F1 Ceramic Coating
Discussion
As a newbee to this forum please forgive me for asking a question that may already have been answered in the past. Does anyone have long term experience of the F1 ceramic coating? I paid a princely sum to have my v12v carbon treated a few months ago by my AM dealer. By all accounts it seemed fine. However I recently off loaded the car since I have a new v12vs on order and didn't want to face 6 months depreciation on what is a summer car for me. I'm curious to know how others have got on with it over the medium to long term since I need to decide whether to spec it again or not. What I can say is that the car looked stunning when it was clean (not often given the wonders of the color black). Also, I had a cartoon incident recently when the wonderful hand brake decided to let go when parked on a hill (I was already out of the car) and it rolled backwards 25m into a parked golf. Despite quite bad superficial damage to the other cars bumper / paintwork the v12v was almost unscathed - what appeared to be scratches polished out. I would imagine the ceramic coating helped minimise damage to the paintwork - although I have no idea how tough the coating really is or whether I just got lucky. Regardless - big lesson on the devil that is the AM drop lever handbrake. Damn awful contraption.
All dealer option paint sealants are invariably a rip off.
Get the same product applied by a professional detailer. You'll get a better service, a better finish and cost less.
If there are any paint faults, the detailer will be able to sort them before applying the glaze.
It's a good move.
Get the same product applied by a professional detailer. You'll get a better service, a better finish and cost less.
If there are any paint faults, the detailer will be able to sort them before applying the glaze.
It's a good move.
I would steer clear from any dealer offered coating. They charge you the earth and apply it over a car that's not been prepped properly. The worst one I saw at a dealership was a cobalt blue vantage that had a massive da sanding patch running down the length of the rear 3/4. The guy that was about to apply the coating that they had charged him £700 for pointed out the marks too me and rather than remove them, he applied the coating straight over the top, sealing it in.
I've been told that the Williams one is the same as g3 glass coat and its basically concrete sealant. I imagine it did offer some form of scratch protection to your car, but mainly, I think you were lucky.
I was at a dealership down south this week to apply a sealant to a Db9 and the stuff they try and sell to people is the pure guard stuff, which is rubbish.
The thing with main dealers is that they don't have the staff with the skills or right equipment to do the job properly and also, they don't have the time. Plus, they don't really care once they have your money. After I had prepped the car and applied the coating, I had everyone looking round the car saying how great it looks and this was on a car a few years old. It just goes to show that they don't know what a car that's been prepped to a high standard looks like.
The fact of it is, every new car that leaves the factory needs to be machine polished to remove the swirls and sanding marks. Dealerships don't have the time or the skilled staff to do it, plus they rely on the client thinking that because its a new car, it must be perfect, which isn't the case.
My advice to anyone is to not fall for the dealer applied stuff, even if its offered for nothing. Pay someone to either go to the dealer or your home and detail the car and apply a sealant that's going to look much better and has been tried and tested. It will cost you the same, but your car will thank you for it.
Francis
I've been told that the Williams one is the same as g3 glass coat and its basically concrete sealant. I imagine it did offer some form of scratch protection to your car, but mainly, I think you were lucky.
I was at a dealership down south this week to apply a sealant to a Db9 and the stuff they try and sell to people is the pure guard stuff, which is rubbish.
The thing with main dealers is that they don't have the staff with the skills or right equipment to do the job properly and also, they don't have the time. Plus, they don't really care once they have your money. After I had prepped the car and applied the coating, I had everyone looking round the car saying how great it looks and this was on a car a few years old. It just goes to show that they don't know what a car that's been prepped to a high standard looks like.
The fact of it is, every new car that leaves the factory needs to be machine polished to remove the swirls and sanding marks. Dealerships don't have the time or the skilled staff to do it, plus they rely on the client thinking that because its a new car, it must be perfect, which isn't the case.
My advice to anyone is to not fall for the dealer applied stuff, even if its offered for nothing. Pay someone to either go to the dealer or your home and detail the car and apply a sealant that's going to look much better and has been tried and tested. It will cost you the same, but your car will thank you for it.
