What DIY ceramic coating do you use? What do you think of this one?

Wax is a coating. Coatings are applied, not installed. You just sound ignorant.

 

you sound like someone who doesn't know wtf they are talking about but wants to sound witty.

 

I applied Cquartz UK 3.0 almost 3 years ago now.

Did the full paint correction myself
(it is real easy to do with a cheap DA random polisher, watch a few youtube videos you'll be surprised how easy it is).

The consumer grade ceramic coatings are actually very easy to apply, don't be daunted by them.

After a few youtube videos you'll realize that applying the coating is actually not much different than waxing your truck.

Every 2-3 months I wipe down the truck with carpro reload when I hand dry after a spray wash.
(which is less effort than applying a wax or sealant).

Water still beads real good on the truck, not as good as when I first coated, it but still better than wax.

Would I recommend it to others.
Definitely,
Especially if your vehicle is new as there is virtually no pain correction to do.

Realistically you don't need to paint correct first but there is no use in having shiny scratches on your truck.

Ceramic coatings will still show hard water spots though and can be damaged by them, but not as fast as what your bare factory paint would be. But so long as you don't leave them to bake in the sun for weeks they will wipe right off vs etch the paint in a day or two like on bare factory paint.

Truck is easier to clean also, this 202 black shows everything..
Also is a lot more resistant to swirl marks and scratches.
I gave up on waxes and sealants real quick...


Truck is a '17 and it looks better and is shinier than ones still on the dealers lot.

 

Dude, come on and play nice please. Everyone, including you, is entitled to their own experiences.

 

no, thats someone spouting false info because one they bought a garbage product or 2 didnt know how to properly apply the coating and what kind of prep work is needed so it bonds correctly. Then to spout off info they fail in 3 months on some "well regarded" coating just causes other people to say they read that and might think coatings wont last. a proper coating that is properly prepped and installed will last a minimum 12months depending on what one you use. he probably just put the coating over his TV nufinish and it washed off in 3months when the nufinish died

 

Well he didn't explain or give details so we really don't know what happened but he knows what happened to him that is his experience. It's not right or wrong it just is his experience. Clearly that is not your experience and that is OK too.

 

It looks great! I have only had my 2021 truck for about 4-5 months. I took it to the carwash about 8-9 times, there may be light swirl marks but its hard to tell. do I need to do paint correction? I want to use the cquartz too. Is there another ceramic coating by them besides the 3.0? do you remember which videos were most helpful? TIA

 

There are a ton of these products out there. A ceramic wax coating is so much better than regular wax. I have used Mothers and Ethos. Mothers was just a starter for me and it work well. Ethos Ceramic Wax was better and now they have Resist which is a spray Graphene, I bet it is like 303 and so easy to use as a topper. However, before you start with any ceramic wax product claybar is a must. I had very fine spider web scratches and did a polish but still there. The ceramic coating will hide some or most of these. The hardest part is getting the paint free of contaminants. The smoother and shinier the paint is before the ceramic the better the paint pops.

 

You do have to properly wash the truck first then wipe it down with something to remove any waxes/contaminants before you apply it though. After a good was I used 50% rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and a microfiber towel to make sure there was no old wax on the truck.

Do you HAVE to do paint correction?

No

If the swirl marks are not bugging you then you will just end up with swirl marks that are shiny....But you will wish you did with the shine will now have.

But paint correction is easier than you think...

I was all nervous about all the Hype about "Paint Correcting"

You just need one of these $60

A couple medium or fine polishing pads for it. (I like the ones from Chemical Guys or Rupes) you can get them off Amazon or most Auto supply places.

Then you can play with all the fancy compounds to polish but I found Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0 to be one of the easiest to use for a beginner because it starts out as a compund but finishes as a polish so you just need to go over it once vs the cut and polish stages on regular polishes.
Removing light swirl marks on the whole vehicle will take about the same amount of time as it would to buff out the vehicle with a cleaner wax.

Don't buy a circular polisher though, they can burn the paint and require a lot more skill to use vs a Random Orbital DA Polisher.

It's hard to screw things up with a Random DA polisher.

And then buy a bunch of microfiber towels, you don't need the expensive ones.

Here is a good Video showing applying Cquartz



Yes it really is that easy. Biggest mistake I see people making is, overthinking it.

