Ceramic coatings

[Wetelvis]

VW paid for minor paint correction on rear number where hatch had blemished the sill. The place they sent me to does a lot of the high end cars and with chatting the owner I’m 90% convinced to doing a complete paint correction and a permanent ceramic coating.
I live on the West Coast of Vancouver Island and we get our fair share of rain..
Even with oem mud flaps my white GTI always looks filthy and hoping this may help with that and brake dust on the wheels.
Outside of the cost ? I was looking for real world opinions on the pros and cons on Ceramic Coatings?

 

[oddspyke]

Depends a lot on the coating and the company doing the install.

Pros:
Very hydrophobic (makes cleaning the car easier)
Low maintenance
Keeps the paint looking "wet"

Cons:
Doesn't protect the paint as well as wax (UV or abrasions)
Finish doesn't look as deep as wax
Expensive

 

[nype]

I had the hatch scuffing the sill as well. Didn’t both asking for paint work to be done. Too much risk of other issues and hassle.

Interested to hear what people have to say about ceramic coatings.

 

[cb1111]

There are lots of things that are called "ceramic/nano".

There are two general categories:

The stuff that dealers sell that sells for $800 and is slathered on by the 20 year old high school dropout with a dirty rag. It is worth about $25 - the actual cost of the product.

The second category is products like Opti-Coat or AQuartz - difficult to apply products that actually keep your paint shiny, swirl free and easy to maintain for years.

There is no reason why you can't apply wax on top of the Opti-Coat. Polishing is not a good idea because that will remove the product - chemicals won't, bird droppings won't and water won't stain it.

I've had Opti-Coat on my car now for over 4 years and 80k miles and it still looks like new.

To get it done properly is costly. Even with my discounts, I generally pay about $1000 fot the Opti-Coat and PPF.

 

[The Fed]

There are lots of things that are called "ceramic/nano".

There are two general categories:

The stuff that dealers sell that sells for $800 and is slathered on by the 20 year old high school dropout with a dirty rag. It is worth about $25 - the actual cost of the product.

The second category is products like Opti-Coat or AQuartz - difficult to apply products that actually keep your paint shiny, swirl free and easy to maintain for years.

There is no reason why you can't apply wax on top of the Opti-Coat. Polishing is not a good idea because that will remove the product - chemicals won't, bird droppings won't and water won't stain it.

I've had Opti-Coat on my car now for over 4 years and 80k miles and it still looks like new.

To get it done properly is costly. Even with my discounts, I generally pay about $1000 fot the Opti-Coat and PPF.

You probably never heard of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

I'd like to see a product resistant to them. I can tell you Meguiar's sealant and wax aren't.

 

[cb1111]

You probably never heard of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

I'd like to see a product resistant to them. I can tell you Meguiar's sealant and wax aren't.

Oh, yeah, I'm familiar with love bugs and the nets we used to buy to try to protect the front end from them.

I have no first hand knowledge if this stuff will protect against those acidic critters but it claims it is chemical proof and I do know that I've had a couple of bird droppings on my car while my car was baking in the sun for a few days at the airport. Not only did the bird poop come right off (a very wet paper towel left on the spot for about ten minutes) but it left no evidence.

 

[Wetelvis]

There are lots of things that are called "ceramic/nano".

There are two general categories:



The second category is products like Opti-Coat or AQuartz - difficult to apply products that actually keep your paint shiny, swirl free and easy to maintain for years.

There is no reason why you can't apply wax on top of the Opti-Coat. Polishing is not a good idea because that will remove the product - chemicals won't, bird droppings won't and water won't stain it.

I've had Opti-Coat on my car now for over 4 years and 80k miles and it still looks like new.

To get it done properly is costly. Even with my discounts, I generally pay about $1000 fot the Opti-Coat and PPF.

This a permanent not semi permanent. Wash clay bar then paint correction. Includes two coats on paint, plastic, windows, wheels and calipers. Three year hand wash and touch up coating. $1000 Canadian

 

[ctyke]

Any opinions on this for my new Mk7.5? My friend did the $1300 heal lite and loves it but I'm probably looking to spend less than $1000. They also, have a couple other kinds of coatings available and I'm not really sure what the differences are, so any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[cb1111]

Any opinions on this for my new Mk7.5? My friend did the $1300 heal lite and loves it but I'm probably looking to spend less than $1000. They also, have a couple other kinds of coatings available and I'm not really sure what the differences are, so any thoughts are appreciated.

Never heard of them but their description is just a bunch of words that sound good strung together. Can someone explain the science behind this text?

"The mechanism behind the healing effect involves using nano-scale magnets on the end of the ceramic chains, that when heated vibrate at very high frequency causing the ultimate self-leveling effect to occur."

If it smells weird then somebody farted.