[GermanMuscle]

Hi Everyone,

Picked up my new 2019 SS 1LE three weeks ago. It is black, which I love and hate at the same time
At the moment I do not have a garage to park it in so it sits outside in Florida sun all day so naturally I’m starting to see swirls and water spots. I’ve been thinking of Ceramic Coating or Vinyl Wrap.
Ceramic Coating is around $1650 for a 5 year application with the wheels and calipers (including 1 step paint correction).
Vinyl Wrap is around $2500 (including material).

Is Ceramic Coating really that good? The shop said it will not protect against water spots and it also doesn’t protect against rocks for track usage, so frankly I am having a hard time justifying $1650, when I can get a whole wrap for not too much money that will protect the whole paint.

I have never had a car Ceramic Coated or Vinyl Wrapped so any advice or thoughts on this?

[Glen e]

Don’t do either. Just put on a few good coats of the most recent spray silica’s that are out there, After a finishing polish with a random orbital… This is discussed virtually every day here....Search the first three pages of this section here......

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

First off, congratulations on your new car.
Second, I'm glad to see that you intend to take the car to a track. This is what a 1le was designed for, road course tracks. Owning one and never taking it on one, IMO, shouldn't be allowed.

For your thoughts about protection, neither. Why? Neither will give the protection your paint will require. Instead do a clear bra on the front, hood, mirrors, and lower rockers. Get some rock guards for the wheels as well.

The car will have to be machine polished first to remove the swirls, which were likely caused by the dealership. Usually referred to as DISO, or dealership installed swirl option. You can either do this yourself, or have it done professionally.

It's not difficult to do, but is time consuming. A 1 step correction on a black car usually isn't enough to do the job properly. It needs compounding (to remove the defects), and polishing (to give the paint a high gloss, and on a black car, a mirror finish).

The paint correction needs to be done first. Then apply the clear bra. After the clear bra is installed, for the rest of the areas, as Glen mentioned, just use SI02 protection.

The most important thing you have to do once the paint is corrected is wash it properly to avoid putting the swirls back in.

[kropscamaro16]

i park my car outside and have a ceramic coat on it sometimes i use a car cover in the winter/rainy season but normally just wash it weekly and its fine never had any problems with any spots and makes it super easy to clean and btw you can even get a wrap and also ceramic coat it or you can always do clear bra/ceramic coat