Ceramic coating

[Robint]

As anyone had this done and what did you think ?



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[monkeyhanger]

I've seen them done, nice finish, like a normal sealant, but can last years rather than 6-9 months. Don't expect it to be bulletproof though - stone chips still happen. Best protection you can get is one of those clear protectivr wraps on the front end thag absorb the impact of a syone and self heal (level out the surface again, like an extremely viscous liquid). You're talking megabucks there though - would be cheaper to respray your front end every 3 years!

[Robint]

Cheers mate that’s great


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[Cadwest]

I picked my car up on Friday. My car detailer guy spent over 5 hours prepping my car in one of the dealers spare buys while the Volkswagen guys spent on average 40 minutes on each new car so that speaks volumes I think. The Volkswagen guys even asked why my car had gone purple at one stage due to the iron x decontamination, they seemed to of never heard of this.
My car was washed, decontaminated with iron x, clay barred and had the silver seal ceramic coating applied, my guy said that the car was heavily contaminated with iron particles from the transportation process.
After it was done the sales manger would not allow my salesman to bring the car into the showroom as he did not want members of the public touching it and that they had not to put the showroom cover over it either.
When the salesman brought the car into the showroom once I had arrived he had nothing but praise for the way the vehicle was prepared, he even made me run my hand over the bonnet to show how smooth and silky the finish was.
All this cost was £200 which I feel is money well spent as the car left the showroom into a very heavy Lancashire shower, probably the heaviest shower I’ve seen all summer but typical of my luck but at least it’s now well protected and up to myself to keep it in that condition.

[Robint]

What coating did you have I have been quoted £450.


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[Cadwest]

What coating did you have I have been quoted £450.


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My guy used Silver Seal car protection but it’s not just the cost of buying it it’s also the preparation work that should go into it before it’s applied.

I use this guy on a regular basis so he might not of charged me full price.

[jackois]

I bought an ex-demo that had the Autoglym Lifeshine already done as it was a demo. Although I got a good discount on it, I did wonder about whether after a year or so I could have it removed and a ceramic coating applied instead.

Thoughts on this would be appreciated, thanks.

[Cadwest]

I bought an ex-demo that had the Autoglym Lifeshine already done as it was a demo. Although I got a good discount on it, I did wonder about whether after a year or so I could have it removed and a ceramic coating applied instead.

Thoughts on this would be appreciated, thanks.

They can be removed but I don’t think it’s a easy straight forward job, if I decide to go down that root I would definitely have it professionally done.

[monkeyhanger]

Cadwest: I got virtually no iron fallout on mine. The G-Techniq equivalent of Iron X left a white residue and not a lot else. If it wasn't for the insides of the wheels making the solution turn Purple (from brake fisc/pad dust presumably, i'd have sworn I had a duff bottle.

The dealership had slapped a quick thin layer of wax on (probably a wash/wax solution), which I stripped off first, so it wasn't as if the wax was offering the fallout a barrier to the fallout remover.

If your detailer did all that you state, you got a good price there for work done. "Heavily contaminated" mine was not.

[Cadwest]

Yep the person I use cleans a number of the family’s cars and I have to say I was shocked he only wanted £200 as I was expecting closer to £400, I offered him more money but he refused, the guys a top bloke.

[SRGTD]

There’s always a chance there won’t be much by way of embedded contaminants to remove, but for the relatively short amount of time it takes to carry out the decontamination, I’d not skip this stage of the process.

When I got my car a couple of years ago, I took the risk of letting the dealer valet it. I didn’t have the dealer paint protection because a) I think it’s grossly overpriced and b) it’s highly likely the dealer would skip the preparation stages. The dealer did an OK-ish job, there were one or two small light scratches, and the piano black plastic on the B pillars was swirled (not unusual as the plastic is ‘soft’ and prone to swirling), but I detailed it myself a couple of weeks after getting it - didn’t do it earlier than this as the weather was atrocious!

The process I used was;

• snowfoam, rinse, two bucket method wash with lambswool mitt, rinse, dry with warm air dryer and drying towels

• decontamination with Iron-X and Valet Pro citrus tar/glue remover, wash, rinse and dry as above

• ’corrected’ the small scratches and swirled B pillars with an appropriate pad/polish combination on my dual action (DA) machine polisher

• Dodo Juice Lime Prime pre wax cleaner applied by DA polisher prior to applying protection

• two coats of Fusso Coat Dark 12 Months Wax applied to paintwork and wheels

• windows cleaned (Autoglym Fast Glass), black plastic trim and tyres dressed (FinishKare Top Kote tyre and trim dressing)

If you’ve got the time, enjoy car detailing, and you’re willing to put in the effort, it can be very rewarding to do it yourself. You’ll also know it’s been done to a standard you’re happy with. Oh, and keep away from the £5 hand wash outfits, and don’t let the dealer wash your car, unless you like the heavily swirled paintwork look.

[PoloBlueGT]

Can you let us have any more info on who “your guy” is as maybe other people will want to use him albeit at a slightly higher rate.

[Cadwest]

Can you let us have any more info on who “your guy” is as maybe other people will want to use him albeit at a slightly higher rate.

His website is https://www.sjmmobilevaleting.co.uk/

He lives at Chorley but not sure what area he covers.

[Aube]

Hi,

Totally agree with SRGTD and my process is very similar.

Snow foamed car using Bilt Hamber, left for 5 minutes and jet washed off.
Hand washed using two bucket method with Swissvax Car Bath.
Jet washed again.
Clayed the car using Bilt Hamber soft clay bar.
Jet washed and patted dry using Swissvax drying towel.
Cleansed the car using Swissvax cleaner fluid regular.
Polished the car using Swissvax Shield wax.
Left the car in the sun for a few hours to harden.
Wheels were cleaned prior to the bodywork by the way and once dried treated with Swissvax Wheel Autobahn.
Tyres treated with Swissvax Pneu.
Glass I use Autoglym glass polish.
Interior and exterior plastics treated with 303 protectant.

Took about 5 hours and the results are worth the effort. I also use a local detailer to wash the car when it’s too hot or I haven’t got the strength after a busy week at work.

By the way I’m a major convert to Swissvax in case you hadn’t noticed.