3rd Gen and Ceramic Coatings

Look, I will get hated on by all the gullible people out there, but so what... I am tired of people thinking they are getting something they are not. I have nothing against the detailing community or people who love to keep their vehicles shiny. I am just trying to help people understand what they are really getting. So, Butthurt alert if you continue to read.

Oh, one more thing... I can prove with fact and evidence every single statement below. If you disagree, please cite your sources, and no, a car detailing site is not a credible source.

Think for a moment - what product is out there, that air dries to a clear, that is a twentieth of the thickness of your paint and clear and gets to a hardness above what your standard clearcoat is on your paint. Oh, it would also have to dry to a rigid surface too, or else the relative softness of the paint beneath it would make it JUST THE SAME PROTECTION AS THE PAINT.
Again, I am not picking on anyone in this thread but somebody has to say something....
What all you guys are buying are a coating that lasts longer than a wax, but does not provide any kind of scratch protection at all. Seriously.
So I did a search. The first 20 PAGES of results look like this... Every single one of the sources was a detailing company trying to sound scientific. Most were totally wrong. The only people talking about ceramic coating for paint is, you guessed it, the people who SELL the ceramic coatings. Hmmmm, the first flag...

So, I dug deeper. I just googled "ceramic coating" and weeded out the fan boys and seller of the nonsense. I found a real report on ceramic coatings.

It is 36 pages of scientific ceramic coating bliss, and it talks about how it binds, how its applied and how it definitely will last longer than the material underneath will last without ceramic coating. Success!
Um, no. Think of getting a veneer on your teeth.That is a ceramic coating. Think about the turbines in a jet engine. Those are ceramic coated. Now, they have to special bond the ceramics for your teeth. And it is around FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS PER TOOTH! It also lasts 20+ years. Same for jet engines. Same for pretty much anything, except your "ceramic coating" on your car. Which is not ceramic at all. Nor is it more scratch resistant, unless you are butt hurt you paid $1500 for a nice shiny water repellent coating that will last a few years. Then it is called the placebo effect. You don't believe me? Well, let's continue!

Let's take a look at what actually makes up a ceramic coating, shall we?
alumina, titania, zirconia, alumina-magnesia, hafnia, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and boron carbide
You know, if I didn't know better I would think that, if I tried rubbing any of that shit on my paint job, it would scratch the hell out of it! All of that is hard stuff, especially the sand!

Still don't believe me? They put a very thin ceramic coating on teeth right? It is called a veneer. You know how they attach this veneer? They grind a thin layer of enamel off the tooth and glue the ceramic to the tooth. Yet they claim that you can get a bottle of clear and ceramic coat your car! Don't you think that, if this really existed, dentists would just buy it and ceramic coat your teeth! They would be fucking stupid not to do this!
So, let's now really talk about your paint's hardness. Moh is a hardness scale. Durometer is a hardness scale. However, a material has to have a minimum thickness of 6mm in order to use the scale. That's almost a quarter of an inch thick. Sorry, neither the paint of your "ceramic coating" are this thick. So, another scale is used by the ASTM. It's the Pencil Hardness scale. Please google it. I circled the paint most auto manufacturers use, as the two above it are used on OTR trucks, airplanes, etc. So, your paint and clearcoat is about a 4H. And, that is exactly the hardness of whatever stuff your are spreading on it.


Sorry to be a realist, but I was tired of reading about how damn hard their ceramic coating is. Snake oil.

Please, someone prove me wrong with data provided that will not profit from the fleecing of car enthusiasts.

 

you can always use ppf

 

Ceramic coating made my truck hydrophobic. Ice and water wick right off. Pretty neat. Lasted for years too. The next time I’m in civilization I’m gonna pay to have it re-done. It’s such a great product.

 

When selecting a coating I have never even bothered with hardness rating. It’s irrelevant as a ceramic will scratch and swirl like paint. Many believe a ceramic is some miracle product for scratches and some believe it for paint chips…none of those are true. What ceramic is good for is keeping the vehicle cleaner longer and easier to maintain. Ceramic isn’t snake oil but some companies marketing is rather shitty.

As far as data, here is some real world experience. I have been using ceramics for nearly 10 years and not one time during application did the liquid scratch my paint.

Some prefer wax or a sealant, which is fine, my preference for ceramic is to minimize time detailing our vehicles.

Best recommendation I can give is find a product you like and use it regularly.

 

I agree, but unfortunately, it is absolutely not a ceramic coating. That is a marketing term, not a factual term. If everyone believes like you do, then my post is not necessary.

 

I would have never known the difference if not having an interest in detailing. There are several companies that have absolutely terrible marketing with in my opinion no integrity. They are no better than those that make TopCoat bullshit I see on Facebook. In my opinion ceramics or graphene should be called paint coatings instead of ceramic or what have you.

 

I just want people to realize there is absolutely no additional scratch resistance because it is not ceramic.

 

If someone takes a key, or screwdriver to your ceramic coating, nothing is going to prevent a deep scratch, so let's be real. These coatings, depending what's used, and how it's applied, will prevent simple swirling to your exterior trucks finish if you wash your truck. The finish on my truck still looks like it was just painted.