Francis
paddy328 said:
I would steer clear from any dealer offered coating. They charge you the earth and apply it over a car that's not been prepped properly. The worst one I saw at a dealership was a cobalt blue vantage that had a massive da sanding patch running down the length of the rear 3/4. The guy that was about to apply the coating that they had charged him £700 for pointed out the marks too me and rather than remove them, he applied the coating straight over the top, sealing it in.
I've been told that the Williams one is the same as g3 glass coat and its basically concrete sealant. I imagine it did offer some form of scratch protection to your car, but mainly, I think you were lucky.
I was at a dealership down south this week to apply a sealant to a Db9 and the stuff they try and sell to people is the pure guard stuff, which is rubbish.
The thing with main dealers is that they don't have the staff with the skills or right equipment to do the job properly and also, they don't have the time. Plus, they don't really care once they have your money. After I had prepped the car and applied the coating, I had everyone looking round the car saying how great it looks and this was on a car a few years old. It just goes to show that they don't know what a car that's been prepped to a high standard looks like.
The fact of it is, every new car that leaves the factory needs to be machine polished to remove the swirls and sanding marks. Dealerships don't have the time or the skilled staff to do it, plus they rely on the client thinking that because its a new car, it must be perfect, which isn't the case.
My advice to anyone is to not fall for the dealer applied stuff, even if its offered for nothing. Pay someone to either go to the dealer or your home and detail the car and apply a sealant that's going to look much better and has been tried and tested. It will cost you the same, but your car will thank you for it.
Francis
I would entirely endorse the aforementioned; Francis recently detailed my nearly 3-year old V12V and then sealed it and my dealer remarked last week that it looks like a new car which it does. Everything is in the preparation because the finish (no matter what sealant is used) will only look as good as the underlying prepared surface. And to get the required surface fundamentally takes a lot of time, skill and patience which the factory and the dealers lack.I've been told that the Williams one is the same as g3 glass coat and its basically concrete sealant. I imagine it did offer some form of scratch protection to your car, but mainly, I think you were lucky.
I was at a dealership down south this week to apply a sealant to a Db9 and the stuff they try and sell to people is the pure guard stuff, which is rubbish.
The thing with main dealers is that they don't have the staff with the skills or right equipment to do the job properly and also, they don't have the time. Plus, they don't really care once they have your money. After I had prepped the car and applied the coating, I had everyone looking round the car saying how great it looks and this was on a car a few years old. It just goes to show that they don't know what a car that's been prepped to a high standard looks like.
The fact of it is, every new car that leaves the factory needs to be machine polished to remove the swirls and sanding marks. Dealerships don't have the time or the skilled staff to do it, plus they rely on the client thinking that because its a new car, it must be perfect, which isn't the case.
My advice to anyone is to not fall for the dealer applied stuff, even if its offered for nothing. Pay someone to either go to the dealer or your home and detail the car and apply a sealant that's going to look much better and has been tried and tested. It will cost you the same, but your car will thank you for it.
Francis
TGT said:
Thanks guys. Much appreciated. Can anyone recommend a detailed in surrey (near my dealer in Walton) or a home service that would visit me in Wales. T
I can recommend a guy that does all of Maranello's Ferraris called Keith Robinson. That is if Paddy does not want to drive to either...I would be happy to detail the car when it arrives, I've detailed half the cars on the forum, so just ask anyone for a recommendation. I've heard good things about Keith though. Paul is good too, but a good few hundred quid more than everyone else and you get just the same results.
If you wanted a guy in Wales, I can suggest someone too.
Francis
If you wanted a guy in Wales, I can suggest someone too.
Francis
paddy328 said:
I would steer clear from any dealer offered coating. They charge you the earth and apply it over a car that's not been prepped properly. The worst one I saw at a dealership was a cobalt blue vantage that had a massive da sanding patch running down the length of the rear 3/4. The guy that was about to apply the coating that they had charged him £700 for pointed out the marks too me and rather than remove them, he applied the coating straight over the top, sealing it in.
I've been told that the Williams one is the same as g3 glass coat and its basically concrete sealant. I imagine it did offer some form of scratch protection to your car, but mainly, I think you were lucky.