Some tips;
Do not apply in direst sunlight, the UV from the sunlight cures it too fast before you can wipe/buff it off.
60-80 deg F are the easiest temps to work with it.

The colder the temperature the longer it takes before you have to wipe it off, so you can do a larger area at 60 deg F (like a whole body panel) before it starts to get "grabby". and harder to wipe off.
80 deg and I'm doing only half the door panel before I wipe off.

If you didn't wipe off a spot properly and you notice it left a haze about an hour later, apply a few drops ofCquartz to an applicator pad and go over it again. The solvents will remove the haze.

If you "really screw up" and applied Cquartz to an area, didn't wipe it off, let it completly cure for a week, you can just grab you ScratchX and a buffing pad and buff the haze out in a few minutes. Very easy.

Any one that tells you a ceramic coating is permanent is giving you BS,
It comes off real easy using a Microfiber pad on your polisher and Scratch-X or a compound.
Just like doing another paint correction.

Make sure you are is well lit or have a flashlight or worklight so you can look at it with light from different angles so you make sure you don't miss a spot.

The directions mention using a full line of Cquartz along the applicator pad, I generally use only a full line when I'm switching to a new felt pad, and put a half line down for the rest of the time, No use putting it on super thick because you just will be wiping it off.

Put the applicator in a plastic bag while you are wiping off the truck so the Cquartz on the felt pad is not hardening while you are wiping and you felt pads will last longer.

If you follow the half-line tip above one 30ml bottle will do 2 coats on a Tacoma with some to spare.

There are other coatings from them

Cquartz Light - while it looks good, will only last about 6months year.... (imho why bother)
Cquartz Original - Like Cquartz 3.0, tougher to put on below 70deg F the 3.0 but easier at 90deg . Once it starts to flash you have to wipe it off quickly or you will leave "high spots/haze" and will have to the the -re-apply the applicator trick. Overall a little tougher to apply than 3.0.
Cquartz Gliss, can be used on it's own or as a topper on Cquartz, tougher to apply and no real advantage to adding for the cost effort involved. Lasts about 6 months to a year. Better off to use the new SIC instead.
Cquartz SIC I have not tried it but since it is new there it no proven longevity test of it yet but reviews say that adding this on top of Cquartz 3.0 enhances the shine even more and it is suppose to show water spots a little less than other ceramic coatings.
Elixr Elixr is a finishing polish and "base coat" you can put on before Cquartz, unless you are shooting for 5 year longevity and super show quality finish, I would not bother. Where it is really usefull is after a couple years you want to "rejuvenat" a ceramic finish that has been totaly neglected and abused, you put it on a finishing pad and polish out the truck again and if you manage to remove all the damage you just then ad another coat of Cqaurtz right away to make it look good as new again.
Elixr+, Is like Elixr but is more for rejuvenating a taken care of but old finish. But you can't but another coat of ceramic coating over top of it as it is a "topper" and will last 6 months to a year.


This guy has some good "practical" testing of ceramic coating and sprays...




and there are a bunch of other people that are "testing" on youtube.

That second video has dispelled a lot of the advice I have read here on TW...

Waxes and Sealants just don't compare to the Ceramic coatings.
This truck is only ever indoors when it's in for it's service checks...
Looks better than when I got it brand new from the dealer....



The ONLY thing I do not like about Ceramic coatings ...

Since they bead the water so well, and our air is so full of pollution, you will be left with water spots after a rain or if you have hard water. sprayed on it
Ceramic does have the advantage as it does not etch from water spots as easily as regular paint does.
And they do clean off real easy (I use the spotless rinse at the coin op to clean them off, no soap, just a quick rinse)

 

One thing I will add here. An iso wipe down might not do the job to properly remove the wax/sealant so the paint is bare for a proper surface for the coating. I had Turtle wax seal n shine on my wifes explorer and unless I did some crazy chemical baths it would not come off with any IPA wipe-off. I had to give her car a quick polish to be able to remove it so the paint was bare so the coating would properly bond.

 

Awesome post, thank you! I do have a random orbital polisher. Never used it, got it for my BMW several years ago. That paint....ugh another story. Thanks again, going to try your suggestions.

 

Outstanding write up. Thank you. Was leery about doing it myself, but this is making me think it can be done. Thanks again!!

