In this blog we will educate you on ceramic coating services, telling you what most detailers wont. Also providing you the red flags you should look for prior to booking your ceramic coating with any detailer.
Understanding Ceramic Coatings
When it comes to ceramic coatings there are many pros having the application applied to your vehicle. Its durability in comparison to waxes and sealants is years of protection as opposed to months. Ceramics make maintenance details for the vehicle easier. Ceramic coatings like Cquartz Professional are resistant to bird bombs, water spotting, harmful UV rays etc. Yes, the coatings are extremely glossy and durable, but coatings must be maintained.
What do we mean by that? The coating could fail prematurely if it is not maintained properly. Yes, its resistant to all the above but you must realize it is not indestructible, bird bombs and dirty water from sprinklers could etch the coating surface if not taken care of in a timely manner. This is why our clients with ceramics either get on our maintenance wash program or for the do it your self-people, we advise what products and equipment are necessary to maintain the coatings without causing harm to diminish them.
Red flags you should look out for prior to any ceramic coating being applied to your vehicle.
- A question you should ask your detailer prior to agreement, "Do they perform any paint correction work to the vehicle prior to the ceramic coating application?" Why is this process important? Paint correction removes defects from the paint leveling the surface to give the ceramic coating a level surface for application thus giving the coating better durability and a much glossier finish. Coatings are designed to enhance the shine of anything they are applied over. Paint correction is performed so the paint looks its best, if the detailer offers ceramic without at least a single stage correction than start putting up your red flags it may not be as good of a deal as it seems.
- "How many layers of coating do they apply and charge for?" Simply put anything over two layers of coating is a waste. With ceramic there is a bottom layer and a top layer. Coatings are not designed to be stacked with 3-6 layers and it does not help make the coating last any longer, anything after 2 layers is a waste. If a detailer states, they apply 6-10 layers and they charge an outrageous price that should draw major red flags. Coatings flash to quickly and they take way too long to apply just two layers in our case 3hrs or more to apply Cquartz Professional. So, we could not imagine spending a whole couple of days applying coating to the paint. Even some ceramic pro installers known in the area that we talk too say that after two layers of coating, the coating start to reject itself. Meaning that it is no longer bonding and anymore layers are pointless.
- If the price seems too good to be true than it probably is, ceramic coating is not a cheap service. So, if the price is way undercut from most than throw up your red flag!
- Don't fall for the lifetime warranty deals. For one, most of us do not keep our cars that long anymore and two you are paying extra for something you are not going to have for the life of the coating. It is a marketing gimmick the allows them to hike up the price to make it seem like you are getting more when in reality your wasting money paying for something you won’t take advantage of anyways. Typically, top tier coatings last 3-10 years dependent on how the car in maintained and stored.
Conclusion
With all this being said just be careful and look out for the red flags, always keep in mind that most detailers will always try and sell the most expensive service they have without explanation of the pros and cons only for the quick buck. Hopefully, this blog can help some if not most of you make the right decision when thinking about purchasing a ceramic coating for your vehicle. If this helped or if you have any further questions, please leave us a comment. Thank you for reading.