Has anyone had professional ceramic coating done? Wondering if the results were as you anticipated and worth the big $$ shops get to apply this stuff. I was quoted a 3 and 5 year guaranteed product, at $1200 and $1800 respectively. Any thoughts?
Ceramic coating is awesome. I'll be having that done when I move and get a garage.
I would not pay 50% more for a 5 year coating. That's just too long to expect lasting results on paint protection, not to mention a lot can happen in 5 years as far as life changes or vehicle damage and you can't get that money back. The $600 difference can buy a lot. For me that's an intake and ported throttle body, or 3 tires, or 6 months of gas.
I opted to go the DIY route. I chose the CarPro Cquartz UK 3.0 kit available through Amazon for $64. I did not do all the paint correction this service typically comes with from a professional installer. I simply did a clay bar cleaning, regular hand wash and then applied the ceramic coating.
Application from the kit was quite difficult, had to apply with a special suede applicator and then allow the product to "flash" and then buff off. I had a hard time judging flash by the color (the ceramic would turn a rainbow haze) and opted to go by time alone. Product advised between 1 and 5 minutes flash time, I typically waiting 2 minutes between application and buffing off. I also followed the recommended procedure to only do a 3' x 3' area at a time and change applicators often (every 1 to 2 panels). I have enough ceramic product left to do a 2nd application but had to re-order the special suede applicators as the original kit did not supply enough for 2 applications.
So far, 1 month post-application, the coating is holding up well. Water beads up well in the weather, and I have actually had water beads remain on the car overnight in the garage. Still deal with road grime and have washed the car twice with no ill-effects on the coating or the job its doing. So for $64 and a couple hours of my time, I'm pretty happy with the results thus far.
Turtle wax spray ceramic works great for most of my fleet. 3 are outside and so far so good. Pro coating is not worth the money on a daily driven outside kept car when a spray on for $14 a bottle that easily does 2 coats and lasts for a year.