Approved Vantage - Gtecniq coating worth it?

[Leatherseat]

I have just put a deposit on a 2009 Vantage (AM Nottingham).

Any opinions on the usefulness and value for Gtechniq paint coating?
They have offered a Gtechniq coating at circa £600 to seal and protect the paintwork and keep it looking like new (!).

I am inclined not to go for this, but to spend the money on a detailing session instead, which will presumably include a top sealing coat.

I'd welcome views and experiences of these types of coatings compared to detailing.

Thanks,

David

[anonymous-user]

I had the Gtecniq ceramic coating applied when I picked up the Vanquish; it's meant to last for 2 years from memory, but I imagine that depends on exposure to UV light and general crud build up between washes. It certainly made service washing easier - whether it's better value than the equivalent money spent with a detailer, I'm not sure - that's one to ask Paddy I think.

IMO, go for it - you'll probably find the dealer will throw in the Gtecniq maintenance pack, which is a nice, high grade kit with quality cleaning products for home service washes. Ceramic coating wont protect like PPF would, but it safeguards what you start with, and doesn't cost thousands like PPF does. So long as it's applied properly (MD prep guys and girls are pretty good, and they often sub the work out to a detailer if not), it just makes cleaning easier going forward.

[bogie]

It really works and lasts well, had Gtecniq on 2 cars and twice on my previous Vantage over 9 years. Must have been 2007 the first time and it was fairly new and leading the market. It does make it easier to keep looking good. I think on my Vantage it was still beading water 3 years later. I got around to having it re-applied after about 4 years.

Well worth it to keep it in great condition for longer.

[David Ramsbotham]

My son in law had Gtechniq coating applied to his Rapide before taking delivery and initially it was great. I had an experienced detailer apply to my V8 Vantage after I had purchased and we both think the application on my car is superior especially the water run off.
My advice would be to get it down afterwards coupled with some possible paintwork correction beforehand.

[Shinjuku79]

David Ramsbotham said:

My advice would be to get it down afterwards coupled with some possible paintwork correction beforehand.

This. I'd recommend finding a gyeon certified detailer in your area from the internet.

[Speculatore]

My detailer machine polished my car and applied a coat of ceramic coating for £400

[Milky400]

I picked my vantage up from AM Nottingham just as lockdown hit and also paid for ceramic.

I have had all my cars coated but by a guy I trust and his work is faultless.

For some reason mainly for ease I ask AM Nottingham to do the vantage, never again. The car was covered in swirls and marring cause by poor pre prep machine polishing and post application dealer wash. Admit mine is black and shows everything but save your money and get it done by a well respected detailer

They have agreed to refund me the money I paid, which is going towards ppf as the main issue for me is swirls caused by even the most careful washing. Ceramic will not stop this happening.

[BigMig]

I'd also recommend going down the detailer route, unless the dealer are going to machine polish the car first there's not much point in putting ceramc coating on. Having seen the horrendus state of paint condition in various dealers, including Notts, I would definately be seeking out a competant detailer.

[Leatherseat]

Thank you to all who have contributed.
Good to see a consensus view - the treatment is worth having, but get it done correctly, by a detailer who knows what they are doing.

I shall take delivery (hopefully in a week or so), then look for recommendations for a detailer active in the Leicestershire / East Midlands area.

Photos will follow, after collection...

[quench]

I'll add another perspective to this topic.

If you do not wish to be bothered with regular detailing of your car, and don't mind your paint accumulating some swirls over the course of a year or two, then ceramic coating may be the best route.

If, however, you are more interested in regular upkeep of your clear coat and keeping swirls to a minimum, in my experience you are better off going with a 'conventional' sealant and twice a year, minor correction/swirl removal.

It's important to understand that once applied, the ceramic coating can only be removed by machine polishing. As pointed out, it also requires a near perfect surface before application or it will not bond properly. This creates a catch-22 situation: if swirls are introduced to the surface after the coating is applied, they can only be removed by polishing off the coating and starting all over again. And although a ceramic coating guards against swirls better than a regular sealant or wax, it is still quite easy to introduce them through improper washing or drying technique.

Lastly, the multiyear protection of ceramic coatings touted by the manufacturers are in my experience a best case scenario and not applicable in the real world. The trouble is, these coatings really need regular maintenance or they will start to degrade more quickly, and even then I have never found they repel water as well after the 12 month mark. Sort of defeats the whole idea of 'apply once and walk away'...

[AJB88]

Just make sure they prep the car correctly first of all,

OPC Silverstone applied Gtecniq to my Cayman, however they applied it over swirled paint work so it looked awful close up, after many arguements and a trip to gtecniq HQ they agreed to correct it.

