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The dealer is offering ceramic coating to protect the paint for 5 years.
Anyone have opinions / insight on this?
The whole ceramic coating on paint seems a bit like 21st century snake oil to me.
I have had my last 3 cars ceramic coated. If you want to see shine, do it. When it rains the dirt will slide off. Depending on where you go it can be expensive. I see and average of $1,500 these days.
We have ours ceramic coated and it’s well worth it. We took one to a Gtecniq place(I think that’s the name.) they spent 38 hours paint correcting and removed the tires off the car to do the rims as well. Brake dust is no longer an issue. Amazing really. Our black GLA45 desperately needs ppf.
i have seen what dealerships do and I wouldn’t recommend letting a dealership apply ceramic coating. Just my 2 cents on dealerships.
2022 AMG SL63, 992 GT3, Taycan Turbo, 1966 Shelby Cobra, Ford Raptor, KTM 1290 Super Duke R Evo
I apply ceramic coating to all my cars. See https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...ml#post8300525 for examples. Detailing is a hobby. It takes me two days for each car, at a materials cost of about $50 plus an initial outlay of about $500 for equipment. Some dealers have their own detailers with the skills to perform paint correction and ceramic coating. Others sub it out. $1500 is not an unusually high charge and you're mostly paying for 10-20 hours of labor, most of which is skilled preparation. Many new cars need paint correction: Mercedes is among the best. McLaren is very good. Porsche varies. In my experience, Ferrari is marginal. If the factory applies white plastic protection to a new car too soon after painting, you'll get "worms" and other faults in the paint, requiring a lot of correction.
Ceramic coatings are definitely not snake oil. There's a small element of paint protection -- a rock will still chip the paint -- but the shine is good, and washing can usually be accomplished no-touch with foaming, rinsing, and air blower drying. The more you touch the paint, e.g. with washing mitts or towels, the quicker any coating wears off. My experience with DIY ceramic coating is that it lasts 2-3 years.
Thanks! What about durability? How long does it last? I assume you can still get rock chips on the front.
If you're worried about chips then PPF is the way to go. The drawback is that it is expensive. The pro is that it looks like an additional extra deep clearcoat (assuming you get clear) and protects from rocks, within reason.
I think it is worth it and had added it to two cars. It really makes the car shine longer and dirt does not seem to stick as well. If you really want a good one I probably would not pay the dealership for it. I’d find a local shop that has been doing it for awhile and might know a little bit more about it. It really does depend on how well the “correct” the paint before they start. I’ve had Gtechniq on my first car and it didn’t have any up keep other than washing. It looked pretty good even after 5 years. Our current E car has Modesta and I regularly apply their stuff to it after I wash it and it looks amazing almost 3 years later. Just my 2 cents for what it is worth.
Good luck!
PPF for the entire front end and ceramic coating always. I wouldn't say ceramic coating protects anything, you're still vulnerable to rock chips (hence the ppf). Maybe it makes your clear coat tougher but really the effect is that the car is hydrophobic and much easier to clean and keep clean. It's also MUCH shinier.
Actually it is unlikely the dealer does it at all. They just farm it out to the detailer that gave them the best price. So by having the dealer do it you're sending your car to the cheapest detailer the dealer could find.
Actually it is unlikely the dealer does it at all. They just farm it out to the detailer that gave them the best price. So by having the dealer do it you're sending your car to the cheapest detailer the dealer could find.
This is the truth. You're paying the dealer a premium for connecting you to the lowest bidder who probably churns these jobs out. Spend the same money on the best installer/detailer in the area.
PPF for the entire front end and ceramic coating always. I wouldn't say ceramic coating protects anything, you're still vulnerable to rock chips (hence the ppf). Maybe it makes your clear coat tougher but really the effect is that the car is hydrophobic and much easier to clean and keep clean. It's also MUCH shinier.
I second this, full PPF and 5 coats of ceramic throughout. Was expensive ~2800 but well worth it. The installer used STEK ppf for my front.
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