Whats a good price for ceramic coating

[tcarter]

Hey folks just wondering whats a good price for ceramic coating. i'm getting $700 from around the Raleigh NC area.

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[Bikeman315]

Hey folks just wondering whats a good price for ceramic coating. i'm getting $700 from around the Raleigh NC area.

My detailer here in MB charged me $700.00 for Gyeon DuraFlex (5 year). Also had the wheels done (face & barrel) for $250.00. There was an additional prep charge. I think that was either $200 or $250. Cheap, no, but his work is perfection so it was worth it.

 

[tcarter]

with this I pretty much wet the car and dry it? I'm doing research on this now

 

[Schwerin]

with this I pretty much wet the car and dry it? I'm doing research on this now

Use a PH balance car shampoo then dry. Depending on the coating used your detailer will also have upkeep sprays for you to use on occasion. Washing uses like 0 muscle even most saps/bird poop comes right off easily.

My whole car wash with wheels is 30-45min and after 6 months I have 0 swirl marks on my car. I have a 3 or 4 year application, but many last longer if kept up well.

 

[Alberto]

In the Bay Area, it was $1600. I got $300 off because my car was brand new, and another $300 off because I paid cash.
They did the wheels and lights too.

There is quite a procedure to wash it that is different from normal. They didn't tell me this till it was coating was complete. Pressure washer, water filter, leaf blower to dry, acouple other minor things. I don't mind the procedure- just was another $150-200 to buy all the washing equipment I woulda liked to know ahead of time.

Definitely glad I got it done. A year later, it still looks fantastic.

 

[Alberto]

with this I pretty much wet the car and dry it? I'm doing research on this now

Well, its a bit more complicated than that...This is what the detailer told me to do, and I follow it to a 't'

1) In San Jose, the hard water is really shitty and will etch into your clear coat if you don't get every drop off/dry it completely. My detailer said to get a water filtration system for washing the car to solve this. That sounded complicated and expensive to me. So, F- that. I did get an in-line hose water filter for like $20
2) With a foam cannon on a pressure washer- soap up the whole car. Let complete soaped-up sit on car for 2 min or so to loosen up all the dirt (of course, don't do this in direct sunlight). I do the wheels first, then the car back, roof, then front sections
2a) I bought some wheel woolies to clean the inner wheel barrels
3) Pressure rinse all the soap off from step 2
4) Get a sheepskin wash mitt and a wash bucket with carnauba soap. Another bucket with just water to rinse the mitt
5) Wash a section at a time- with very light pressure, rinsing the mitt each time in the clear water bucket
6) Thoroughly pressure rinse each section as you go
7) Dry with a leaf-blower. Any residual water you can dab off with a micro fiber cloth (don't rub!). It is quite amazing how the water just rolls off with the leaf blower- but it is still some effort

Whole thing with setup and cleanup takes me about 1-1.5 hours.
You have to be careful not to rub with any force when washing or drying- because the coating will scratch fairly easily from what I was told. Also don't mess with it for a day or two when you first get the coating freshly complete so the coating can dry super hard.

There are probably shortcuts, but I don't take any. Washing my car has always been somewhat therapeutic for me, so I don't mind the effort- especially because it looks really good when complete

 

[wizofwuz]

Here in MI I paid 1300 to get my car done with Ceramic Pro and warranty. I absolutely love the stuff and can no brag about it enough. I can was the whole care in 20 minutes and NEVER put a towel to it to dry as it is all done with a leaf blower.

 

[NoVaGT]

I've seen this done by owners. Is there some reason it should be done by a shop?

 

[Bikeman315]

I've seen this done by owners. Is there some reason it should be done by a shop?

The short answer is maybe. Depends on what you’re looking for. The top products, the ones that last the longest, can only be sold & applied by professionals. Some of these companies also make consumer grade products as well. The rest is time and effort. Checkout member VooDoo’s Bullitt. He did it himself and it looks as good as any pro install.
By the way do not confuse the spray on “ceramic” products with the coatings you can buy from Gyeon, CQ Quartz, & Ceramic Pro.

 

[Bikeman315]

Well, its a bit more complicated than that...This is what the detailer told me to do, and I follow it to a 't'

1) In San Jose, the hard water is really shitty and will etch into your clear coat if you don't get every drop off/dry it completely. My detailer said to get a water filtration system for washing the car to solve this. That sounded complicated and expensive to me. So, F- that. I did get an in-line hose water filter for like $20
2) With a foam cannon on a pressure washer- soap up the whole car. Let complete soaped-up sit on car for 2 min or so to loosen up all the dirt (of course, don't do this in direct sunlight). I do the wheels first, then the car back, roof, then front sections
2a) I bought some wheel woolies to clean the inner wheel barrels
3) Pressure rinse all the soap off from step 2
4) Get a sheepskin wash mitt and a wash bucket with carnauba soap. Another bucket with just water to rinse the mitt
5) Wash a section at a time- with very light pressure, rinsing the mitt each time in the clear water bucket
6) Thoroughly pressure rinse each section as you go
7) Dry with a leaf-blower. Any residual water you can dab off with a micro fiber cloth (don't rub!). It is quite amazing how the water just rolls off with the leaf blower- but it is still some effort

Whole thing with setup and cleanup takes me about 1-1.5 hours.
You have to be careful not to rub with any force when washing or drying- because the coating will scratch fairly easily from what I was told. Also don't mess with it for a day or two when you first get the coating freshly complete so the coating can dry super hard.

