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Ceramic Paint Coatings
Here's the deal with Ceramic Paint Coatings,
Unlike conventional car waxes and/or synthetic paint sealants, while modern versions are VERY good, (assuming you pick a reputable brand), their downside compared to ceramic paint coatings are,
2 deciding factors whether to go with a ceramic coating or the wax/sealant option?
1: How is the car used?
If the car in question is a Garage Queen - in most case it's not driven often and thus a conventional car wax or synthetic paint sealant is a good choice.
If the car in question is a Daily Driver - in most cases - it's driven 5, 6, 7 days a week and a ceramic paint coating is a better choice over a conventional car wax or synthetic paint sealant simply because it will last longer and thus protect longer.
2: How much do you want to spend?
It's cheaper to go with a wax or sealant and it will cost more to go with a ceramic coating. Applying a ceramic coating requires,
This is why when you shop for a detailer to put a ceramic coating on your car it costs more.
Paint Correction
The term paint correction is the fancy way people refer to compounding and and polishing the paint. Paint correction can also include things like wet sanding and even simple procedures like using detailing clay. It's basically any step used to take neglected paint and perfect it to the point where it can be wax, sealed with a sealant or sealed with a ceramic paint coating.
How long does the paint correction process take?
Depends on how bad the paint is? The average car owner, that has never machine polished paint before has zero knowledge of how long it takes to say for example, machine buff all the body panels using some type of orbital polisher and a medium cut polish.
For an average sized 2-door passenger car, for example, a Honda Civic, a Ford Fusion, a Toyota Camry, AFTER the car, wheels and tires have been thoroughly washed, (2 hours), and the paint has been clayed to remove above surface bonded contaminants, (1 hour), the machine polishing step for 9 body panels will take an experienced detailer that works for the most part NON-STOP - about 4-5 hours.
If you own a larger vehicles, for example, near as I can tell when I drive around there's a LOT of SUVs on the road and full size trucks. The larger the car, the larger the body panels and the more of them and thus it will take HOURS longer.
So let me do the math for you,
Thoroughly wash wheels, tires and outside of car and this includes wiping down all the door jambs, trunk jambs and hood jambs after the wash and during the drying step. 2 hours MINIMUM.
Using detailing clay to clay all the paint, (all the body panels) as well as all the glass including any sunroof glass. 1 hour Minimum.
Prep car for machine polishing - this is usually using some brand of Painter's Tape to tape-off and cover over any plastic, rubber and/or vinyl trim. 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the vehicle.
Machine polishing - ONE STEP - using a compound or some type of polish, 4-5 hours and also around 4-8 buffing pads. (Doing the job right means swapping to a clean, dry pad often)
Total time so far?
8 to 9 hours
Now if you decide you don't want to pay the extra money for a ceramic coating, you or the detailer you hire can go straight to applying a wax or synthetic paint sealant. This will take about 1 hour to apply and carefully wipe off. Next most detailers will apply a tire dressing to all 4 tires, wipe the glass with a glass cleaner, (outside glass), and then do any "finishing steps", which could include putting some type of trim dressing on any exterior plastic or vinyl trim.
Total time for this last step - about 1 hour if you're fast or the detailer you hire is fast. So total time is around 10 hours.
How much will this cost? On the low end $300.00 and on the high end, $800.00 - the difference will be the caliber of the person doing the work. A hack detailer will work cheaper, use cheaper tools, pads and products and in most cases turn out lower quality work. A true professional that actually knows their stuff - they'll be using better tools, pads, more pads and better products.
Like the saying goes,
You get what you pay for
What if you decide to go with a ceramic paint coating?
After the polishing step, the paint and any surfaces to be ceramic coated will first have to be chemically stripped using a Panel Wipe. This will take about an hour.
Next the ceramic coating will be applied. This will take about an hour.
Most people I know that install ceramic coatings take 2-3 hours to chemically strip the paint and install the ceramic coating and this is just ONE LAYER. If you want a second or third layer of coating applied, add at least one more hour for each layer not including the WAITING TIME in-between each layer. How long you must wait before you can apply additional layers of a ceramic paint coating varies among brands, but at least one hour is common.
For this extra 3 hours for a trained professional, (or a hack, your choice), to chemically strip the paint and then install the coating varies, but $300.00 is normally the MINIMUM for this option.
How much will this option cost? On the low end, around $600.00 but my experience is whoever is doing all the above work to put a ceramic coating on your Pride & Joy is doing low quality work using low quality everything. Remember, just the coating alone will cost on average a low of $50.00 and a high of $200.00 Any smart detailer has to build this into the price.
On the high end? Anywhere from $1000.00 to $3000.00 - just depends on the detailer and really the size and condition of your vehicle.
Here's the deal with Ceramic Paint Coatings,
- Protects longer.
- Protect better - (if it lasts on the surface longer ergo it protects better).
- Create more gloss, shine and clarity - creates a "glassy look".
