Ceramic Coating Opinions (1 Viewer)

[KNA]

Until I see a hard test showing good results vs cost in real world Land Cruiser situations, I'll stick to good old cheapy Nufinish.

Hello Brian,
I'm not a big off road guy and this is my first real SUV. I love it by the way. Really impressed with the quality.
The only real world info I can give you is that i have a Nissan GTR that I track throughout the year and I have that car ceramic coated by Cquartz by Pristine Detailing in PA. The coating has really protected the vehicle. Really impressed of how I can just wipe away the rubber nd other debris that gets stuck to the front of the car during an event. A vehicle without a coating the rubber can actually fuse with the paint. Also have't waxed the car since the coating has been applied and every time I wash my car with just soap it looks as it I just waxed it.

Good luck

Dan

 

[mooneywa]

@757driver - I'm going out on a limb here and guessing the truck will be parked in the employee lot at EWR or PHL often... I've found a couple solid coats of wax every year plus a once a year clay bar has kept my cruiser issue free in the IAH employee lot. Most places around here charge about $150 professionally to do that... which to equal $1650 you'd have to do that for many many years. Just the same, I've heard good things about the ceramic stuff, just not at that price point.

 

[KNA]

Welcome, KNA!

Thanks Brian,

I appreciate the welcome.
Looking forward to learning more about my 200 series.

Best

Dan

 

[SQRRRL]

What are you talking about?

 

[SQRRRL]

Is this ceramic coating or something else? Please elaborate

 

[SQRRRL]

Hello,
I just joined this forum. Here's my new 2017 with complete Suntek Ultra clear wrap and coated with Cquartz.
The results are fantastic.
Highly recommend it.

View attachment 1538617

Got it! Did you do the entire car or the front end? I did XPEL on the front hood,bumper, head lights,fog lights and mirrors. Works fantastic!

 

[757driver]

Thanks for all the replies guys. It is appreciated. I think i'm going to give the ceramic pro a try. Seems like a good fit for what i'm needing and I haven't heard of or read about any bad experiences with it. The cost is a hard pill to swallow though.

mooneywa, It will be spending lots of time in the EWR employee lot, as well as being parked in a car port type structure on my farm that birds love to perch in and poo on whatever happens to be below.

 

[KNA]

Got it! Did you do the entire car or the front end? I did XPEL on the front hood,bumper, head lights,fog lights and mirrors. Works fantastic!

Hey hello SQRRL,
I did Suntek on the front and the sides. What sold me about the sides is how it can protect the paint from other vehicles doors slamming into your car. At the installation place (Rock Guard in PA ) the installer showed me a vehicle with a pretty big door hit from a concrete barrier and the film was destroyed but the paint was perfect. Pretty shocked actually. I would assume Xpel and or any other clear wrap would be outstanding in the off road environment protecting the vehicle from branches and or anything else scraping the sides during travel.

Xpel is a awesome film by the way. One of the best for protection.

Dan

 

[tabraha]

Just got my 200 back yesterday from getting a paint correction, coated with gTechniq Crystal Serum, Windshield coating and Suntek front bumper/headlights. The total $ was $1950 for all of that and mine took a ton of careful compounding/polishing to get scratches and spots from sap/bird crap. This 200 had Toyota stock film on the front 1/5 of the hood and side mirrors but not the bumper/fascia and headlights. Supposedly it is a product supplied by 3M so should be pretty good. It is about 6mil and pretty clear, although not as clear or as smooth as the Suntek stuff.

Anyhow, here's before and after with paint correction and gTechniq.

Before is courtesy of FS roads in Kaibab NF, North Rim and several thousand miles more of banging around in the SW desert this summer:

After: (and FINALLY a fricken good pic of the blue!!!!)

Also, here's the Suntek kit I had installed (most of the rest was already factory covered with 3M product):

 

[KLF]

I have the same 3M sticker stuff on my hood & mirrors, and it looks to be an OEM-sanctioned product, as I found the "sombrero" logo watermarked at a few spots. It looked terrible when I first got the truck home, lots of scratches, it must have gone thru those gas station car washes a lot. I almost peeled it off. But it shined up really well with 3M Scratch Remover.

That is impressive. What's with the balloon?

 

[tabraha]

Man I have absolutely no idea but he was trying to show something that I guess a trained eye would appreciate. That evidently was not me!!!

 

[KNA]

Just got my 200 back yesterday from getting a paint correction, coated with gTechniq Crystal Serum, Windshield coating and Suntek front bumper/headlights. The total $ was $1950 for all of that and mine took a ton of careful compounding/polishing to get scratches and spots from sap/bird crap. This 200 had Toyota stock film on the front 1/5 of the hood and side mirrors but not the bumper/fascia and headlights. Supposedly it is a product supplied by 3M so should be pretty good. It is about 6mil and pretty clear, although not as clear or as smooth as the Suntek stuff.

Anyhow, here's before and after with paint correction and gTechniq.

