Why should I spend the money to ceramic coat my vehicle?

     Modern cars are becoming more and more expensive along with just about everything else these days. The cost to ceramic coat a car can absolutely seem like a lot to pay and may not seem necessary for your vehicle. In this, we will dive into what cars justify ceramic coatings and when you should get your vehicle coated.

     To start off, a ceramic coating is a sacrificial protective layer that is applied onto the surface of the paint. Once the paint has been prepped, the coating has been applied, and it has finished its curing time, you will have a high gloss barrier between the elements and your vehicle's clear coat. Now, a ceramic coating is in no way bulletproof and rock chips, dings, and scratches can still occur. What a ceramic coating can do for your vehicle is protect it from UV rays that fade away your clear coat, protect the paint from bird droppings, tree sap, and other road fallout from etching into your paint as well as creating a hydrophobic surface on your vehicle for water and dirt to roll right off of. If a vehicle is coated and tree sap sits on it for weeks or months it will have to eat away at the coating before it can harm the clear coat on a vehicle. It is not recommended to leave tree sap or bird droppings on a ceramic-coated car for an extended period of time however, it is safer than leaving it on a non-ceramic-coated car.

The Phone Case Analogy.

     I think that one of the best analogies to understand the value of a professional ceramic coating would be screen protectors and phone cases for our smartphones. Today most iPhone and Android products go for about $1,000 and we have no problem spending $30 for a screen protector to prevent potential damage. This protection for a smartphone costs 3% of the value of the product. If we apply that 3% protection cost to a vehicle that is $40,000 it would justify a $1,200 spend on protection. Most ceramic coating services will run anywhere from $800-$2,000 depending on the condition of the paint and the lifespan of the coating that the customer opts for.

When should I get my car ceramic coated?

     Over time the paint of a vehicle will develop minor paint defects such as swirls, marring, and light or heavy scratches. Before the ceramic coating is applied most detailers do a paint correction to remove these defects. The reasoning for this is due to how the coating bonds to the paint. The coating bonds best to a perfectly smooth surface and these defects cut into the surface of the clear coat. To remove them a detailer will use various cutting and polishing compounds to bring back a perfect finish while keeping the integrity of the clear coat. This is why at AZ Detailing & Ceramic Coating LLC we recommend getting a ceramic coating when the vehicle is brand new for the best value. A new car will have far fewer defects thus decreasing the cost of paint correction required to prep a vehicle for a ceramic coating. This does not mean that used vehicles should not be ceramic coated as well, there is just likely a higher paint correction cost associated with getting them ceramic coated.  

Who should and who should not get a ceramic coating?

     Since ceramic coatings are a sacrificial layer and have a finite lifespan they need to be cared for to maintain integrity. A ceramic-coated vehicle that is washed once a year will probably not reach the intended lifespan of the ceramic coating. With the high cost associated with ceramic coatings, there are certain vehicles that do not make financial sense to have ceramic coated. If a car is worth less than $25,000 it may be hard to justify a ceramic coating and if the vehicle is not a collector car or you are not planning on keeping it for more than 2 more years I would say a ceramic coating may not be for you. If the paint on your vehicle already has clear coat failure from sun damage I would also not recommend a ceramic coating. Anyone who has recently purchased a new vehicle or has a vehicle that is a few years old but they plan on holding onto it for a while should consider getting a ceramic coating to protect their vehicle.

Should I do it myself, dealer option or professional detailer installation?

         At AZ Detailing & Ceramic Coating we offer a few different coating packages and options that all come from Element 119 System X Ceramic Coating. We are an authorized installer for System X Ceramic and can provide you with a professional-grade ceramic coating. We offer a 3-year un-warrantied coating as well as a warrantied 6-year and Lifetime (10+ years) Ceramic Coating. Our ceramic coatings register to the Carfax report of your vehicle and have been proven to hold up to the elements. A ceramic coating can be something that many car enthusiasts want to do themselves if they enjoy detailing their personal vehicles however, the ceramic coatings that are available to the open market are typically of a lesser grade than the ones that professional detailers have access to. With ceramic coating becoming a mainstream auto protection service many auto dealers have added ceramic coatings to their options on new vehicles. In our experience many dealers are using a ceramic spray that acts similar to a spray wax and these products can typically be bought at Walmart and last a few months and dealers are charging professional ceramic coating prices. This is not the case for all dealers and some do offer true ceramic coatings in-house. If this is an option you are interested in for your new vehicle purchase, be sure to ask what product they are using, how it is installed, and if there is a warranty for the product. Going to a company such as AZ Detailing & Ceramic Coating LLC will guarantee that you receive a true professional-grade ceramic coating that will last the advertised lifespan if the care instructions are followed.

Any other questions?

Feel free to reach out to Anthony at AZ Detailing & Ceramic Coating LLC with any questions you may have about ceramic coating a vehicle. AnthonyAZdetailing@gmail.com

941-348-9125

AZ Detailing & Ceramic Coating LLC, Lakewood Ranch, FL, 34202