[NWAviator]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Ceramic Pro here. Makes maintenance much easier, but it's not maintenance-free. Still needs regular washing, and "refreshing" annually. But less effort than multiple hand-waxings over the same time. More expensive, but less effort. The paint needs to be professionally corrected prior to coating, because the coating is considered "permanent," although it can be removed by claying and buffing, but definitely harder to remove than wax. It does look nice, and stays nice looking longer. At a cost.

I bit the bullet and spent the $$ for all the reasons Paladin cites above. Because the car was new, I thought I could avoid the paint correction and save a few pennies to offset. No such luck. Even without "dealer prep" they found a few areas on my car that needed attention.

I'm only two months in, but washing has been largely reduced to pressure washing and toweling. I will ceramic coat my next car in a heartbeat.

[rtadams1]

Originally Posted by Fdmcg

Garaging the car does a lot to reduce maintenance. I have not had to clay our cars in years. Assuming boarding school is out of the question do you have a shed to warehouse the kids stuff?
My only fear in the garage is a garden tool, etc. falling on the car.

Spring cleaning should clear out space for the garage. Unfortunately, the shed is full too.

[NorCal_CarbonBlack]

I had CQuartz Finest Reserve applied on top of my PPF and it's been great. A lot of depth now in the Carbon Black paint. I would highly suggest ceramic coating the rims. Will make cleaning much much easier. Very hydrophobic.

[MrMoo]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Ceramic Pro here. Makes maintenance much easier, but it's not maintenance-free. Still needs regular washing, and "refreshing" annually. But less effort than multiple hand-waxings over the same time. More expensive, but less effort. The paint needs to be professionally corrected prior to coating, because the coating is considered "permanent," although it can be removed by claying and buffing, but definitely harder to remove than wax. It does look nice, and stays nice looking longer. At a cost.

I'm due to get mine done soon. It was meant to be today but we found there were too many swirl marks and the car needed more time to be paint corrected. It was a dealer car on lot so it was washed a few times by them.

Any feedback on how swirls develop over the layer of ceramic pro (any brand of paint protection for that matter) over time?

[puckybadger]

Originally Posted by NorCal_CarbonBlack

I had CQuartz Finest Reserve applied on top of my PPF and it's been great. A lot of depth now in the Carbon Black paint. I would highly suggest ceramic coating the rims. Will make cleaning much much easier. Very hydrophobic.

Ceramic coating over the paint protection film?

[VTENGR]

Originally Posted by puckybadger

Ceramic coating over the paint protection film?

Yep - I did the same thing but with Xpel PPF and their ceramic coating, which supposedly maintains the self healing properties of the Xpel PPF. Ceramic coating is a hydrophobic coating, not really protection. I suppose it does add a sacrificial layer to the clear coat, but I don't believe that it's intended purpose.

The PPF protects, the ceramic keeps the car shiny and clean longer.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by MrMoo

I'm due to get mine done soon. It was meant to be today but we found there were too many swirl marks and the car needed more time to be paint corrected. It was a dealer car on lot so it was washed a few times by them.

Any feedback on how swirls develop over the layer of ceramic pro (any brand of paint protection for that matter) over time?

Haven't noticed any particular swirl marks on mine after the initial correction, but my package actually includes annual correction if needed, for 5 years. I use a touchless wash infrequently and mostly hand wash, and have some of the after-application products from Ceramic Pro that I use as well as-needed - cleaner and polish. Seems to be pretty tough stuff, so routine maintenance is mostly just wash and dry.

[MrMoo]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Haven't noticed any particular swirl marks on mine after the initial correction, but my package actually includes annual correction if needed, for 5 years. I use a touchless wash infrequently and mostly hand wash, and have some of the after-application products from Ceramic Pro that I use as well as-needed - cleaner and polish. Seems to be pretty tough stuff, so routine maintenance is mostly just wash and dry.

Thanks for the update mate. That is quite a good package. I guess if the swirls are on the ceramic coating itself, then it isn't too hard to correct. The important thing is to have the paint corrected before the initial coats go on, otherwise those swirls are permanently under the coating.

