russ

Car has 8k miles and needed little correction by my standards. Im going to stay calm and let my guys get it right since I really dont have much of a choice at this point

krabman

Nerves of steel, that's the winning ticket! I inquired this morning when I dropped my car off; it seems the basic correction is defined as washing, claybar, and a single pass of polishing. They tell me such a correction will attain something along the lines of a 60 to 80% correction on a new(ish) car with the upper end being desirable before applying the coating. They've since called and told me I was at 70% and asked if I wanted to go ahead with the coating or go at it a little more. Since they estimated 2 to 3 extra hours to get near perfect I'm paying the extra and getting it done. Should have thought to ask exactly how they determine percentage of correction, I'll try and remember tomorrow when I pick it up.

Edit... Yeah, smooth as can be, feels like a new coat of wax and the car is super shiny. Evidently percentage of correction is just what you would guess, perfect is almost impossible without substantial work and the percentage of correction goes from where you start to the finished result. So when they 60% you're looking at it's 60% of the existing defects removed during the correction. They also mentioned you've got a sliding scale, 60% on a brand new car might look pretty good whereas 60% on an older car could still show a lot of defects. I had thought maybe there was some objective standards but evidently not.

I know you hadn't asked Bob, I'm throwing this in there as it's likely to come up in a ceramic coat search and might be useful information assuming the person making the search knew as little as I did before I asked these questions.