Should You Ceramic Coat a New Car? Can You Afford It?
Got yourself a new car?
Your paint is just fantastic and shiny. Of course, you want to keep it looking fresh and new forever, so you meticulously clean it for the first few months. But the harsh reality is that cleaning your car gets old fast, and unless you haven’t officially married it, you’ll eventually want to skip the extra chore.
Enter ceramic coatings.
You’ve heard about them. They really do work, and the best time to get your car coated is as soon as possible.
It’s Not Just About The Shine – It’s About Paint Protection And Hydrophobic Properties
Ceramic coatings are the number one paint protection product on the market.
Professional-grade nano-ceramic coatings penetrate deep into the microscopic pores of the clear coat and physically bond to the paint, while forming a thin, hard, and smooth layer on top.
The SiO2 ceramic particles offer protection from UV rays, chemical erosion, and etching from bird droppings, bug guts, tree sap, acid rain, and more. Ceramics have high surface tension and hydrophobic properties, repelling water and preventing dirt, dust, road salt, and grime from sticking to the paint of the car.
Thanks to the strong bond between the ceramic particles and the paint, the coating will last a long time for the really good ones.
Of course, before you race down to the detailer’s shop, there are a handful of drawbacks you should know about.
Ceramic coatings are not immune to the grit of daily traffic. They cannot protect against rock chips, scratches, gouges, and other mechanical-based erosion.
Traditional ceramic coatings are the most effective but also the most difficult to apply. It’s not recommended to DIY without help or experience, as improper installation and prep work will result in a horrible and costly repair finish.
Quality ceramic coatings are expensive, and their installation cost at a professional detailing shop can exceed many times the cost of the product itself.
What Will A Pro Level Ceramic Coating Cost You?
Ceramic coatings always seem so expensive. In reality when you get a quote for a ceramic coating to be applied on a brand new car you will see it expensive and would sometimes hesitate to spend the amount quoted considering you just spent a good amount to buy a new car.
However, it would be best to go ahead and purchase the service as soon as possible to prevent certain damage from happening and to protect your vehicle from the start because the more you wait and as time goes by if not properly maintained the higher the cost will be later on.
Another fact is when you split the cost of the service over the period of the duration of the coating protection you will find out that you pay more for your vehicle license, insurance, and car service yearly than the cost of the coating service duration.
In most cases you’re not going to want to be on the lower end of the price range when paying a pro detailer because corners will be cut during prep work, application, and the quality of product used on your vehicle.
There’s a very valid reason for this. Proper detailing shops will never just apply a ceramic coating to whatever car you drop off. Even if it’s a brand new car. You heard me right.
Тhe car must first be perfectly cleaned and decontaminated to a surgical sterile condition.
The ceramic coating will lock everything that’s already on the paint. Thus, depending on the condition of your paint, detailers will want to perform the necessary paint preparation.
Even on a brand new car, imperfections are always to be found, so it’s recommended to go through at least one solid pass of polishing before applying the ceramic coat.
Some cars need to spend half a week at the detailer’s shop for paint preparation, correction, ceramic coating, and then curing time. This easily racks up the cost too.
DIY ceramic coating kits exists and can cost less. However, this assumes you have all the necessary detailing products to clean, decontaminate, and polish the paint prior to applying the coating. Depending on the assortment, those can cost you a few hundreds as well.
And of course, there’s the cost of labour and time. Getting your car to look 100% perfect before applying the ceramic coating will take you at least a full weekend of arduous work. And you’d better have a clean and well-lit garage, otherwise you’re just wasting your time and ruining the paintwork.
Okay, to sum everything up:
Ceramic coatings are great automotive car products and offer superior protection against the elements and benefits.
The best time to install them is as soon as possible, as the paint will require a minimal amount of polishing and prep work, and you can keep it fresh from the very start.
If you’re looking for the best ceramic coating service, we at Perfection Auto Detailing provide only the best quality with no corners cut, aftersales service and knowledge for after care.
If you would like to know more information get in touch with us.
Thanks for reading! Errol Taliana
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