The point still stands though, there really isnt any evidence that adding graphene to a detailing product makes it superior. Its the latest detailing buzzword, it was "sealant" then it was "ceramic" now its "graphene". For instance the Adams coating is a 7 year coating...we have 9 and 10 year ceramic coatings...so what specifically is the benefit of the graphene? And when it comes to longevity, do you really want or need 7, 8, 9 years of protection? In that time the car is likely to need to be polished, or have some sort of body repair, or even no longer be in your garage.

What I used on my Lexus was 22ple HPC which lasted the 3 years I had it, it was getting a little tired towards the end, but it was mostly carwash washed. On my S560 I have GTechniq Crystal Serum Light topped with 2 layers of EXO

 

Thanks!. What is your final advise? If you were in my shoes, and need for the first time to protect or apply coating on your car, what product would you choose now? I have until tomorrow to ask them to apply whatever brand I want.

 

I've watched them. I just don't buy it, I don't see what the performance benefit for specifically the graphene is. It would be no problem for the main players who sell coatings to professionals to add "graphene" to their coatings and cash in, but they haven't. That right there tells me theres no benefit. Adams is almost exclusively a consumer/prosumer brand and it makes sense they would tout graphene to draw business.

I think this speaks to the frankly insane costs of having these products professionally installed. I mean, I would never pay $2,000 for a ceramic coating installation. Its one thing if that included many hours of meticulous paint correction, but in a lot of cases they are charging that for brand new cars that require only light correction, if any. I prepped and coated my huge S Class in 4 hours.

When someone spends $2k for a coating I don't blame them for thinking it does all of that stuff

 

Any product the is specifically for detailers only and carries a 5 yr warranty will work. There really isn't much difference between professionally installed coatings.

 

What kind of package does your detailer offer? Do they have access to truly professional grade products like Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra or CarPro Cquartz Professional or Finest Reserve? If I was going to pay a pro I would want one of the professional coatings I can't get on my own.

 

If they are professional detailers, then they likely aren't installing consumer grade products. My guy actually uses a product called Flight Shield, which is used on airplanes and fighter jets. Is it any better than the other professional only products? Probably not.

 

There are lots of professional detailers out there who install consumer grade products. Even really high end ones will install consumer available coatings at lower cost.

Detailers have to be approved and accredited by the coating manufacturers to be able to buy their top end coatings, many of them aren't capable of doing that or dont want to.

 

I am not sure where I was drawn in but on YouTube there is a video with the chemist from dr beasleys getting interviewed by the bearded guy from Chicago auto pros in relation to graphene. He gives a funny informative interview.

ceramic is the winner and it can be explained there in an easy way. It’s got a great tech.

Graphene can not be applied in a manner to achieve the molecular structure so it has the world famous properties. Applied in a carrier that is likely a “ceramic” the graphene may provide protection, but not protection that is superior to any mid grade ceramic.

I hope that helps. The video actual helped convince me to buy a diy product that should be great, for me.

 

Well, what the chemist from dr beasleys specifically said, is that he tried but it didn't work for him (meaning he failed to make it work) but still that means that other companies like Adams maybe has the right solution at which the chemist from dr beasleys still couldn't get to... in fact, if you watch the itnerview, and go to 34min HE ADMITTED THE HIS 3rd PARTY TESTING FOR A TRIAL OF HIS SOLUTION WITH AND WITHOUT GRAPHENE showed minor differences (minor differences to the benefit of graphene)... in my opinion, if i have to pay same price, i would rather then get the Graphene one since it has (minor) difference even though it is minor, at least no way that it is worst.... if anything, it is the same, or as he said, will show very minor improvement. That made me actually believe that what Adams company has is actually working, but other companies or chemist from dr beasleys are yet to find the way to make it work with major improvement.

 

I wouldn’t consider Dr Beasleys a major player in ceramic coatings. When CarPro, GTechniq or Modesta come out with Graphene coatings I’ll pay attention.

I wouldn’t consider Adam’s a major player at all either, so I highly doubt they have “figured it out” and the big players in the field haven’t. BUT, you are drawn to the Graphene and like I said that’s a coating that has gotten good reviews. Wouldn’t be my choice though.

 

So we are both agreeing that while added, it can not perform to be the bullet stopping product people are led to believe and anyone touting the those properties should be called out. I’ve watched this vs the adams guys and others and they just sound like sales people. Admitting to failure is not what others generally do and I find that the most telling. Of course he tests solutions and he has for five years and still does not feel right selling “some possible benefit”. “Some benefit” is not what people are buying into. He was also very nice in not calling the companies selling graphene scammers. I guess some of us would believe if we added diamonds to the carrier that the coating would be hard as diamonds. Let’s not be silly here. Nearly all the coatings are the same chemical structures (yes, I mix things and create chemical solutions with the only machinery that would be used to create these types of products) and it is the “potency” and lack of ease of use that makes a coating “professional”. It’s not because of anything other than the installer can ruin your car with the product with a higher potency product. I’m not calling dr beasleys a player of any sort because I have no idea and no position in the game, he was just perceived to be much more honest than the others. No chemist is five years behind another in 2021. Reverse engineering is a real thing and does not cost much these days for a simple solution such as ceramic coatings. Maybe if we evenly spread spider silk in our ceramic base we can become a superhero. I now offer a service. 12k per body part, “some benefit”. Booked through 2022 on Instagram.