 

Thanks guys,

I thought doing it was going to be hard also,

Watched a few youtube videos,
and while there is a lot of good information on there...
they make it sound harder than it really is. They are trying to outdo each other.
Your not polishing a 5 million dollar hypercar.

I found this video a good real time demonstration and summary under 10 mins.



Quick rule, if you can't feel the scratch with your fingernail it will quickly polish out.

You don't want to push the machine onto the vehicle and want to keep the pad spinning properly,
so take a black marker and make 2 radial lines on the backing plate that you can see them when holding the machine.
This will teach you in under 10 seconds the correct pressure to use as you watch them spin.
Using a DA machine and polishing is less aggressive than using your hand (which seems counter-intuitive)

Black shows everything, so I went all super youtube and got all sorts of special pads, 2 part compounds, jewelling polishes, iron removers, clay bars, pre cleaners etc.

My truck was too new so the clay bar and iron removers were a waste of money.

Have 3-4 of each type of pad you plan on using, they will get dirty so you need 3-4 to do a whole truck.
compressed air is the best to blow them off after 3 or for passes,
which takes about 10 seconds or you can just wipe them clean with a lint free cloth which takes about 20 seconds.

Have some place to set your polisher down near the truck for when you wipe off the truck.

Don't do a lot of passes near edges, or areas where you can't keep the whole pad face on the vehicle (round edges).

As a beginner you could buy a $60 random da polisher, 4 fine polishing pads, 1 bottle of scratch-x 2.0 and 20 cheap microfiber cloths from walmart...
Make 1-2 passes over your truck which should take 2-4 hours.
And you, and 90% of the population will say "holy SH*T" that is Shiny it looks better than when it left the showroom floor.
And will comment to you one it on how good it looks.
Professional detailers and people that worked in Quality control will notice the tiny scratches and swirl marks when they get up close and the sun hits it the right way.
Same amount of skill as waxing your truck with a DA polisher.

You can Ceramic coat it from there and keep it looking that way, well plus that "coated with glass" look the Ceramic coating adds.

If you have a non-metallic Black truck and want it to look like a mirror,
be able to stick your face right upto a panel in sunlight...
and not be able to see a swirl mark or any flaws in the reflection...

Your looking at.
Higher end DA polishers (because your gonna be spending a longer time with a polisher in your hands and less vibes means you hands won't go numb after 4hours straight)
Cutting Compounds
Polishing Compounds
Jewleling Polishes
higher end microfiber towels

Paint thickness gauge so you don't go through the topcoat.
Flashlight for finding swirl marks

Denim pads for removing the orange peel.
Microfiber Pads for your cutting passes
Medium and fine pads for you polishing passes
Fine and Polish Pads for your Jeweling passes

So that would be 10-20 hours of work and about $500+US in equipment and supplies. ...
But your ready for the SEMA show.....

Biggest mistakes I made at first was...
overthinking it.
Not doing it sooner.

 

all depends how much flaws you can live with. I'll also say no matter how careful or one having OCD a ceramic coated surface will develop flaws over time.

bought all types of cleaning, paint protecting protection products, towels, etc. after having a pro coat our car/truck and the swirls, water spots, etc. can still develop but the coating makes it easier to clean and shine. I like having a ceramic coated car/truck but it's kinda disappointing to see the flaws develop.

 

Tape off your plastic if your polishing.

Be very weary of edges if your new, its very easy to burn through clear/primer on edges.

Direct sunlight = bad

a very very light pressure, evenly distributed on the pad, is best IMHO

Listen to how the friction sounds. It will change. If you dont hear it changing any more, your likely done. This really only applies if its older paint/bad, but you can still hear differences in swirls

 

I gave up on those wax's and sealants also. Their gone after a couple good rain storms. I really don't know how much better most of those over the counter ceramic coatings sold in big box stores are either. I got a quick view of the ceramic liquid that was professionally applied on my truck over a year ago thats still holding up as the day i took the truck. Never even washed it yet.

 

Took this pic today after a quick wax job.

 

very nice! Shinier than my practically brand new one.

 

Ooooh! Chassis rinse!

 

I just got that a few months ago. It works pretty well. Does a much better job than leaning over trying to spray down the under carriage