Paintwork protection
Discussion
i was talking to my detailer about this the other week.
I have a freshly resprayed car, and was toying with ceramic coating etc.
His opinion is that if you drive the car daily, and don't have a lot of time to wash/wax etc, then a ceramic coating is a good cheat way to protect the paint.
However it is 3x the price of a decent machine polish and wax.
I wash my car most weeks, and it isn't a daily, so i opted for sealant and wax, wash every week then i just top up the wax every 4 weeks or so....far, far cheaper in the long run.
Also, if you need to have any part of the car polished (bird poo etching or a scratch etc), then you are going to go straight through that expensive ceramic coating.
if i had money to burn i would do it, but personally i stuck with sealant and good quality wax.
I have a freshly resprayed car, and was toying with ceramic coating etc.
His opinion is that if you drive the car daily, and don't have a lot of time to wash/wax etc, then a ceramic coating is a good cheat way to protect the paint.
However it is 3x the price of a decent machine polish and wax.
I wash my car most weeks, and it isn't a daily, so i opted for sealant and wax, wash every week then i just top up the wax every 4 weeks or so....far, far cheaper in the long run.
Also, if you need to have any part of the car polished (bird poo etching or a scratch etc), then you are going to go straight through that expensive ceramic coating.
if i had money to burn i would do it, but personally i stuck with sealant and good quality wax.
Going through old threads trying to read up on protecting paint.
Don't have anything new or super special, just a fairly tidy E46 I wash quickly once a fortnight, however is it now being parked under a tree so I have sap issues so am looking at ways to clean it off.
How much is 'about three times more than a polish' in cash terms? Else what 'sealant' options are there for a noobie with no time?
Daniel
Don't have anything new or super special, just a fairly tidy E46 I wash quickly once a fortnight, however is it now being parked under a tree so I have sap issues so am looking at ways to clean it off.
How much is 'about three times more than a polish' in cash terms? Else what 'sealant' options are there for a noobie with no time?
Daniel
dhutch said:
Going through old threads trying to read up on protecting paint.
Don't have anything new or super special, just a fairly tidy E46 I wash quickly once a fortnight, however is it now being parked under a tree so I have sap issues so am looking at ways to clean it off.
How much is 'about three times more than a polish' in cash terms? Else what 'sealant' options are there for a noobie with no time?
Daniel
Ceramic coatings are more expensive than waxing by a long way. I pay £20 for a tin of Collinite 467 but a full ceramic coating from a reputable finisher will be around £1,000 upwards and upwards is a distinct possibility.Don't have anything new or super special, just a fairly tidy E46 I wash quickly once a fortnight, however is it now being parked under a tree so I have sap issues so am looking at ways to clean it off.
How much is 'about three times more than a polish' in cash terms? Else what 'sealant' options are there for a noobie with no time?
Daniel
A ceramic coat will ensure the original paint stays free from swirls but it won't protect against chips. Therefore it's good on brand new cars but you'll need the paint corrected by a proper detailer too on older cars - that will be £300-£1,000 as well depending how bad your paint is. Supercar owners will details, ceramic coat then add on PPF to protect from chips.
Personally I wax every time I wash, beads very well, shine is great and that's enough for me.
You can get a good solid protection system on your body for much less than a detailer or dealer will charge: https://www.airglideltd.com/store/products/
After a full decontamination wash and claying, I apply a coat of AirGlide to my cars. It is a two stage DIY application and comes out at about £65 for car body and fabric protection. It can be applied by hand or by DA machine. AirGlide will do it for you for a charge if you are in the South East and may have some agents elsewhere.
The oldest application I had was three and a half years on an old snotter of a Range Rover and it looked as good on the day I sold it as the day I applied it - there seemed to have been no degradation of the surface at all despite its having gone up and down repeatedly from the UK to Italy in all weathers.
The coating also seems quite scratch resistant and there is no marring of the paintwork when the car is washed.
After a full decontamination wash and claying, I apply a coat of AirGlide to my cars. It is a two stage DIY application and comes out at about £65 for car body and fabric protection. It can be applied by hand or by DA machine. AirGlide will do it for you for a charge if you are in the South East and may have some agents elsewhere.
The oldest application I had was three and a half years on an old snotter of a Range Rover and it looked as good on the day I sold it as the day I applied it - there seemed to have been no degradation of the surface at all despite its having gone up and down repeatedly from the UK to Italy in all weathers.
The coating also seems quite scratch resistant and there is no marring of the paintwork when the car is washed.
PompeyReece said:
...a full ceramic coating from a reputable finisher will be around £1,000 upwards ...
... but you'll need the paint corrected by a proper detailer too on older cars - that will be £300-£1,000...
Ok, fair enough. That's not happening on a 17yo 150k millage daily worth three grand!... but you'll need the paint corrected by a proper detailer too on older cars - that will be £300-£1,000...
A bit of beading would be nice, but I don't need it, I just need to be able to remove tree sap without damaging the paint.
Daniel
Like anything, if you do wash the car having a very good process you stick to is massively important. If you have a sponge which is full of stones and you drag it over the car ceramic coating or not you will damage it in some form or other. As others have said if you are washing fairly regularly save your money. For what its worth I wash with Gyeon Bathe+ which is outstanding at laying down a hydrophobic layer over the top of the wax and creating run offs for water.
dhutch said:
Ok, fair enough. That's not happening on a 17yo 150k millage daily worth three grand!
A bit of beading would be nice, but I don't need it, I just need to be able to remove tree sap without damaging the paint.
Daniel
Pre-spray the affected areas with Gtechniq W5 - this should soften up the sap and follow with your normal wash to remove.A bit of beading would be nice, but I don't need it, I just need to be able to remove tree sap without damaging the paint.
Daniel
cheers
Chris
Summit_Detailing said:
Pre-spray the affected areas with Gtechniq W5 - this should soften up the sap and follow with your normal wash to remove.
cheers
Chris
Ok. That sounds good.cheers
Chris
Ironically I went went to search to read more about it, and havutnit found a past thread on the subject using the site Search, second hit was a PH thead!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
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