Op. Pick a good installer and normal ceramic with a warranty acceptable to you. It’s that easy. It’s been out enough years that if someone has to sway you, their product is probably crap.

Good luck out there

 

You are right, I might be drawn and biased to Graphene just because I did some research on graphene in the past, so it's just a mental biases sort of thing (makes no sense, I know, lol). Anyway, as you said, since it has good reviews, and proven to be at least as good as other coatings and not worse in anyway, I think am going to try it since it's offered to me at the same price I was going to pay for another coating brand I selected earlier. I was not going to go super crazy with this coating, just wanted the ~$100 bottle + labor, and will never consider the $1000 plus option.... I think my paint looks good and I just want to make it easier for me when washing my car... after all, i doubt that my W222 is going to stay for an additional 7 years although i don't think i will ever switch to W223... I'll either keep my W222 until W224 is announced, or maybe will switch to Audi (or thinking of Lexus LS500 or LX470 as a daily drive) or something else if I decide that my W222 is getting old and old (it is my daily drive).

 

How much labor is he going to charge you? Is he going to do the proper prepwork beforehand?

 

No coating costs anywhere near $1000. $100 for the cost of the liquid is probably about average and figure no more than 2 hours to apply and buff the coating. The biggest cost involved by far is paint correction. If you have a lot of swirls and light scratches in your paint, it could take up to a 3 stage paint correction. Paint corrections are very labor and time intensive as any good detailer will want to get the paint as perfect as possible before locking it in under a semi-permanent coating. The entire point of getting a coating is to make your car shine like it never has. That shine is impossible without a full paint correction before it is applied.

When I had my paint correction done on my GL550, the detailer put in over 30 hours of labor in a 3 stage correction to make the paint look perfect before coating it. Since your car is 6 years old and darker in color, it likely has lots of swirl marks that are detracting from the shine that your paint should have, especially since you take it through automatic carwashes. And if you plan on taking it through automatic car washes after having it done, then don't bother spending your money on any of it as the automatic washes will ruin all of the work that your detailer did to make it look perfect. So it'll be money wasted.

 

he is going to inspect my car first, see how good/bad the current clear coat layer is, how much preparation it needs. He is coming to my garage to do the work, with all his tools in his van, and he thinks it is a 9AM to 7PM work maximum ( i know that is too much). The range is going to be $400-$700 depending on how long it takes.

 

It all depends on what your goals are. It doesnt "need" a 30 hour 3 stage correction. 85% correction can likely be achieved in one stage and the car will look awesome and be well prepped for the coating. Perfection is not necessary. Another example of setting the bar much higher than where it needs to be for a coating to be applied with a great result. If you want the paint to be as perfect as it can possibly be before its coated, then sure that 3 step 30 hour correction is what it takes, but thats not what the vast majority of vehicle owners are looking for.

IMO having a car be "perfect" and keeping it perfect is too much pressure on a daily driven car, and I'm somebody who does some sort of detailing on my cars every day, but also takes them through a carwash.

If he'll do a light paint correction and coat it for $700 or less thats a very good deal.

 

We all have different standards. When I pay for a coating, I want the paint to look as good or better than when it came out of the factory, so it will shine more than it ever has. Your white car isn't going to show the imperfections that a darker car will show. So you wouldn't need perfection on a paint correction and the damage from automatic carwashes won't be very noticeable. But your car also won't shine and reflect light like a darker car that has all of the swirls and scratches removed from it. Darker colors definitely require more maintenance to keep them looking pristine than light colored cars.

 

Yes, he just arrived, looked at the paint, and believes the paint is in good condition and needs very minimal correction, so he said he will charge only the minimum, which is $400... I think that's fair... I like the fact he was honest and therefore if i like the results a lot, I think i will pay $450+ if he is really going to spend the entire day here. Full wash (body + under body), iron removal, clay, 3 step preparation/polishing and then applying ceramic coating.... 3 different types, one for glass, one for paint and 3rd one for wheels. Will see how it goes....

 

I'm well aware of that, which is why I switched from driving dark colored cars to driving light colored cars. Even with darker colored cars though enough correction can be achieved with one polishing step that 99% of vehicle owners will be thrilled.

Thats also why I do my own coatings vs paying a detailer to do them.

Thats a very good price...