It looks very good now! There is a top up that is needed every 6 months or so to keep the beeding going.

[LTP]

Leatherseat said:

Any opinions on the usefulness and value for Gtechniq paint coating?

My opinion? Don't. Save the money and get your car properly detailed and then have the detailer apply an appropriate coating. The chances of having the coating applied correctly by a dealer is pretty remote, as any internet search in the car and detailing forums will show you. I'm not saying it's impossible, just remote. They also have a habit of using a rain-repelling compound on the glass as part of the protection process and these completely screw up wiper performance.

I speak from personal experience, as whatever was applied in the "Approved" network (my car went through two dealers) masked bad paint swirls (Onyx Black ) at initial collection but they became obvious after a few months and washes. I stupidly agreed to GardX.

If they offer you something like Ramp wheel and tyre insurance bite their bloody hands off, though - have you seen the cost of repairing an Aston alloy? I've already had a mark caused by a stone being thrown up by a passing car repaired at no cost.

All just my opinion - other experiences may apply.

[cayman-black]

No. This needs to be done by a professional detailer.

[Emilio Largo]

AJB88 said:

There is a top up that is needed every 6 months or so to keep the beeding going.

If this is so, I wonder what´s the benefit compared to simple waxing? Would the dead flies from my autobahn runs come off more easily from my paintwork if it was ceramic coated? These dead bugs are a real pain although my paintwork is waxed and I take my (too long) time to clean them off immediately with Meguiar´s Ultimate Wash & Wax and a supersoft microfibre towel.

[quench]

Yes, they do come off easier (just like other debris and dirt), at least for the first 6 to 12 months, with a ceramic coating. The problem is after that time, it's not much better than a sealant.

An advantage of a ceramic coating is resistance to bug remover spray, which is often alcohol based, and will degrade a sealant much more quickly. Insect remover spray (followed by washing) is a better way to soften up and remove dead, dried on bugs than the one you are describing, in my experience. Apart from actual polishing or protecting, I don't like to touch the paint unless I am washing the car. I know detailing sprays are touted as able to lubricate the paint, but think about how you are rubbing those sharp little bug shells all over your paint!

[xjay1337]

quench said:

I'll add another perspective to this topic.

If you do not wish to be bothered with regular detailing of your car, and don't mind your paint accumulating some swirls over the course of a year or two, then ceramic coating may be the best route.

If, however, you are more interested in regular upkeep of your clear coat and keeping swirls to a minimum, in my experience you are better off going with a 'conventional' sealant and twice a year, minor correction/swirl removal.

It's important to understand that once applied, the ceramic coating can only be removed by machine polishing. As pointed out, it also requires a near perfect surface before application or it will not bond properly. This creates a catch-22 situation: if swirls are introduced to the surface after the coating is applied, they can only be removed by polishing off the coating and starting all over again. And although a ceramic coating guards against swirls better than a regular sealant or wax, it is still quite easy to introduce them through improper washing or drying technique.

Lastly, the multiyear protection of ceramic coatings touted by the manufacturers are in my experience a best case scenario and not applicable in the real world. The trouble is, these coatings really need regular maintenance or they will start to degrade more quickly, and even then I have never found they repel water as well after the 12 month mark. Sort of defeats the whole idea of 'apply once and walk away'...

Hi. Sorry non AM owner here but I was reading this as I was a professional detailer for several years and still keep my toe dipped .

It doesn't need a "near perfect" finish to be applied, only that the surface is prepared with half a level of quality (IE, that the surface is free from contaminants, it doesn't have to have no swirls) . Lots of cars I've done only get a single stage polish to a decent level and then coated because even a 75% improvement is still significant to the eye and the owner wants a "nice" finish with ease of care moving forwards.


The ultimate in low maintenance car car is any ceramic/si02/ sealant (of which gtechniq is, as well as cquartz and gyeon and pretty much all others).
they resist normal wash marks much better than any traditional wax or sealant and also do make it much easier to dry.

Regarding removal, but why would you want to remove it anyway? It's not like you can't then after 2 years wax over it if you notice it's dropping off in performance. you certainly don't have to fully machine polish the whole car if you want to apply a different product or start again etc.
(edit: many light swirls in ceramic coated cars are actually in the ceramic coating itself! how cool, eh?)

The point RE multi years durability is true though , they don't last 5 years certainly not on cars left outside and daily driven, but my genuine experience based on probably 50+ cars with this coating that I've done, as well as my last own 3 cars- all of which were parked outside all year round and used daily including lots of track abuse and lots of continental jaunts (bug central) - is that you can expect a genuine 18-24 months or around 40,000 miles from any of the top tier coatings. Probably more if you use the top up sprays every few washes (every month or two).


