To Ceramic or not to Ceramic
 

I thought I was going to give this a try and do it myself and save a ton of money and just put the work in myself. But I've been reading a little in here and a lot of guys that know a whole lot more than me about this stuff say they wish they never did ceramic coating.


I have a black ZL1 that is garage kept with a cover. I think I have 3k miles on it and it will be 3 years this fall since I bought it. I know drive the friggen thing... that's why I thought ceramic was the way to go because it will look cleaner longer and less maintenance.


But I see a lot of talk about PITA water spots etc.


Am I better off just doing what I'm doing with the ON rinseless 2 bucket system, leaf blow dry, Essence then reload or is there some better options out there including ceramic?

I did Gyeon MOHS when I first got the car. I polished it off a week later and later down sealant. Mainly I didint like the depth of shine in ceramic. It's more of a coating obv where a sealant really brings out the paints depth and shine. Aside from that it does help to some degree with preventing surface scratches while washing. Now if your happy with two bucket and a leaf blower then you pretty much just killed the main benefit to ceramic coatings. If you enjoy washing your car and detailing it I wouldn't bother with ceramic.

Switched to Wolfgang sealant with their topper wax and the car POPS. Washing effort about the same.

I agree with coded! Get yourself a good DA and polish. Then find a good sealant, personally I like Klasse sealant and Mckees 37 high gloss detail spray. Definitely regret doing ceramic. Was a pain to compound an polish to remove all the damn spots on the ceramic. If your vehicle is garage kept an you can avoid water setting on it then ceramic might work for you. Or fork over the money and clear wrap the whole thing.

to me the question comes down to this:
Do you enjoy washing and detailing your car?

If answer = yes, then just do a sealant. it takes 10 extra minutes, do it often and you will have great protection and continue to enjoy the overall weekend process of taking care of your car.

if answer = no, coat it and rinse it and whatever.

the idea of a coating is it lasts longer than a sealant which is why you pay the difference. if youre a car person that washes and details their car once a month it doesn't make a damn bit of difference in my opinion how long it lasts. reapply.

No to ceramic....they are overhyped and not worth it! Reload or a similiar Silica sealant is what you need. Ceramic coatings are just a Silica based product with a hardner like quartz in it. Sealants can leave water spots as well, but are much easier to remove and address the water spots. Ceramics do not protect against scratching, which is common misinformation out there.

I have put ceramic on three different cars, and never will do it again. If I had a garage queen I didn’t wanna wash very often I might but the water spots are too much for me even if you dry correctly. Down here in Florida, if you leave your car out overnight, and it rains, then the next day It sit in the sun all day because you’re not home or doing something else, and you are peppered with water stains That are baked on.

I also don’t like things on my car that are permanent. I polished off one ceramic application but had too many streaks in it, and it took me days to get it off , and a huge expense of my back and shoulders.I like to change up products too often, and ceramic needed some maintenance that I didn’t want to do.

Essence and then Reload or megs spray for me...so easy. I also like McKees 10 minute paint sealant.

That being said, I still use car pro CQUK, on other items like my motorcycle helmets, the lower parts of my motorcycle, and a few other items. It does a kick ass job against soap staining on glass shower doors.

I agree. I have my 18 Suburban ceramic coated because its too big to want to do that ever again! Coat it and forget it.

My Camaro is not coated because I like to detail it, using different products, like glazes and carnauba.

Thanks for the replies... Might stick with what I'm doing but looking at getting a G9 by Griots to ease some of the by hand which takes awhile. I have some older essence and reload that probably need replacing. Have been looking at the Griots waxes and sealants. Are they all pretty much the same with the different brands? Seems like all the top 10 get great reviews. I just need to decide which to get and pads i guess.

McKees 10 minute paint sealant ... microfiber towel as an applicator. easy. wipe on, wipe off and move on.

lots of other good products too.

dont get a traditional wax or paste like sealant. too much work

I don't plan on ceramic coating my paint but I did the wheels and I am happy with the results.

So I've got to say, I'm surprised at all the hate for ceramic coatings...

Here's my story...

Ordered a brand new 2020 2SS (Shadow Gray Metallic) and took delivery in January... Spent a couple weeks researching things and trying to figure out what is best for the most expensive car I've ever bought...

