Ceramic / Hydrophobic coatings

[Flybo]

My V8 lives out in the open so I am thinking of getting it some TLC in the form of detailing with Ceramic / Hydrophobic coating after paint correction.

It seems to be a minefield in the amount of different products available.

Has any enthusiast had any experience with any of these and how well are they fairing?

I have had one quote for Kamikaze ISM.

Any advice / recommendations gladly received.

[goddo]

Hang on for a minute or two and there will be loads of suggestions.
Francis Maloney (Emerald Detailing) aka Paddy 328 is a popular man who knows his stuff.

[AstonV]

Everyone is of their own opinion. Sound like a good idea for you situation. I would never get ceramic coat personally. There are pros and cons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93MmQhNwqxk

[bogie]

Had 2 cars done by gtechniq in the last, it lasted for a few years, made the car easy to clean and it always looked great.

Havnt got around to getting the latest car done yet, but its well worth it for those who want good protection and minimal effort.

[raceboy]

Had mine coated in Gtechniq a few months ago, body, glass, and wheels.
It’s made washing it a lot easier, especially the wheels, brake dust just falls off, and the wipers are now pretty much redundant at M-Way speeds the water just flys off the screen.
Would I have it done again? I’m not sure, I kind of miss waxing the car on a quiet Sunday but then I get to drive it more.

[skat004]

My Lightning Silver V8VS is coated in Duraseal and my white M4 is coated in Kamikaze.

I used to have issues with black spots appearing on the lower parts of the doors and rear bumpers on both cars and since the coating was applied, this has completely gone away. I assume these were tar spots and perhaps even tree-sap even though my cars are always garaged and there are no trees around.

The Kamikaze coating seems shinier but that is a very subjective assessment. The M4 gets driven daily and it rains a fair bit here in New Zealand but the car stays a lot cleaner despite a combination of dust + rain.

I'd rate both of these coatings highly. The coating on my Vantage is over 2 years old and seems to still be going strong.

[vsonix]

Does anyone know what these products work like on black trim? Thinking along the lines of the rough black surfaces on the lower parts of early 90s BMWs and black plastic trim. It'd be great if I didn't have to keep anointing the damn things with back2black on a near weekly basis.

[bogie]

vsonix said:

Does anyone know what these products work like on black trim? Thinking along the lines of the rough black surfaces on the lower parts of early 90s BMWs and black plastic trim. It'd be great if I didn't have to keep anointing the damn things with back2black on a near weekly basis.

gtechniq do some stuff for the black trim that makes it look like new again, lasts for ages, maybe a year or more depending on what you wash with after

[paddy328]

I will try and give an unbiased view and advise on what I think is best. Right, as mentioned, there are pros and cons to having the car coated with a sealant instead of a wax. The long and short of it is that it’s better in almost every way to get the car coated with a high end sealant, but with a wax, you can give the car a polish and re apply the wax every 3- 6 months to freshen it up and of course, if you like waxing the car yourself, then you can do that too. However, if you wanted to, you can do that over a sealant too.
A wax doesn’t water spot like some of the coatings do and but really only repels water and helps keep it a bit cleaner. A sealant will last much much longer and will perform better against the elements.

I am Gtechniq and kamikaze approved. Each sealant offers different pros and cons and the price often reflects that. If you have a sealant, you have to do less to the car going forward and this would be better for someone that had to keep the car outside or does a lot of miles. As for which one, due to the car being outside, I would suggest one of the kamikaze pro coatings. The pro coatings being ism pro and enrei.

If you go for a coating, you still have to make sure you look after it and wash it regularly.

As these coatings bond to the paint, if you have to have any bodywork done to the car, you must make sure they flat/key/polish the panels that are going to be painted properly or you could have issues.

The downside for a detailer like myself is that if someone has a sealant put on the car, I most likely won’t see it for 2 years before it’s done again, where’s as a car that’s been waxed is done more frequently.

[paddy328]

AstonV said:

Everyone is of their own opinion. Sound like a good idea for you situation. I would never get ceramic coat personally. There are pros and cons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93MmQhNwqxk

What he is saying isn’t strictly true. A coating doesn’t need to be sanded off and regardless of wether you were having a wax or sealant, the car would need to be machines polished to the same level, but if you had a sealant, it would look better for longer and require less machine polishing going forward. There is even a bit with someone machine polishing out a scratch and then waxing it, but this would be the case with a sealant too. A wax will never stop bird etching and coatings at least will give the clear coat a fighting chance, as most, of not all of the damage will be to the coating.

[AstonV]

paddy328 said:

What he is saying isn’t strictly true. A coating doesn’t need to be sanded off and regardless of wether you were having a wax or sealant, the car would need to be machines polished to the same level, but if you had a sealant, it would look better for longer and require less machine polishing going forward. There is even a bit with someone machine polishing out a scratch and then waxing it, but this would be the case with a sealant too. A wax will never stop bird etching and coatings at least will give the clear coat a fighting chance, as most, of not all of the damage will be to the coating.

