jimv1983

I'm looking into getting a ceramic coating on my new ES. The first place I've looked at so far is very well rated on Yelp. Out of 119 reviews there are 4 1 star, 4 4 star and the rest 5 star.

The place charges $1800 for life time guarantee multi coat Ceramic Pro and $1200 for a 5 year guarantee single coat Ceramic Pro.

I've never gotten ceramic coating before so I don't know what a good price is.

Gr8Car4Me

As always lots of factors come into play. I live in Central NJ.
Back in December I was quoted $900 for an OptiCoat Pro application. I was told this was the minimum price the manufacturer would allow an installer to charge. I don’t know if that is true. The reasoning given for being quoted the minimum price was that with a new car minimal paint correction would be required.
Ultimately I decided to go with STek PPF film on the front half of the car and rely on a regular wax regimen to protect the rest. The PPF application was $1500, so I was not going to shell out $900 on top of that. BTW, I love the film, but the ceramic coats look nice also.

jimv1983

I've been going back and forth on PPF. It doesn't last forever so it will eventually need to be replaced. I've heard that it can be very difficult to remove so much so that it can actually damage the paint under it. I'd also like the added protection offered by the ceramic coating. With was you need to do it every few months which I don't want to do.

I'm still deciding but thanks for your experience.

95bat

Are you capable of doing anything like that yourself? Adam's Polishes has a spray ceramic now that seems pretty easy to apply. You prep the car the best you can, spray the ceramic coating on, wipe, wait a few minutes, then buff. I think they say it's 6-9 month protection so if you screw it up it'll wear off sooner than later. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks really easy in their videos. I have never had trouble with any of their products, they're all super easy to use. I want to give the ceramic coating a try when I have a little extra time this summer.

SW17LS

I would HIGHLY recommend PPF. I will never buy another car without PPF, Lexus paint chips like crazy. You will kick yourself if you dont do it now.

I would recommend you look at a consumer grade coating and do it yourself. Looks at some videos on YouTube. You might get 2 years instead of 5, but for $150 for the product and your own labor, you can do it a lot of times to get to $1,200. LOVE my ceramic coating, it was easy to do.

User 41924

I put PPF on the hood and mirrors, and I'll put a ceramic coating on the rest of it as soon as we get a nice weather weekend. It's just a lot easier to keep clean.

I highly recommend a coating. I'm a little compulsive about protecting my paint, so I may not be a good judge of how long a coating will last. Mine was still in excellent shape after more than 2 years on my NX. Still slick, still produced good beading, and still looked as great when I applied it. It took me about 12 hours to put it on, including a VERY thorough polishing process prior to application. I'm pretty slow though, and I would think a pro could do it in 6 or 8 hours pretty easily.

As 95bat suggested, there are some really great products on the market now, that make paint care remarkably easy. I used a Nanoskin Wash Mit for the first time this past weekend, and it did a really nice job in place of using clay. It took maybe an additional 5 or 10 minutes during a normal wash. There are really good spray on products available now, too. Follow that wash with a good spray on sealer/wax (I use GTecniq c2v3, but Maguiars has great new products, too). You will get great results with a great shine on a very smooth and slick surface, with a minimal time investment that makes it worthwhile. Plus, it's fun.

jimv1983

Based on what I've read and the YouTube videos I've watched I have two concerns with doing the coating myself. One is if you aren't careful you can have the coating uneven. The other thing and probably the biggest concern is the prep work. Before a ceramic coating is put on you really need a perfect surface to start with. You don't want any swirl marks or surface scratches under the ceramic coating. If you don't do paint correction properly you can make it worse. I'd rather not take that risk. I'd also have to buy a dual action polisher which can cost $100+.

Are you doing ceramic over the PPF? I've heard some people do it and some don't. How noticable is your PPF? Did you do it yourself? If you paid someone how much was is for just the front. The place I'm looking at wants $1,250.

At this point I've decided I am going to get The ceramic coating at minimum. What I need to decide is if I'm going to do the Ceramic Pro Gold package which is 4 layers of 9H coating with a lifetime warranty for $1800 or the Ceramic Pro Silver package which is 1 layer of 9H with a 5 year warranty for $1200. Also undecided on the PPF since I'm concerned with the lifetime of the film. What if it was to be removed for some reason. I've heard the removal process can damage the paint.