I applied gyeon duraflex to my m135i when I bought it back around June time 2018.
after 25k and 1 year it was still performing nearly as well as it was after 2 weeks..

For the investment of around £600 then I think it's well worth doing on any nice car (whether that be a Fiesta ST or an Aston Martin) as it really does show later down the line or on a sunny day down at the cars & coffee



i guess it depends how much of an anorak you are, if you really like washing your car and waxing it once a month then no point with a proper detail,, as you'll no doubt introduce lots of little marks during the regular waxing process. May as well buy a dual action polisher and a green hexlogic with Sonax 4/6 and do it yourself

In any event I would ask the dealer to do as little prep work to the car as possible and then find your own detailer who will work to your exact requirements and budget. usually when dealers get involved in detailing then it gets messy.

Edited by xjay1337 on Thursday 11th June 17:53

[Emilio Largo]

Thanks for your thoughts, quench!

quench said:

An advantage of a ceramic coating is resistance to bug remover spray, which is often alcohol based, and will degrade a sealant much more quickly. Insect remover spray (followed by washing) is a better way to soften up and remove dead, dried on bugs than the one you are describing, in my experience. Apart from actual polishing or protecting, I don't like to touch the paint unless I am washing the car. I know detailing sprays are touted as able to lubricate the paint, but think about how you are rubbing those sharp little bug shells all over your paint!

I can honestly say that by using a high-grade microfibre towel (500g ?? or something like that) and the aforementioned Meguiar´s pumpspray I get not the slightest scratches - BUT a) it´s Magnetic Silver (and not black) and b) it takes a VERY long time as I work slowly and apply only very gentle pressure. So I am seeking a better solution. But from what you are saying a bug remover would probably strip off my wax coat quicklier than I have the opportunity to re-wax the bonnet.

[quench]

xjay1337 said:

(edit: many light swirls in ceramic coated cars are actually in the ceramic coating itself! how cool, eh?)

...Probably more if you use the top up sprays every few washes (every month or two)....

i guess it depends how much of an anorak you are, if you really like washing your car and waxing it once a month then no point with a proper detail,, as you'll no doubt introduce lots of little marks during the regular waxing process.

I don't care where the swirls are - in the clear coat or in the ceramic coating, they still bother me. As far as I'm concerned, every time you touch the paint you are going to cause some, no matter how careful you are. So although you correctly note that little marks might be introduced during waxing, it is equally important to note that the same is going to happen when you use those "top up sprays every few washes" to extend the life of a ceramic coating.

Look, I'm not saying one method is clearly superior to the other - it really boils down to how much swirls bother you and how much time you went to spend on maintaining your finish. All I wanted to say with my initial post was that I've tried both ways: ceramic coatings and twice annual, mild clear coat correction followed by sealant. And for my needs/preferences, the second method works best. I just haven't been impressed by the longevity of ceramic coatings, or their ability to stay swirl free. On the other hand, I put a ceramic coating on my wife's car, because she does not have the same OCD about its appearance.

My situation may be different from the typical UK forum member's though, as I live in Canada and my cars (not the Aston) are subjected to harsh winters with liberal road salting.

[paddy328]

What you have to bare in mind is that if someone says they had Gtechniq on their car and if someone said they had their car detailed, it can mean one of many things. Gtechniq is the brand and has a few different coatings. The one the dealership offers is called platinum and is also known as crystal serum light. They are a good coating, but crystal serum Ultra is much better. Same for detailing. Having a car detailed ranges from a single stage polish you can get done in a day or a full correction, which tales a lot longer. I’ve just spent 3 days on a brand new DBS volante and it needed it.

So, the car you’re buying will definitely need a good amount of paint correction to get it 90+% defect free and not one single Aston out there is any different, but people don’t know the difference it can make to your paintwork, even from new.

Now, if you have a garage, I would be able to detail your car for you, just message me if you want a quote for the various options. I’m probably the most experienced Aston detailer in the country, but I’m mobile, so need a garage to work in.

Every person I detail their car for gets an email with a product guide to help look after the car going forward.

Now, as has been mentioned, some colours would be better getting polished either once a year or being done properly and then covered in ppf, as they are so soft. Storm black is a good example. Stunning once polished, but you only need to look at it to put marks in the paintwork. A good ceramic sealant will help, but nothing will keep it looking good like ppf.

[paddy328]

Also, dealers give the valeter guys a very tiny amount of time to complete the protection. Ferrari Brum for example give their guys 2 hours to protect the whole car. To give you an idea, I spend longer than that just cleaning it before I start machine polishing.