Before is courtesy of FS roads in Kaibab NF, North Rim and several thousand miles more of banging around in the SW desert this summer:

After: (and FINALLY a fricken good pic of the blue!!!!)

Also, here's the Suntek kit I had installed (most of the rest was already factory covered with 3M product):

That looks fantastic!! Love that color.
Paint correction is arguably the most important step of the process. You get a guy who knows what he's doing and the vehicle can look amazing. Just like these images.

Great wheel choice too.
What make are those and tire option you have there? Nice choice

 

[tabraha]

That looks fantastic!! Love that color.
Paint correction is arguably the most important step of the process. You get a guy who knows what he's doing and the vehicle can look amazing. Just like these images.

Great wheel choice too.
What make are those and tire option you have there? Nice choice

For sure. Paint Correction is an art and a guy that knows how to compound and polish properly is sooooooo rare anymore. I've been looking around here locally for a long time before I found this guy. He will be getting some of my other cars as disposable income allows.

Wheels are EvoCorse DakarZero 17's with Nitto Ridge Grappler's in 285/70R17. Thread with details is here.

 

[karprive]

Actually, just last week a called a few detailers in my area asking about coatings. Two detailers recommended Modesta, while one detailer actually told me to not get any type of coating as it wasn't cost effective for a Black LC - the Modesta application with the paint correction was in the $3K range.

He also said that without proper maintenance the vehicle will still get swirl marks, water spots, and scratches and that I would also no longer be able to buff out small scratches after you have a coating applied.

I don't know much about coatings as I have just started my research, but it didn't sound like a ringing endorsement; however, all three did state that they believe Modesta to be a great product to use (and they also said not to believe anything about lifetime warranties).

 

[tabraha]

Actually, just last week a called a few detailers in my area asking about coatings. Two detailers recommended Modesta, while one detailer actually told me to not get any type of coating as it wasn't cost effective for a Black LC - the Modesta application with the paint correction was in the $3K range.

He also said that without proper maintenance the vehicle will still get swirl marks, water spots, and scratches and that I would also no longer be able to buff out small scratches after you have a coating applied.

I don't know much about coatings as I have just started my research, but it didn't sound like a ringing endorsement; however, all three did state that they believe Modesta to be a great product to use (and they also said not to believe anything about lifetime warranties).

Yep, "lifetime" warranties on coatings are snake oil. You can def still get swirl marks, water spots and scratches too and with your's being black they will definitely show. That being said, once you have a coating you have basically added some more clear coat for a few years so that if you need a light clay/polish on that black car you are then working on removing light scratches from the coating and less from the clear coat if that makes sense. Bird crap that would etch your clear coat and possibly crack it through to the paint will have to work on the ceramic coat first before it starts to work on the clear coat and actual paint base.

Also the coating changes how you wash the car per se also. Rinse, use sponge lightly and dry with towel lightly. Most of the grime is going to come off with the rinse instead of elbow grease with the sponge which would make a huge reduction in how fast those sun scratches show on a black vehicle. Having a black vehicle I think this blue onyx is just as tough with scratches and water spots. It was a helluva lot harder to keep clean than the Iridium Metallic on my Denali HD.

The lifetime warranties, setting paint on fire and hammer hits etc are misrepresentations of what a coating is good for and do more harm to ceramic coating reputations than good IMO.

 

[SQRRRL]

OK. I did it! H9 Ceramic Coating. She looks absolutely beautiful.

 

[757driver]

Looks nice! Keep us updated on your impressions over time.

So far, I have to say I am a little let down by the Ceramic Pro. I have some light scratches already just as if it was the normal clear coat. It doesn't appear to have the resistance to scratching I was hoping for. I also have some really stubborn water spots on the ceramic. On the plus side the car looks fantastic when clean or near clean. It does stay a bit cleaner longer than without the ceramic and the water beads and runs off unlike any traditional wax I have ever used. So far I have only done quick washes due to lack of time and never ending rain in the forecast. Tomorrow I'm going to do a really thorough hand wash and see how the finish is really holding up.

 

[SQRRRL]

Smooth As Glass Detailing will be doing my washes and detailing in the future. He willl take care of CC to keep her looking pretty. Progress reports to come.

 

[tabraha]

I was very happy the last time I went to clean the 200 and bird crap had been baking the hood. Cleaned up with no etching like it had done prior to the coating. Definitely a game changer for the water spots too so far, I hope it stays that way for a long time.

@757driver I think I'd talk to your applicator to see what he has to say. My 200 drives up and down a mile of gravel every day of its life and hasn't gotten light scratches yet nor has it had any problems with water spots which were almost like cement at times with the gravel dust and morning dew combining.

 

[757driver]

Well after a thorough hand wash with warm water and dish detergent all the water spots came right off and the truck came perfectly clean. I was very impressed by the ease of cleaning and the gloss just from drying it off. Those automated car washes just don't cut it. As far as the scratches go there is only one spot where they are significant and I can feel them to touch. I may give the installer a call.