Eager to get my paint fixed up and coating put on next week! In low light the paint looks amazing already, however in sun those swirls really pop lol.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by MrMoo

Thanks for the update mate. That is quite a good package. I guess if the swirls are on the ceramic coating itself, then it isn't too hard to correct. The important thing is to have the paint corrected before the initial coats go on, otherwise those swirls are permanently under the coating.

Eager to get my paint fixed up and coating put on next week! In low light the paint looks amazing already, however in sun those swirls really pop lol.

Yep, the most important part of the whole process is the initial paint correction - and I think that's where a good detailer is critical. I think you can get all different levels of coating, but I believe generally the lifespan of ceramic is a couple or three years before needing some sort of refresh, so follow up is important, particularly since regular waxing is out on ceramic. Impressed so far with the ease of maintenance and the durability, and wouldn't hesitate to get it again.

[araje]

I got my X5 on thursday this week. I have a detailer appointment for monday and the car will stay there for roughly 4 days. Here's the plan
1. Level1 paint correction (front)
2. Stek Dynoshield full front protection
3. Level1 paint correction (rest of the car)
4. Gtechniq Clear Serum Ultra x1 coat (full car)
5. Gtechniq EXO4 x2 coats (full car)

The detailer is certified and listed on Stek and Gtechniq websites. It is a long process but I have seen the before and after actual cars (not just pictures) at his place. The gloss and hydrophobic properties really stand out.

Also, if this is all done in one work-order, they do give you a huge discount

[FishJ]

I had my X5 coated with CarPro CQuartz Professional last week. I took a video of how the water runs off the car while washing it. I must say, drying and washing a coated car is so much easier. Must have for dark colors!

[MrMoo]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Yep, the most important part of the whole process is the initial paint correction - and I think that's where a good detailer is critical. I think you can get all different levels of coating, but I believe generally the lifespan of ceramic is a couple or three years before needing some sort of refresh, so follow up is important, particularly since regular waxing is out on ceramic. Impressed so far with the ease of maintenance and the durability, and wouldn't hesitate to get it again.

Just got my car done a week ago. The job overall was fairly good. He came to me and did it over 4 hours. There are some noticeable swirl marks still there (Now under the coating) but they were in hard to access areas like the license plate area. Bonnet and sides of car look ok. I guess the buffer/sander he had was too large to get into all the curves of the car.

On a related note, has anyone gotten their windshield coated and had the wipers make funny sounds? I am not sure if my wiper rubber is just a bit dodgy or if its the ceramic coating causing them to squeak.

[RVAGuy]

Originally Posted by MrMoo

Just got my car done a week ago. The job overall was fairly good. He came to me and did it over 4 hours. There are some noticeable swirl marks still there (Now under the coating) but they were in hard to access areas like the license plate area. Bonnet and sides of car look ok. I guess the buffer/sander he had was too large to get into all the curves of the car.

On a related note, has anyone gotten their windshield coated and had the wipers make funny sounds? I am not sure if my wiper rubber is just a bit dodgy or if its the ceramic coating causing them to squeak.

This points out the challenge of shopping for ceramic/PPF services. The vast majority of the cost for the service and labor it takes to do a good job is in paint correction (even on new cars) and not in the product itself. As you keep pressing for lower price, the detailers only option is to reduce his cost in paint correction: either by having a newly hired kid do the work or cutting back on his time in areas he knows you won't check. I would want an excellent job done at a reasonable price. I would want to know products they will use but as importantly hours they will spend in paint correction and by whom. I would then ask to sign off on the paint correction before sealer is installed.
If your not willing or able to pay a reasonable price, your probably better off doing it yourself or waxing two-three times a year.

[MrMoo]

Originally Posted by RVAGuy

This points out the challenge of shopping for ceramic/PPF services. The vast majority of the cost for the service and labor it takes to do a good job is in paint correction (even on new cars) and not in the product itself. As you keep pressing for lower price, the detailers only option is to reduce his cost in paint correction: either by having a newly hired kid do the work or cutting back on his time in areas he knows you won't check. I would want an excellent job done at a reasonable price. I would want to know products they will use but as importantly hours they will spend in paint correction and by whom. I would then ask to sign off on the paint correction before sealer is installed.
If your not willing or able to pay a reasonable price, your probably better off doing it yourself or waxing two-three times a year.

