Ceramic coatings.

[Martyn]

Does anyone on here have personal experience of ceramic coatings applied to their car?

Do they work?

Do they keep the car fresh looking?

Does the paintwork scratch easily when washing - does the coating really make a difference??

Finally - when removing tar etc. does it remove the coating?

Any other benefits?

Thanks

 

[big_pete]

It depends on the coating. We use both cquartz and gloss-it 11h. I rate the gloss it coating much higher than the cquartz although both do work very well.

Its not an idiot fail safe product. If you wash the car badly it is still going to mark it eventually. It must be maintained by pH neutral snow foams and water behaviour can be maintained with an Si02 detail spray.

Out of the hundreds of cars we have put ceramic coating on I have only ever had one person not happy with them. Its a hard thing for us to monitor all the same as when we maintain the cars that are coated we know they are being maintained correctly. Once it leaves our hands its hard to know how they are treated etc.

Tar won't bond to coatings in the same way and it is perfectly safe to remove them with a soluble tar remover like Annachem or 50cal target.

I have had coatings on my wife's car for almost 3 years now and the car still looks excellent after every wash. I honestly rate hydrophobic coatings higher than ceramic due to the appearance and sheer ease of maintenance. The do make a massive difference to keeping the car clean, although they offer no form of scratch resistance.

We are currently testing gtechniq crystal serum. It promises the benefits of both coatings but so far I'm haven't be massively impressed with the rest of their range in comparison to its competitors.

To summarise are they absolutely impervious.. No. Do they offer substantial benefits over a traditional sealant or wax.. Absolutely I wouldn't even bother with wax on any of my own vehicles again. Simply wash dry and a quick wipe down with QD and my car looks immacualte

 

[PhilM]

Pete

Do you do this for exhaust systems etc or is that a totally different product/item?

Phil

 

[Deezer-D]

@big_pete Can you PM me price options for Hydrophobic and Ceramic for the Clubman please? Also, need to get Tara's Copper done as it's a disgrace! Still have a voucher to use but I know I'll need to add a bit more cash to it

 

[big_pete]

@PhilM that a different product.

@Deezer-D I will give you a ring later if you like?

 

[Deezer-D]

@PhilM that a different product.

@Deezer-D I will give you a ring later if you like?

No worries

 

[SPIKE_]

Do they offer substantial benefits over a traditional sealant or wax.. Absolutely I wouldn't even bother with wax on any of my own vehicles again. Simply wash dry and a quick wipe down with QD and my car looks immacualte

Putting the cost to one side, would you say that Ceramic coatings are by far the best? There seems to be many people with varying thoughts on going Ceramic....the likes of depth of shine etc seem to be where wax gets recommended more.

What type of lifespan do you get with gloss-it? I'm thinking about getting my car detailed, and this has me thinking!!

 

[big_pete]

On home use coatings probably, on pro only coatings the finish is insane!

Gloss it has a 2year/40k mile warranty. Coatings are so far ahead of wax now

 

[Boydie]

Had gtechnic on my Porsche and CQuartz on my S4 and Scirocco. Great products.

My wife's A3 is booked in with Pete to get ceramic coated at the end of the month.

 

[Martyn]

Great replies...

Think I will book the new car with Pete.

 

[big_pete]

Great replies...

Think I will book the new car with Pete.

If your ever in Belfast call in and we can demo it to you. There is usually something here getting coatings and in the next few weeks both of our own vans will be coated, one with hydro and the other with ceramic so you can see the difference

 

[neil-c]

@big_pete do you think that paint coatings for new cars are getting softer with manufacturers have to meet higher standards in environmental impact? One of my family have a Range Rover Vogue in that deep blue almost black colour and it is an absolute disaster to keep! Scratches from washing happen all the time and it needs dried after every wash or else you get awful water marks. Back on topic- will ceramic coating toughen up the surface by a noticeable amount to the average pistonhead?

 

[big_pete]

Yes new car paint is atrocious, particularly bad are VW, Porsche, Bentley, Aston and Land Rover. LR always had reasonably soft paint though and are a nightmare to machine as the paint is very sticky.

The ceramic becomes a sacrificial layer, it is what takes the impact from wash marring etc. It can still be penetrated with complete abandonment and it must be maintained by pH neutral product to work at its optimum.

However if you maintain and wash it correctly it really is fantastic! It puts a measureable layer on, if you take PDG reading before and after you will see it has added around 8microns onto the finish

 

[CharlySkunkWeed]

Yes new car paint is atrocious, particularly bad are VW, Porsche, Bentley, Aston and Land Rover. LR always had reasonably soft paint though and are a nightmare to machine as the paint is very sticky.

The ceramic becomes a sacrificial layer, it is what takes the impact from wash marring etc. It can still be penetrated with complete abandonment and it must be maintained by pH neutral product to work at its optimum.

However if you maintain and wash it correctly it really is fantastic! It puts a measureable layer on, if you take PDG reading before and after you will see it has added around 8microns onto the finish

So is washing the only thing you need to do following the coating ? Can you still apply wax or QD etc or is it not needed/detrimental.

 

[big_pete]

Si02 detail sprays are recommended to keep water behavior. My personal favourite is car pro reload.

You wouldn't really see a benefit in a wax the coating would repel it

 

[WSM]

Do it @Martyn - I had mine done some time ago and it still works wonder. I went a good few weeks without getting a wash, maybe as many as 4-6 weeks due to work and other committments and when it was down to PMG to get washed the tar hadn't bonded, the **** just cleaned right off. Not literal ****, but, you get the picture

 

[Carson]

I have CQuartz on the S4 and am very impressed with it. Plan to get the wife's new motor coated when it arrives next month also.

 

[Chris Mac]

My R is going in this week to get the hydrophobic coating, I'm sure Pete will put photos up.
Pete if you want to do a water beading/run off photo or video on mine work away

 

[SPIKE_]

My R is going in this week to get the hydrophobic coating, I'm sure Pete will put photos up.
Pete if you want to do a water beading/run off photo or video on mine work away

Would love to see a video of that! I take it your going for the Gloss-it coating?

 

[big_pete]

@Chris Mac is getting a development hydrophobic sealant as part of an offer we ran. These are not as durable as the proper covalent coatings but will give excellent water behavior and designed for easy home application for home users

 

[Dave..]

@Chris Mac is getting a development hydrophobic sealant as part of an offer we ran. These are not as durable as the proper covalent coatings but will give excellent water behavior and designed for easy home application for home users

@big_pete
Pete, is this the same treatment you quoted me for? I am starting to get quite confused by all the different finishes.

 

[big_pete]

No @David.S we quoted you for gloss it 11H.

There are a lot of coating on the market. However we use the following

Ceramic coatings
- Gloss-it 11H Pro only coating (exclusive to us in the UK and Ireland)
- Cquartz UK (budget level ceramic coating, still performers well but not even close to the gloss it lol) this is for people wanting protection on a budget.

Hydrophobic coatings
- our own signature coatings, unrivalled by anything else I have seen in terms of water repellancy, slickness etc. Offers no form of scratch resistance though

 

[Dave..]

Thanks Pete.

 

[SPIKE_]

Sorry to gate crash this thread, but could you PM a price Pete for Gloss-it 11h on a Audi A3 saloon. Cheers

 

[Andy_A]

Great to see more people going down the ceramic route! It really does work a treat!