- Resist washing off and wearing off via micro-abrading.
Unlike conventional car waxes and/or synthetic paint sealants, while modern versions are VERY good, (assuming you pick a reputable brand), their downside compared to ceramic paint coatings are,
- Doesn't last as long - 3 months for a wax, up to 6 months for a synthetic paint sealant.
- Doesn't protect as well.
- Wears off via micro-abrading anytime you wash or wipe the paint.
2 deciding factors whether to go with a ceramic coating or the wax/sealant option?
1: How is the car used?
If the car in question is a Garage Queen - in most case it's not driven often and thus a conventional car wax or synthetic paint sealant is a good choice.
If the car in question is a Daily Driver - in most cases - it's driven 5, 6, 7 days a week and a ceramic paint coating is a better choice over a conventional car wax or synthetic paint sealant simply because it will last longer and thus protect longer.
2: How much do you want to spend?
It's cheaper to go with a wax or sealant and it will cost more to go with a ceramic coating. Applying a ceramic coating requires,
- More time.
- More labor.
- More skill.
- More products.
- Higher cost products.
This is why when you shop for a detailer to put a ceramic coating on your car it costs more.
Paint Correction
The term paint correction is the fancy way people refer to compounding and and polishing the paint. Paint correction can also include things like wet sanding and even simple procedures like using detailing clay. It's basically any step used to take neglected paint and perfect it to the point where it can be wax, sealed with a sealant or sealed with a ceramic paint coating.
How long does the paint correction process take?
Depends on how bad the paint is? The average car owner, that has never machine polished paint before has zero knowledge of how long it takes to say for example, machine buff all the body panels using some type of orbital polisher and a medium cut polish.
For an average sized 2-door passenger car, for example, a Honda Civic, a Ford Fusion, a Toyota Camry, AFTER the car, wheels and tires have been thoroughly washed, (2 hours), and the paint has been clayed to remove above surface bonded contaminants, (1 hour), the machine polishing step for 9 body panels will take an experienced detailer that works for the most part NON-STOP - about 4-5 hours.
If you own a larger vehicles, for example, near as I can tell when I drive around there's a LOT of SUVs on the road and full size trucks. The larger the car, the larger the body panels and the more of them and thus it will take HOURS longer.
So let me do the math for you,
Thoroughly wash wheels, tires and outside of car and this includes wiping down all the door jambs, trunk jambs and hood jambs after the wash and during the drying step. 2 hours MINIMUM.
Using detailing clay to clay all the paint, (all the body panels) as well as all the glass including any sunroof glass. 1 hour Minimum.
Prep car for machine polishing - this is usually using some brand of Painter's Tape to tape-off and cover over any plastic, rubber and/or vinyl trim. 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the vehicle.
Machine polishing - ONE STEP - using a compound or some type of polish, 4-5 hours and also around 4-8 buffing pads. (Doing the job right means swapping to a clean, dry pad often)
Total time so far?
8 to 9 hours
Now if you decide you don't want to pay the extra money for a ceramic coating, you or the detailer you hire can go straight to applying a wax or synthetic paint sealant. This will take about 1 hour to apply and carefully wipe off. Next most detailers will apply a tire dressing to all 4 tires, wipe the glass with a glass cleaner, (outside glass), and then do any "finishing steps", which could include putting some type of trim dressing on any exterior plastic or vinyl trim.
Total time for this last step - about 1 hour if you're fast or the detailer you hire is fast. So total time is around 10 hours.
How much will this cost? On the low end $300.00 and on the high end, $800.00 - the difference will be the caliber of the person doing the work. A hack detailer will work cheaper, use cheaper tools, pads and products and in most cases turn out lower quality work. A true professional that actually knows their stuff - they'll be using better tools, pads, more pads and better products.
Like the saying goes,
You get what you pay for
What if you decide to go with a ceramic paint coating?
After the polishing step, the paint and any surfaces to be ceramic coated will first have to be chemically stripped using a Panel Wipe. This will take about an hour.
Next the ceramic coating will be applied. This will take about an hour.
Most people I know that install ceramic coatings take 2-3 hours to chemically strip the paint and install the ceramic coating and this is just ONE LAYER. If you want a second or third layer of coating applied, add at least one more hour for each layer not including the WAITING TIME in-between each layer. How long you must wait before you can apply additional layers of a ceramic paint coating varies among brands, but at least one hour is common.
For this extra 3 hours for a trained professional, (or a hack, your choice), to chemically strip the paint and then install the coating varies, but $300.00 is normally the MINIMUM for this option.
How much will this option cost? On the low end, around $600.00 but my experience is whoever is doing all the above work to put a ceramic coating on your Pride & Joy is doing low quality work using low quality everything. Remember, just the coating alone will cost on average a low of $50.00 and a high of $200.00 Any smart detailer has to build this into the price.
On the high end? Anywhere from $1000.00 to $3000.00 - just depends on the detailer and really the size and condition of your vehicle.
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