In this case the detailer did it himself. He initially said it would take 4 hours to correct but finished both the application and correction in about 3.5 hours. I can only assume he booked a second job after mine and needed to rush out to do the next job.

I think my biggest mistake here was probably not asking him to let me know once correction was completed. I could then inspect the job in the sunlight to find any swirls he may of missed.

You are right he did cut back in certain areas that he thought I would not check or where the sunlight is less likely to directly hit.

The bloke I used does have very good reviews online and is professional and on time. I think he was probably just pushed for time. The next quote I got from another company that has great reviews was almost twice the cost and they needed to keep the car for 2 days. So of course I wasn't expecting the same quality job from someone that asked for half as much and could come to me and do it over a matter of hours. I guess you need to balance your expectations based on who you go with.

[advrider6510]

It took 3 days for the ceramic coating to get completed .... costed my 700 dollars.. believe you me.. I still regret that day... my original car paint was much prettier
Ideally it depends on the place and the guy who will do the coating..

[soniczoom5]

Originally Posted by advrider6510

It took 3 days for the ceramic coating to get completed .... costed my 700 dollars.. believe you me.. I still regret that day... my original car paint was much prettier
Ideally it depends on the place and the guy who will do the coating..

Why not strip it and and give ceramics another try by doing it yourself? Adams kit is 100 bucks and takes about 8 hrs of your day

[zhangyi17]

Originally Posted by MrMoo

On a related note, has anyone gotten their windshield coated and had the wipers make funny sounds? I am not sure if my wiper rubber is just a bit dodgy or if its the ceramic coating causing them to squeak.

Can you explain more about the wiper issue with ceramic coating on windshield?
Anybody else has similar issue?

[homerrr]

Originally Posted by zhangyi17

Can you explain more about the wiper issue with ceramic coating on windshield?
Anybody else has similar issue?

I did my own coating, looks great, also did the windshield with 2 layers, no issues with the wipers.

[ATX78703]

thanks for the great info guys!

I am getting my new x5 reasonably soon here and the dealer is offering this for "diamond ceramic sealing". Not sure what I should do given the differing opinions here..

I will ask to make sure they paint-correct properly before applying, that stands out as an important first step..

Any advice??

[supdes]

Originally Posted by zhangyi17

Can you explain more about the wiper issue with ceramic coating on windshield?
Anybody else has similar issue?

I had my windshield ceramic coated by a reputable shop mostly doing exotic cars. Best investment ever. Don't have to use wipers in higher speeds during rain as the hydrophobic properties of the coating just pearls it away. Windshield wipers are quieter and last longer due to the smoother surface.

[Mixitt]

Originally Posted by ATX78703

thanks for the great info guys!

I am getting my new x5 reasonably soon here and the dealer is offering this for "diamond ceramic sealing".

DIY, here's how. I paid a mobile detail service $130 to do it all on a 3 month old X5 at my place - interior detail, shampoo, clay, iron removal, etc. IOW stripped super clean ready for a product I reviewed on YouTube against dozens - CQuartz Pro UK 3.0. Went on very easy. I put 2 coats on the areas facing front. 1.5 yrs. later beads, shines, easy to clean just beautiful. Total cost for towels, prep, etc. was about $230.

Review some of videos comparing products and how they hold up to harsh chemicals, heat, sun and time - months and years.

Find out what he's using.

Enjoy!

[themnmd]

Originally Posted by polychromatic

Looks pretty damned glossy! What were your reason for going with the Carpro Quartz? In one of the reviews, they said to use their wash product too, makes beading more effective.

Used CK 3.0 on mine . Did myself turned out great. Then again I am comfortable with detailing my own car. It is realistically a 12-18 month protection. I maintenance wash once a week using CarPro reset which is their car wash
PS Graphine coatings are soon to replace ceramics . They are as prone to water spots like ceramic coatings. A few YouTube videos out there on the new graphine coatings