Ceramic coating questions

I have a 2019 Tacoma sport that has yet to crack 600 miles. A shop near me quoted $1700 for a professional grade ceramic coat, which is a $500 discount from normal truck prices.

A friend had his truck done there and paid full price but his paint needed a lot of correction and came out great. My truck being brand new wouldn't need any correction I would think.

Does $1700 seem like market rate? Has anyone had a ceramic coating done to their truck? Is this price what I should expect?

 

What color is your truck?

 

That’s too much, keep shopping.

 

Should be posted in the detail forums.

All paint needs correction the moment it steps out of the factory as it’s not perfect and that with any brand. Your paint may not be bad, but the you need to remove all minor defect when laying down the coating.

For me 1700 is to steep, I paid 700 for ceramic pro 9h. You need to ask yourself if you really need a ceramic coating. Plenty good options out there. A lot of misconceptions of ceramic coating. What brand you going with? I’ve had mine for 2 years.

 

Wax your truck twice a year and drive the damn thing!

 

Or what he said. I have an Audi that I just do the wash,clay bar, wax and sealant 1-2 times a year and is great, but it’s no where as good the ceramic coating.

 

My truck is magnetic grey. I think the brand of coating is gtechniq.

 

Nope, keep shopping Gtechniq is okay. But not for 1700 price tag.

Look into Cquartz UK 3.0. Look for a detailer and ask them if they can just correct your paint and lay down the coating you bought. Has to cure for 24-72hours depending on brand. A lot of shops up charge for coatings and give some type of maintainence wash to increase prices.

Learn how to maintain the coating. If not you’ll regret your decision on getting a coating. Coating can still get you scratches, rock chips, just letting you know it’s not a suit of armor.

 

2years later with proper maintainence.
https://youtu.be/6qBv_Q86lac

 

A fool and his money are soon parted...

 

It’s a truck...

 

Buy the CQuarts kit off Amazon for under $100, watch a few youtube videos and learn to do it yourself. I've been doing my own paint correction, detail work for 25 years. All self taught.

 

I'm with 18BRMTRD, there are MANY youtube videos out there covering ceramic coatings and prep. Watch, learn, watch again if needed, then give it a go. $100 and a weekend sounds like a better option than $1700. I'm wanting to do the ceramic coating on my 13 Tacoma when I have free time.

 

Dealer and the lot boys have rubbed their dirty towels all over your truck,maybe even took it through a car wash with brushes, at minimum your truck has swirl marks and maybe even a few light scratches.

Buying a DA random orbital polisher is cheap, pads are cheap and you can even buy the pads and compounds that you will need at Walmart. It's real hard to screw up the paint with a DA polisher. An evening on youtube will get you upto speed on polishing your truck and how to apply a ceramic coating.

You'll pay a couple hundred $$ and get the same thing, and know how to fix it yourself, and have the equipment to do it on another vehicle.

My first time was on a new 202 Black truck that was new but the dealer had scratched the crap out of the paint, I bought the chemical guys DA polisher kit from Amazon and it came with pads, bought the McGuire's Compound and Polish from wallmart and spent 2 days polishing (your paint won't be that bad, it looked like they dragged a porcupine down the side of my truck) and less than a day applying Cquartz . It is a LOT easier than you think. with the $$ you save from that quote you'll be able to buy sliders and skid plates .



Last year I put 2 coats of Cquartz original on my truck

This year I added 3 more coats of CQuartz 3.0 UK and one coat of Gliss then Reload.

I do not even want to imagine what the cost would have been for detailers to paint correct, then put on 5 coats of Ceramic, then a Ceramic protection coat.

Ceramic coatings won't make your paint scratch proof, but it will make it real easy to clean and keep looking good.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fznghWNhPzA&t=224s

 

The market rate depends on where you live. Here in Tampa, I paid around $1300 for OptiCoat Pro on both my Mini Cooper and Porsche Macan. I was quoted the same for my Tacoma.

I chose not to coat my Taco (not in the budget). Instead I use GTechniq C2V3 as a “drying agent” after every wash. It adds a ceramic coat (not as thick as a professional application) each time I wash. Good enough for me.

 

Damn that looks great.