[Captain J]

I just had the local detail shop apply Tec580 ceramic coat to my '17 V6/RS vert. $120 for a hand wash, clay bar and the ceramic coat to the body and wheels.
The Summit White with mosaic black rally stripes looks great now that it's coated.

[ninetres]

Never heard of the product, but if you only paid $120 it wasn’t a true coating. Likely just quick spray with a low silica percentage.

[KirkH]

Well, OP doesn't mention polishing. So if the paint was perfect and didn't need polishing, $120 is a fair price for a wash, clay and coating.

[KirkH]

Originally Posted by KirkH

Well, OP doesn't mention polishing. So if the paint was perfect and didn't need polishing, $120 is a fair price for a wash, clay and coating.

That's not the way I would do it, but...

In general, I do not clay without polishing unless I am removing tar or something from a daily driver.

[Captain J]

It was my understanding prior to applying the ceramic all imperfections and wax need to be removed. Isn't that what the clay is for?

[KirkH]

Originally Posted by Captain J

It was my understanding prior to applying the ceramic all imperfections and wax need to be removed. Isn't that what the clay is for?

The clay removes bonded contaminants from the paint. The paint is porous and when a bug hits it going 70 mph, the guts are driven down in the pores. The clay removes that stuff.

Clay is an abrasive, so it does leave micromarring of the surface of the paint. It does not remove any scratches or swirls from the paint.

Best practice is to polish after claybar treatment.

However, if your paint was already perfect, I can see some detailers may skip the polishing step, thinking that the clay does not mar. Again, not the way I do it, but I know people do.

My price for a wash, clay, polish, coating job is $350-500, and that is a bargain. In the big cities, that service runs $1500+.

[SnakeEyeSS]

Zombie thread, back from the dead.



Having used it, and curious what is in it I found the SDS.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...i-Ga-7e4vmIyES

What IS this stuff? Solvents & petroleum distillates? I can confirm the beading they show in their video. https://youtu.be/tMezwyt63fU

I even wiped off some tar with a dry rag last week(after a wash and forced air dry) Had a stubborn spot I used some Last Touch detailer to help with, and the crossover looks much cleaner after driving on the highway in a rain storm.

Their detailing spray does show ceramic properties in it's MSDS. I'm not a chemist so I may be missing something obvious?

The OP confirmed to me that his is still going strong when I started looking into it and asked him

The detail spray sds https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...gRVlf4alzX0liD

[Gunkk]

Originally Posted by SnakeEyeSS

Zombie thread, back from the dead.



Having used it, and curious what is in it I found the SDS.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...i-Ga-7e4vmIyES

What IS this stuff? Solvents & petroleum distillates? I can confirm the beading they show in their video. https://youtu.be/tMezwyt63fU

Their detailing spray does show ceramic properties in it's MSDS. I'm not a chemist so I may be missing something obvious?

The OP confirmed to me that his is still going strong when I started looking into it and asked him

The detail spray sds https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...gRVlf4alzX0liD

It certainly looks like they published an incomplete or purposefully inaccurate document. It’s all solvents and no substance...

So yes they’re hiding something, but why and from whom.

[SnakeEyeSS]

Well, here is one month in. Beading it like new on top panel so no point in a pic. This is just after a wash with reset. Lower front doors sheet after the soap is rinsed off, but after it dries it starts beading again. Maybe it's just the curve of the panel when rinsing, or this coating.

[SnakeEyeSS]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

It certainly looks like they published an incomplete or purposefully inaccurate document. It’s all solvents and no substance...

So yes they’re hiding something, but why and from whom.

You think I should if I poured a few ml out onto plastic and see if it hardens into a resin chunk? Wonder how long it would take.

[SnakeEyeSS]

And here it is. I poured some CQ UK 3.0 and some TEC580 in different plastic tiny suction cups, and let them dry.

It took a lot more of the TEC580 because it kept evaporating down into almost nothing. It ended up leaving a cloudy thin waxy film I had to peel/scratch off.

The UK 3.0 hardly evaporated at all, and left a lot more behind. It is much clearer. It came off pretty easy in big pieces once I bent the suction cup.



Left is UK 3.0, right is TEC580


I will say the 580 beads very well, and the Mazda it is on looks fantastic. How much is because of the matching ceramic spray, I don't know. I didn't put the coating on the roof, but have applied the spray a few times, and it beads just as well.

Since I think I'm the first to look into this I'll put some keywords for people googling it.

Technician's Choice TEC580
Technicians Choice TEC 580
XPC3 Ceramic Coating