Ceramic Coat/Detail Cost/Benefit

I’ve got a 2017 TRD OR. I got a quote for $1350/$1650 for 5/9yr guarantee for a ceramic coat (cant remember the brand) on my paint. It includes some light paint correction, rail dust removal, prep, etc and the guy said it’d be a 3-4 day process.

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with something like this, if it’s worth it, or if it’s smoke and mirrors.

 

I'd double check with what "light paint correction" means. If you're paying that much; I'd expect a full, multi-step, near perfect correction throughout the entire car.

To answer your question, coatings are great. They make it easy to wash your car and provide great protection. The only real cons is the cost to get a car coated and if scratched, the strip/removal process is a lot more tedious than traditional sealants/waxes.

Best advise I can tell you is, a coating is only as good as the prep work. Don't cheap out on something that will become semi permeant on your truck.

 

@Bman562 good insight! Thank you!

 

For a shop that is going to keep the truck 4 days the price makes sense but its all about results. However $1300+ is a pretty good budget for more then everything you'd need and then some for you to DIY a coating. You're looking at more of a 2-5 year in DIY coatings though. I don't even want to commit to a 2 year coating but 9 seems ridiculous aside from a non daily garage kept car.

But if you've got the cash but not the time go for it. Did they mention a requirement to bring the truck back periodically for maintaining? Is there a charge for the maintenance visits?

 

Also, you need to know the brand.

 

I agree. I forgot the brand that the guy told me about. He went into some of the science of it and the other brands he's previously used, I just don't remember the name. It is more expensive than I anticipated so it will likely be something I do on my own.

 

He did mention maintenance, but kind of glossed over it - which made me be even a little more hesitant. I've got the time, so I will probably do it.

 

I ceramic coated my last 2 cars myself. I planned my adventure out well in advance by reading up on the topic and YouTube of course. I did the coating over the course of 2 days. I don't mind detailing or washing my own cars so it wasn't that big of a deal at least for me. I washed (Foam Bath), polished (Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax) and detailed the car real good then put it in the garage overnight. The next day I set my garage like a detail shop with lighting and all of the equipment I would need. I used Cquartz ( Caught a 20% off sale) as the ceramic coating I slowly applied it in a criss cross hatch pattern on one car panel at time. Was able to do two coats of ceramic coating and finished it off with a spray mist coating of Reload Spray. Spent about $120 total and about 8 hours over 2 days car turned out great. If you like a clean car and aren't crazy about washing it, ceramic coating will change your life!! I will do my new 2020 Tacoma as soon as Autogeek has their next sale and I get some more ceramic coating. Bottom line is if you take your time and prep you car you can ceramic coat it yourself

 

I'm glad everything turned out for you, but I have a question. Pinnacle Souveran is not a polish. In fact it's a wax and you should not apply a coating over it. How did that work?

 

I completely missed that. Not sure how that works since the ceramic needs to bond to the paint and not wax.

 

In my area, pretty much any decent shop would charge at a minimum $500 for a light polish on a Tacoma. An easy $1,000-$1,500 for a full paint correction. Most coatings are $500-$1,000 on a vehicle like that. You're in Cali, so pricing in your area should be substantially higher based on the CA contacts I've seen and spoken with.

Not sure where your expecting full, "near" perfect paint + coating for $1,350.

I've been in the industry 10+ years.

EDIT: 9 year warranty, I am guessing they are trying to sell you Crystal Cerum which is one of the more expensive coatings so pricing seems fair.

 

Worked out fine car still looks great.

 

I would expect you ceramic not to be as durable. All ceramics I have used or read about say to apply to bare paint. This is why you have products like Carpro Eraser to remove any remaining polish/compound.

 

Can Cquartz UK 3.0 be used on glass? Windows, windshield?

 

Carpro would say use their dedicated glass products for the windshield or rear if it's got wipers. They'd probably say it for side glass too because it's formulated for paint, not glass. I know with Cquartz Lite they say OK on glass but not windshield because of the wipers. Not only will the wipers abrade the product off it's a crapshoot on whether the wipers will behave badly with it on there. They could slip and chatter. There are multiple glass products out there and it seems they all last much longer than the heavier ceramic coatings do.

 

I can only speak about the method I used on my vehicles and they turned out fine and a year later zero issues. Use any method you want and are comfortable with. The point of my post was to only inform other members how well ceramic coating works and let them know that if they are careful, prepare for the job and take their time they too can apply it ceramic coating to their own vehicles, like I did. I apologize if I confused anyone.... Carpro will sell you their entire line of products if you want them.

 

I didn't use CQuartz on my windows when I applied it

 

totally get it. I haven’t used anything but ceramic over the last several years. I was merely pointing out what the recommended procedures are by the manufacturers.