JDR76

Ceramic coating is well worth it. I do my own, but regardless, they offer great benefits. Nothing wrong with doubling up with PPF and a good coating.

jimv1983

Did you do PPF as well or just coating? Also, I want the paint to be as perfect as physically possible before any ceramic coating goes on and I think the paint correction would be better left to a professional in my case.

JDR76

I did not do PPF, just ceramic coating.

Yes, there is a lot of prep work for a ceramic coating. You need to have the paint pretty much perfect first. I have done it many times and have all of the equipment needed, so it's a one day process for me. If you don't have the equipment and/or are uncomfortable with doing it yourself, there's nothing wrong with going to a professional. It's still well worth the cost.

SW17LS

Don't overthink it. When you look at your car now, do you see scratches and swirls that bother you? If not...you don't need to polish it out. I didn't polish mine out. I clayed it, and used an IPA prep wipe down to make sure I had a clean surface and that was it. The ceramic coating just locks in the condition underneath it. And, its removable. Think of it as a wax or sealant that lasts multiple years.

With consumer grade coatings applying and leveling isn't an issue. Again...I've done it multiple times. I'd recommend 22PLE coatings because they're super easy to apply and remove.

Its no bigger a deal than applying a sealant to the paint.

Cant do the PPF yourself, that requires serious skill and experience. I coated right overtop of my PPF. I did the whole front clip, full bumper, headlights, hood and fenders, mirror backs and paid $1,400.

Removal is not an issue, lots of videos online of it being removed. The only times I've ever heard of paint being damaged when its removed is when its not factory paint.

Like I said, I would never buy another car without PPF.

User 41924

DO NOT install PPF yourself unless you already know how! I'm sure you've seen poorly applied window tint with massive bubbles and bad edges. PPF would look worse.

Yes, I did apply the coating over the PPF. It worked fine, looked great, and MAY extend the life of the film. I noticed on my last car that the film itself (PPF) seems thinner, and less apparent than it used to. I figured it's the benefit of advances in the film technology. The only thing I'm careful about is getting any kind of buildup along the edge of the film. Depending on the color of the car (and buildup), it can look pretty bad. It's also why you want to make SURE that they wrap the edges of the hood. Don't worry about removal. Pay someone else. I've never had to remove it from my own car. There is nothing wrong with paying someone else to apply a coating, either. Paint prep isn't life or death, but it is important. It also can be a little expensive in time and money. Polishers (I have 2 dual action and 1 rotary, and need another DA) are a little expensive. You'll need several polishing pads of various degrees of aggressiveness, polish, and microfiber towels. Lots of them. However, if you decide to make the investment, paint care is really fun. I tell people that think I'm nuts, that this is my version of golf.

Whatever you chose to do, enjoy it! The fact that you're even considering all this tells me you appreciate a well cared for car, so you're already ahead!

SW17LS

PPF film has come a LONG way in terms of invisible
appearance, thinness, etc

jimv1983

If I had an older car that I don't care much about I might try the process myself but I don't feel comfortable risking it on a $50,000 car.

Build up is one of my concern with PPF. If I were to do it I would get the entire front end. While wrapping the hood should be easy for the installer wrapping around other places like where the fender meets the side quarter panel would be very hard if not impossible. I've heard people mention that build up of dust or water from a high pressure sprayer has caused film to peel requiring it to be replaced. I've read that in some cases rocks can still create holes in rare cases which also requires replacement. I've read that removal can cause damage to the paint and clear coat requiring a paint job. I've also read that it doesn't reflect light quite the same way as a normal clear coat leading to a noticable difference in looks compared to the non covered parts of the car. I certainly wouldn't do PPF myself. I can't even seem to get a phone screen protector on my phone without bubbles.

I'm having a hard time deciding if the pros outweigh the cons for me for PPF. Also, just doing the front has a cost of $1500 which is part of it.

I also can't decide between the Ceramic Pro Silver package with only one coat of 9H for $1200 or the Ceramic Pro Gold package with 4 coats for $1800. The Silver package claims 5 years while the Gold package claims lifetime. I'll have the car more than 5 years but probably not a lot more.

Tootsall

Yes, it can happen. I'll be getting this section of PPF removed and replaced when I get the headlights done. Not afraid of paint damage during removal; this is clearly a film-only divot with the paint underneath untouched. Fortunately it is a relatively small piece of film over the right headlight. If anything it speaks to the effectiveness of PPF when properly applied "in the beginning".