There are probably shortcuts, but I don't take any. Washing my car has always been somewhat therapeutic for me, so I don't mind the effort- especially because it looks really good when complete

Wow, I’m glad it’s therapeutic for you because as OCD as I am even I don’t take this long. One of the key reasons for getting ceramic coatings in the first place is reduced cleaning time and effort. You really didn’t need all that stuff but it certainly doesn’t hurt. By the way, your car looks incredible.
As far as your water, this is not an area to “cheap” out if you really have hard water. Checkout this post:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/washing-with-di-water.127880/#post-2652271

 

[Alberto]

One of the key reasons for getting ceramic coatings in the first place is reduced cleaning time and effort. You really didn’t need all that stuff but it certainly doesn’t hurt. By the way, your car looks incredible.

Thanks for the compliment Bikeman :-) The total time of 1-1.5 hours includes 15-20min to set up all the stuff and then prob 10-15 to break it all down. Total wash time for me without that is 30-40min. Wanted to include setup/breakdown time because its fairly substantial for the complete wash time. At least that's how it works out for me. Living in CA, not commuting to work in it, and not driving it in the rain, keeping it in a garage, I only need to wash it once every 2-3months- So I definitely enjoy the wash time.

 

[Schwerin]

Well, its a bit more complicated than that...This is what the detailer told me to do, and I follow it to a 't'

1) In San Jose, the hard water is really shitty and will etch into your clear coat if you don't get every drop off/dry it completely. My detailer said to get a water filtration system for washing the car to solve this. That sounded complicated and expensive to me. So, F- that. I did get an in-line hose water filter for like $20
2) With a foam cannon on a pressure washer- soap up the whole car. Let complete soaped-up sit on car for 2 min or so to loosen up all the dirt (of course, don't do this in direct sunlight). I do the wheels first, then the car back, roof, then front sections
2a) I bought some wheel woolies to clean the inner wheel barrels
3) Pressure rinse all the soap off from step 2
4) Get a sheepskin wash mitt and a wash bucket with carnauba soap. Another bucket with just water to rinse the mitt
5) Wash a section at a time- with very light pressure, rinsing the mitt each time in the clear water bucket
6) Thoroughly pressure rinse each section as you go
7) Dry with a leaf-blower. Any residual water you can dab off with a micro fiber cloth (don't rub!). It is quite amazing how the water just rolls off with the leaf blower- but it is still some effort

Whole thing with setup and cleanup takes me about 1-1.5 hours.
You have to be careful not to rub with any force when washing or drying- because the coating will scratch fairly easily from what I was told. Also don't mess with it for a day or two when you first get the coating freshly complete so the coating can dry super hard.

There are probably shortcuts, but I don't take any. Washing my car has always been somewhat therapeutic for me, so I don't mind the effort- especially because it looks really good when complete

Did they also make money selling you all that kit? Many places tell you NOT use use a wax based soap with a ceramic.

My detailer literally does like 1 of 100 Jag and lambos and said that just using a good quality microfiber and 1 bucket method, or 1 bucket, multiple microfiber was just fine. I just hand wash each panel/wheel with a clean microfibre, then dump the used one in a separate bucket to wash later, spray off the panel/wheel, move to the next. Spray on my upkeep spray after done washing every 3-4 weeks, then wipe it all clean with a Griots garage drying towel.

I wash weekly and like I said, its a 30-45min job.

The whole point is that its harder to scratch than paint, and much easier to clean.

 

[Alberto]

Did they also make money selling you all that kit?

No. They gave me a printout with washing instructions and what was needed. I purchased everything without any other detailer interaction. While it might be harder to scratch the paint- Im not sure that is the case with the coating itself.
I'm good going by the book and will continue to do so.

Thanks to the Bikeman for suggesting the other thread where it was mentioned that if the car is only dusty, the foam cannon is enough- for true touchless wash. I will definitely try that.

 

[Boostamoose]

I'd say $700 is a fair price. This is only the case because the car is new. There should be very little if any paint correction that needs to be done. If the car was several years old, and it had seen tons of automatic car washes then $1000+ would be a fair price. When you take the car in for a ceramic coating, the majority of the purchase cost goes into the decontamination and paint correction stages of the detailing. This price goes up even more if you wanted a 2-stage correction (Compounding & Polishing). The ceramic coating itself is a relatively cheap and easy process for a detailing. The paint correction is where the money and time is sunk into a car. Once the coating is applied and cured there is no easy way to go back and polish defects in the car without removing the coating first. This is why the prep and correction stages are so important.

After the car is coated the best way to care for it would to wash with a pH neutral shampoo (Adams, Carpro Reset, Gyeon Bathe, etc). From there every 2 - 3 months or so top it with an SiO2 booster like Cure or Reload to boost the coating back up.

There are a lot of misconceptions about ceramic coatings that detailers take advantage of. The claim that they are harder to scratch is worthless because the layer of protection a coating provides is only microns thick. If the layers were thick enough to resist scratching it would distort the clear/color of the car.
What they do excel at is UV and chemical protection as well as water beading/sheeting. This is what makes them perfect for daily drivers, cars that sit outside, and cars that go months without washes.

 

[Bikeman315]

Did they also make money selling you all that kit? Many places tell you NOT use use a wax based soap with a ceramic.

My detailer literally does like 1 of 100 Jag and lambos and said that just using a good quality microfiber and 1 bucket method, or 1 bucket, multiple microfiber was just fine. I just hand wash each panel/wheel with a clean microfibre, then dump the used one in a separate bucket to wash later, spray off the panel/wheel, move to the next. Spray on my upkeep spray after done washing every 3-4 weeks, then wipe it all clean with a Griots garage drying towel.

I wash weekly and like I said, its a 30-45min job.

The whole point is that its harder to scratch than paint, and much easier to clean.

Man I would love to see a “shine off” between you and VooDoo. Not sure my eyes could take it though.

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