I will say if you are gonna do a car/vehicle…spend the money and have a professional do it.

ceramic is challenging to work with…I wouldn’t do it on my own car. We did it on the bottom of our boat. it’s not a highly visible spot, it’s white, and we were ok with less than perfect results.

good luck

that job in my shop is 1995.00, full decontamination wash, clay, 1 or 2 step polish, Xpel fusion plus on all painted surfaces and plastics, Xpel glass protection on all glass, and their wheel and caliper product on all wheel faces. if you want wheels removed add 100 per rim.

If you were closer might take you up on that. Haven't waxed it yet and the bug guts are being a pain and need to do something

I had my 30 ceramic coated after the last paint job and probably wont do my 36 or 46. The problem I see with it is that if you do get a scuff and have to buff/polish a minor flaw, you have to re-ceramic coat the area or it shows. Imo, it's almost like having an expendable clear-coat, that you have to constantly reapply when any slight repairs are made. The original paint on my 30 looked great after 12 years (before I converted it/repainted it) without having ever been ceramic-coated, so I don't see why the fresh paint jobs on my 36 and 46 won't look great 10+ years from now without ceramic-coat. Even disregarding the cost, I am happier keeping my painted boats just regularly cared for with standard waxes/polishes like I have for decades in the past.

We looked into ceramic coating my wifes new SUV....honestly for the price i'd rather get it pro detailed and paint corrected every other year and maybe get a clear bra installed on the front impact areas. The thing i didnt ask about was how does the stuff wear as it fades away? I mean if we get it pro-coated and never bother to do it again after words, will it peel like a failing clear coat? Do i need to get the entire truck wet-sanded to get it uniform later after 4-5 years? I know a big selling thing for the installers is a "maintenance" package once a year to keep the ceramic coating looking great :rolleyes:

I was the original clear bra installer on the east coast, I wrote a good portion of 3Ms training program as well as the second training ctr in the country. Then we developed the first web based cutting program with industry leading patterns (a company I sold in 2016) Im one of the only ones in the country that will ceramic coat under ppf, everyone else is scared, and most film manufacturers wont warranty film over coating. Ive never had a problem, that being said most shops cut corners, out of 25 shops in an area maybe 1 or 2 do things properly. I have a pkg for complete ceramic coating, full front end in ppf, then coat over film to add to the hydrophobic properties.. yearly maintenance can be important for people, ours is 485.00, that's the cost of our least expensive detail, and if a chemical does need to be redone, we add it at no charge. some use it as a profit ctr and start less but then charge for "product".. the labor is the real cost so just be up front about it. even ppf with a 10 year warranty has a lifespan, its a sacrificial product.

can you comment on wear…

based on what I saw, ceramic doesn’t peel and flake like a conventional clear coat.

in all of the videos I saw the ceramic just dies…much like wax does. the hydrophobic properties go away. It’s hard to tell the coating is gone until you clean it, put water on it, or touch it.

correct, it wont peel, just over time you will notice less hydrophobic properties and it will feel different, wont feel as slick. one of the other big misconceptions is beading, most good cermaics will have small beads and sheet away. large beads mean there is too much surface tension, beads should be small and far apart.

All I keep hearing is painted boats. What about gel coat?

My experiences with car pro quartz is on gel coat…some ceramic products are advertised as marine grade and ok to use on gel coat.