I understand. I think it all depends on the climate where the car resides, if it is kept outdoors, how often it is driven. The OP sounds like in a perfect situation for ceramic coating. I live in a dry climate, car is alway's garaged with a cover and I always wash myself. So I would rather use a high quality wax or even a synthetic paint sealant a couple times a year. I don't want anything on my car that would need sanding or compounding off in a few years time because you always lose much more clear coat that way. I purchased my car new, first thing I did was to clay the car and use a synthetic sealer and wax. The optimal would be get PP film, I would opt for that over a ceramic sealant. The cost is more, but ceramic sealant is expensive as well. I was told waxing a car with ceramic sealant is basically a waste of time since non of the wax remains on the car.

[ReverendCounter]

What about that Autoglym Lifeshine as an alternative, or is that dealer-only-from-new?

[paddy328]

ReverendCounter said:

What about that Autoglym Lifeshine as an alternative, or is that dealer-only-from-new?

I’m trying to work out if this is a joke. Life shine is ste.

[Likeomg]

Our v12 is coated PPF’d with suntek and then Gtechniq I think crystal serum ultra, early December? (Whatever the latest variant of Gtechniq was at the time…) Its cobalt blue the whole procedure made the paint to me anyway look darker and deeper.

Only did 20 miles in it before it went for its winter storage… I am however impressed so far


I do have some pics of it during the application ill do my best to upload...

[M5MarkM]

AstonV said:

Everyone is of their own opinion. Sound like a good idea for you situation. I would never get ceramic coat personally. There are pros and cons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93MmQhNwqxk

Thanks for posting. This is becoming an interesting thread and thanks to Paddy for his feedback. I am also considering applying a coating but having second thoughts now. For me I'm not worried about the ease of cleaning and have the car cleaned professionally at least once a month if not every time I take her out. BUT I'm only doing circa 2000 miles a year in the Vanquish S and want to protect against paint chipping from stones etc.

Any thoughts from people on whether coating is worth it to protect against stone chips and the longevity of the coating for a car I plan to keep forever even though I do low miles?

[HBradley]

A good quality detail & PPF has got to be a better long term investment?

[raceboy]

M5MarkM said:

Any thoughts from people on whether coating is worth it to protect against stone chips and the longevity of the coating for a car I plan to keep forever even though I do low miles?

A coating will give a tiny bit more protection but not a lot, for that you are really looking at PPF which if you wanted the full car doing is considerably more money.

[RobDown]

As others have said PPF is the best to protect from stone chips, bird poo etc.

It’s not cheap but it’s peace of mind, makes cleaning a doddle and saves money over time from not needing to get panels resprayed. You can theoretically reduce the cost by just getting the front done (but do it in a way that gives full bonnet coverage so you don’t get a line across!)

I’ve not used the ceramic coatings yet. But my sense is that they’re more to aid keeping the car shiny rather than any real protection from scratches and grazes?

[paddy328]

M5MarkM said:

AstonV said:

Everyone is of their own opinion. Sound like a good idea for you situation. I would never get ceramic coat personally. There are pros and cons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93MmQhNwqxk

Thanks for posting. This is becoming an interesting thread and thanks to Paddy for his feedback. I am also considering applying a coating but having second thoughts now. For me I'm not worried about the ease of cleaning and have the car cleaned professionally at least once a month if not every time I take her out. BUT I'm only doing circa 2000 miles a year in the Vanquish S and want to protect against paint chipping from stones etc.

Any thoughts from people on whether coating is worth it to protect against stone chips and the longevity of the coating for a car I plan to keep forever even though I do low miles?

Coatings will never stop stone chips. The only thing that will do this is PPF. Suntek ultra being the best one I’ve seen to date. It’s true, it’s really expensive, but it’s certainly something I would have done on my car. People either go for the full front, sills and sometimes a pillars (with a sealant on the rest). Or the whole thing. Never get a half bonnet done. You will always see a line there and Sod’s law that you’ll get a chip just above it.

[GameofCars]

I have had Gtechniq applied to two previous cars of mine - 997 C2S & a new 981 Spyder. It isn't cheap - the Spyder cost me circa £900. It is very good. i used the Spyder as a daily for ten months before selling & it looked new when i sold it. Its also effortless to clean & maintain the car once its done. Would I have it done again? Not sure tbh. The wifey has a new Cayenne & I have applied Gtechniq to the wheels which is very easy to prepare & apply. I am aiming to do the rest of the car myself with Gtechniq. The V8VS has ppf & haven't decided whether to apply Gtechniq or wax. The Aston has been winterised & still in the garage so not sure what route I'll take if any as you have to be careful trying to apply a sealant or wax when you have ppf.