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I know people who have spent thousands of dollars on ceramic coatings that are supposed to last 5 years. It always seemed gimmicky to me. So today I brought my G550 in for detailing, and the guy offered me “ceramic coating” for $75 extra. He said he guarantees it for 1 year, whatever that is supposed to mean. Needless to say, I was cynical (I still am), but I figured $75 is not a lot to risk, and if it saves me the cost of 1 detailing in the spring ($200), then it is worth it. So, I got the car back, and it looks great, but not much better than I expect from a clay bar, polish, and a couple of coats of wax. The car feels very smooth, but not waxy. I guess time will tell, but, what do you think this is that I just paid for? It cant be the same stuff that people pay thousands of dollars for.
$75 ceramic coating is not even real ceramic coating.
I will say this: I've had a lot of cars all with various combinations of PPF only, ceramic coating only, PPF + ceramic, and no protection at all.
The difference in cleaning and maintaining a ceramic coated car was vastly easier than a non-coated car. I've used several brands but for the most part, they are all equal as long as you are getting the top tier, professional only grade. Examples are Cquartz Finest, Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra, Ceramic Pro 9H, etc.
Real top tier coating applications should be in the $1000 range. Only $100-$150 of that is in the actual materials. The rest is in the prep labor and install labor.
$75 ceramic coating is not even real ceramic coating.
I will say this: I've had a lot of cars all with various combinations of PPF only, ceramic coating only, PPF + ceramic, and no protection at all.
The difference in cleaning and maintaining a ceramic coated car was vastly easier than a non-coated car. I've used several brands but for the most part, they are all equal as long as you are getting the top tier, professional only grade. Examples are Cquartz Finest, Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra, Ceramic Pro 9H, etc.
Real top tier coating applications should be in the $1000 range. Only $100-$150 of that is in the actual materials. The rest is in the prep labor and install labor.
Yeah. Like I said, I dont know what it is. If it lasts a year like the guy said, I will do it again next year. If not, not a big deal. At $75 I had to at least give it a try.
Likely what you paid for was a spray wax that contained "ceramic" compounds. They're fairly common now but usually only provide the ceramic benefits (mainly water beading/easier cleaning) for a month or so. As others have said, the ceramic coating you usually hear about costs around $1,000 but can easily be double that with multi level paint correction prior to the application, even on brand new cars.
Yeah I was going to say $75 won't even buy the materials to do the coating, not even factoring labor in.
I have Opticoat Pro Plus on my vehicle and it makes a great difference in my opinion. I'll always get ceramic coating on vehicles in the future.
I have OptiCoat Pro on my Porsche and after one year it is still fine and plan to have it done on the G as well. Best advice one can get is to shop the installer and not the product!
Love those wheels in silver instead of the common grey and black!
Thanks. I like them too. I am trying to decide whether to leave them on the winter tires and get something new for the all season tires, or put these back on the all seasons and get something new for the winter tires.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