I ended up ordering a BUNCH of stuff from Adam's Polishes including a polisher, ceramic coating kit, soaps, washing pads, etc... North of $600 of stuff (the polisher isn't cheap!)

I ended up chickening out on doing the Camaro (I grew up in a Body Shop using an old buffer and such and did my share of burning through the clear) so wasn't about to put a "buffer" on my new baby... Took it to a local, highly rated "auto spa" and had them do clay, polish and CeramicPro coating... In addition I had them do a bunch of PPF and window tint as well...

So now I had all this product I bought that I wasn't going to use on my Camaro... We have 4 other "family cars" in the household (My DD, My wife's car and my 2 daughter's cars)... My DD is a 2012 Sonata, my wife's car is a 2016 Sonata, my oldest daughter's car is a 2019 Elantra and my youngest daughter's car is a 2007 Santa Fe (we didn't ceramic coat but did everything else)... I decided to give it a go on these cars with all the stuff I bought... So the 2016 Sonata was first... Wash, clay bar, compound, polish, IPA wipe down, ceramic coat (Adam's 9h) and then 24 hours later, a top coat of Adam's Ceramic Boost... This car is garage kept and came out fantastic... (See the red car pictures below...)

Next car, my daughter's silver 2019 Elantra... Same process, wash, clay, compound, polish, ceramic coat (Adam's 9h) and then 24 hours later, a top coat of Adam's Ceramic Boost... This car lives outside, we get a lot of dust (as well as extra dust from the neighbor's gardener who loves to blow crap around every week!)... In addition, we live in an area where we get a LOT of coastal fog or even light sprinkles (on top of the dust/dirt on the car)... This car get's washed maybe every 2 weeks or so and is rather dirty and spotted by that time, however with a proper 2 bucket wash it comes out looking fantastic with NO water spotting whatsoever... Even when it has rained on it and the water sits on it for hours or days...

Third car, my DD 2012 Pacific Blue Pearl Sonata... Same process, wash, clay, compound, polish, ceramic coat (Adam's 9h) and then 24 hours later, a top coat of Adam's Ceramic Boost... This car lives outside, we get a lot of dust (as well as extra dust from the neighbor's gardener who loves to blow crap around every week!)... In addition, we live in an area where we get a LOT of coastal fog or even light sprinkles (on top of the dust/dirt on the car)... This car get's washed maybe every 2 weeks or so and is rather dirty and spotted by that time, however with foam cannon pre-wash and then a proper 2 bucket wash it comes out looking fantastic with NO water spotting whatsoever... Even when it has rained on it and the water sits on it for hours or days...

I'm just not seeing the nasty water spotting people talk about... My Camaro is a garage queen, it won't see rain for quite a long time, but the 3 other cars I ceramic coated, 2 live outside full time and it has been a few months and they both still look great after a wash (I just washed my 2012 Blue Sonata this evening and it came out great and it was filthy with dirt that had been rained on)...

Wife's 2016 Sonata (Garage kept), this is after the ceramic coating (4 years old, 25,000 miles):

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=164485

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=165401


My 2012 Sonata (outside car) after the ceramic coating (8.5 years old, 85,000 miles):

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=164744

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=164745

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=165400


Daughter's 2019 Elantra (1 year old, 9,000 miles):

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=165399


My youngest Daughter's 2007 Santa Fe (14 years old, 138,000 miles):

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=165402

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/pictu...ctureid=165403

These were the first 4 cars that I've ever done any type of paint correction or ceramic coating on... Hell, I had never even clay barred a car before this recent project...

I just don't get all the hate on ceramic coating, I'm very happy with it so far, I hated waxing my cars, I think this ceramic coating will be better protection with less work in the long run...

I agree with this.

Silica sealants seem to work really well and are very easy to apply. I use Carpro Hydro2Foam diluted 10:1 right after a conventional wash then hose it off and ECH20 + Reload for detailer spray. This is also inexpensive as the products are diluted quite a bit.

I also agree conventional products are fine for folks who like to do more work, but generally won't get a result that looks as good, beads water as well or keeps the dust off vs using 10:1 Hydro2Foam that adds ~15 minutes to a regular car wash. ;)

So you can just do a wash then a sealant and skip wax? That saves a ton of time if so...

that is correct, it replaces wax. do it monthly and you'll be happy