Has anyone had this done?
I tend to wash my car fairly regularly with plain water, and have used Autoglym products in the past but I guess this is a whole new level (and not cheap I expect).
I'd never heard of it before but there is a discussion on it on the MG5 forum - people having it done professionally when the car is new/.
I suppose a small amour of additional l protection and maybe a bit more shine but is it worth it?
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main point £££ commission for salesman.
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I honestly don't know, but you put on to fairly impermeable surface a tiny amount of whatever it is and then wipe most of it off, so what can it do? "Ceramic" implies a hard shell of some kind, but the size of the bottle (5 or 6 teaspoonfuls) and the fact that you then rub it off suggests it is far from being an armour plating.
They also call them nano-coatings, because they are only a molecule or two thick. That isn't going to stop it chipping or scratching. Nor will it remove dirt, wax, tar, or cover up previous damage such as swirls that the dealers 'valeter' has probably already put in the paint. I know of one dealership where the car-washers can be seen washing new cars and removing water with squeegees.
On no account would I have a dealer apply it. If there is value it is probably in the preparation. Carefully removing all contamination for a start, and dealing with any imperfections rather than sealing over them. I'd not ascribe any value at all to it on a used car unless it it is going to get meticulous preparation.
I am not a "detailer" myself. The paint on my MX-5 (the only car on the fleet I actually care about the appearance of) was pretty poor when I got it. A fair few swirls, tar spots, old wax, and so on. After a good wash, just going over it with a clay bar removed lots of visible contamination. I then used a cleaning wax followed by a carnauba based wax called Navi-wax that a fellow owner recommended. I used no polish - the swirls are still there somewhere but the wax does a decent job of filling them and making them hard to see. It looks pretty good to me when I've done it, and I don't renew it more than a couple of times a year. It's easy to wash and I hardly got any contamination off when I clayed it again a year after the first time.
I spent £360 having the underside and cavities treated with Bilt Hamber clear wax by a specialist which I thought was a better investment than a similar amount to the dealer for "Paint Protection".
Of course, if the paint was any good it would be the protection.
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Polish is an abrasive, wax is a coating, so an older and wiser head told me decades ago.
I've had my current car for seven years. I once polished and waxed it, I even removed the wheels and did them. It made it a lot easier to clean. I keep thinking I should do it again, every time I wash it. I think I last washed it in March.
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>> Polish is an abrasive, wax is a coating,
That's my understanding and meaning. Then there's wax polish which has a cutting agent in it.
I'm conscious now that nearly all car paint has a clear protective coat. Repeated polishing risks removing it. Hence I essentially clean it and wax it.
Some 'enthusiasts' seem keen on mechanical polishers. No doubt they can be useful in skilled hands but I am not going to set about removing material from my paintwork.
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Last time I went to a car supermarket to buy a newish car (cheap sticker price) I was offered:
- gap insurance (I have never written off a car)
- finance deal (silly interest rates)
- paint protection (respectfully declined)
- cheap floor mats
This is where dealers make their profit given the low margins on the basic car price. Paint protection may have been worthwhile 30 years ago in the days of "chalky reds" but an occassional good clean and infrequent polish is all that is now needed.
Out of sympathy I bought the car mats (now changed for something of better quality!)
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Well I've not had any discussions with the dealer about any extras but the people discussing this are talking about using detailers rather than main dealers. Looks expensive to me, and I'm dubious that it would be much more useful than some of that Autoglym product.
There are some "packages" which they will undoubtedly want to sell me. The protection package is floor mats, a boot liner and mudguards for £159. Could be tempted but also AliExpress has some good looking stuff for the car, seeing as it's Chinese.
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When I picked up my ex demo Maser I then arranged for a ceramic coating. Wouldnt have used the dealers kind offer!
I used a local specialist. They carried out a "paint correction", removing swirl marks and any other light marks. They then coated it.
This was done around 13 months ago now. I wash it every 2 or 3 weeks, with the only stipulation to use a pH neutral shampoo. I must say the results are stunning. After every wash it looks like it has been detailed / polished.
The one I got was called G Technique crystal serum. FWIW its guaranteed for 9 years. It cost me around £500
For those on FB you can see it here..
www.facebook.com/theshiningmonkeys/posts/transformation-for-this-maserati-ghibli-over-3-days-of-preparation-creating-the-/1777126005785279/
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Nice jamjar .. I hope you don't park it in any supermarket car parks :)
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Ceramic coating? its a cheap Chinese car!
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I wasn't looking or advice on whether I should get it done!!
Did you have it done on your expensive German car?
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Personally I wouldn’t bother, and would use the £150/£200/£250 or what ever it costs to have the car properly valeted once a year until the money ran out!
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>> I wasn't looking or advice on whether I should get it done!!
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>> Did you have it done on your expensive German car?
No
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Ceramic coating a new car - Falkirk Bairn