I was at a dealership down south this week to apply a sealant to a Db9 and the stuff they try and sell to people is the pure guard stuff, which is rubbish.
The thing with main dealers is that they don't have the staff with the skills or right equipment to do the job properly and also, they don't have the time. Plus, they don't really care once they have your money. After I had prepped the car and applied the coating, I had everyone looking round the car saying how great it looks and this was on a car a few years old. It just goes to show that they don't know what a car that's been prepped to a high standard looks like.
The fact of it is, every new car that leaves the factory needs to be machine polished to remove the swirls and sanding marks. Dealerships don't have the time or the skilled staff to do it, plus they rely on the client thinking that because its a new car, it must be perfect, which isn't the case.
My advice to anyone is to not fall for the dealer applied stuff, even if its offered for nothing. Pay someone to either go to the dealer or your home and detail the car and apply a sealant that's going to look much better and has been tried and tested. It will cost you the same, but your car will thank you for it.
Francis
I can totally endorse all that Paddy says here.I've been told that the Williams one is the same as g3 glass coat and its basically concrete sealant. I imagine it did offer some form of scratch protection to your car, but mainly, I think you were lucky.
I was at a dealership down south this week to apply a sealant to a Db9 and the stuff they try and sell to people is the pure guard stuff, which is rubbish.
The thing with main dealers is that they don't have the staff with the skills or right equipment to do the job properly and also, they don't have the time. Plus, they don't really care once they have your money. After I had prepped the car and applied the coating, I had everyone looking round the car saying how great it looks and this was on a car a few years old. It just goes to show that they don't know what a car that's been prepped to a high standard looks like.
The fact of it is, every new car that leaves the factory needs to be machine polished to remove the swirls and sanding marks. Dealerships don't have the time or the skilled staff to do it, plus they rely on the client thinking that because its a new car, it must be perfect, which isn't the case.
My advice to anyone is to not fall for the dealer applied stuff, even if its offered for nothing. Pay someone to either go to the dealer or your home and detail the car and apply a sealant that's going to look much better and has been tried and tested. It will cost you the same, but your car will thank you for it.
Francis
The DB9 he mentions is mine and it now looks a different car to the scruffy job I purchased from the dealership.
By the way, the workshop guys all came out and looked approvingly at it again, the day after Paddy had been, when I arrived to pick it up.
Only problem I have is that the paintwork still needs more work so Paddy will be called on again after that has been done.
mcm66 said:
Planning a holiday to the Highlands any time soon?? Can I ask, one area that has had a respray has a slight 'orange peel' look to me. Would a detail help this (whole car would benefit judging by swirls I saw in the sunshine today 
)
Was this done at a proper bodyshop or a chips away type thing? )Smart repairs or "blow in's" often look like this
Or does it look orange peely?
Hi,
Does anyone know where I can get my car done with the F1 Ceramic Coat, I live in Cumbria/North West?
Does anyone know where I can get my car done with the F1 Ceramic Coat, I live in Cumbria/North West?
TGT said:
As a newbee to this forum please forgive me for asking a question that may already have been answered in the past. Does anyone have long term experience of the F1 ceramic coating? I paid a princely sum to have my v12v carbon treated a few months ago by my AM dealer. By all accounts it seemed fine. However I recently off loaded the car since I have a new v12vs on order and didn't want to face 6 months depreciation on what is a summer car for me. I'm curious to know how others have got on with it over the medium to long term since I need to decide whether to spec it again or not. What I can say is that the car looked stunning when it was clean (not often given the wonders of the color black). Also, I had a cartoon incident recently when the wonderful hand brake decided to let go when parked on a hill (I was already out of the car) and it rolled backwards 25m into a parked golf. Despite quite bad superficial damage to the other cars bumper / paintwork the v12v was almost unscathed - what appeared to be scratches polished out. I would imagine the ceramic coating helped minimise damage to the paintwork - although I have no idea how tough the coating really is or whether I just got lucky. Regardless - big lesson on the devil that is the AM drop lever handbrake. Damn awful contraption.
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