Is Ceramic Coating Worth It?

[david b]

Great question and welcome to the forum!

I have limited experience with coatings. Of course they work, are somewhat simple to apply(practice makes perfect) and keep a vehicle looking good. So much so that I've considered it for my daily drivers. However, I'm OCD(like most on this forum) so there's nothing I enjoy more than 'tinkering' on the weekend in the garage, applying a fresh coat of Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax, #845, or Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant.

Takes so little time to apply and gives me a great deal of satisfaction when I stop at the lights and the guy in the next lane over looks my way and I see his lips moving, telling his wife "look at that shine"!

David

[Nix]

Well i went back to waxes and sealants..I like to try new products on my personal cars so coating is not for me..plus water spotting is a headache..if you can maintain it then coating will be fine..But i personally prefer sealants and waxes..

[RippyD]

I neglected to mention spotting - one of the biggest issues I have with coatings. When you get sun/rain cycles during the day and water can dry on the car. These can be hard to remove. You may need to use extreme measures. Back to my "ff you need to polish it, why use a coating?" comment.

[BudgetPlan1]

I enjoy coatings because, while I like a clean vehicle, I'm also lazy. Wanna wash as little as possible, coatings help. Daily drivers, 2 black and a blue; if it's raining that day, they're getting rained on that day, probably dry in sun in afternoon and still look remarkably clean. Don't really have water spotting issues from natural occurring water, maybe location differences?

NE Ohio winter means I'll spray some tar remover on side panels to remove winter grime when Spring gets here, Foam and wash as usual and well be back to good performance.

Downside is somehow a few light scratches/marring around high traffic areas (door handle, trunk) and if I wanna get rid of those, will have to repolish and re-coat those entire panels which is more than a bit inconvenient, especially when you're lazy like me.

So, pluses and minuses; for me the former outweigh the latter. YMMV.

[RDZL1]

XPEL (Ultimate) is one the top PPF companies. PPF will provide more protection against rock chips. You may think about installing PPF on the vulnerable areas and apply coating on rest of the car.

Gtechniq is another option for coating.

Is it worth it?
If you put time into a car to properly maintain the protection on it then coatings will be much easier to maintain and will last longer compare to waxes or sealants.
On the other hand, if a car is not properly maintained coating is not the right way to go.
Coating has a higher resistance to chemicals than waxes & sealants but it is not a force field or armor. It can get water spots.

[TheGrayAero]

I’m not thrilled about having water spots. Prob be hard for me to keep up with maintaining it if I get back into the car business and working long hours. Do you think realistically I’d have to have this redone once a year daily driving it in Florida?

[Kamakaz1961]

Well i went back to waxes and sealants..I like to try new products on my personal cars so coating is not for me..plus water spotting is a headache..if you can maintain it then coating will be fine..But i personally prefer sealants and waxes..

I did the same as you. I love to wax my ride about 1 time a month or at the latest 6 weeks. Sometimes I will put a sealant on and layer it with a wax. Lately I am using Polish Angel Liquid waxes . They are the bomb! But I will be going back to a great paste wax...I am on my 2nd jar of Pinnacle Souveran. But I think this time Blackfire Midnight Sun will be my Spring wax. If I did not maintain my ride and if it was not a garage queen, a caoting would probably be the way to go. IMO there is NO COATING out there that will last 3 to 5 years. I do believe 1 r maybe 2 years is the longevity IMO. But either way, coatings are superior when it comes to durability and longevity than a sealant or a wax. But again, I am with you on this one Nix.

[FrankS]

I’m not thrilled about having water spots. Prob be hard for me to keep up with maintaining it if I get back into the car business and working long hours. Do you think realistically I’d have to have this redone once a year daily driving it in Florida?

You don’t have to have it redone once a year. If the coating is applied correctly, the protection will be there for 2-3 years depending on the coating used and how it is maintained.

If you don’t keep up with the regular maintenance washes, then you will most likely get water spots, bonded contaminants and some swirls over time from the washing and drying process on/in the coating.

If you’re okay with that then your fine. The protection will still be there.

[wing commander]

I have a customer that has a beautiful highlander that I polished and sealed. She was getting water spots on her long hood. I told her to back-in when she parks so the rain now runs off instead of puddling on a level hood. The car no longer gets the spots on the hood.

[inDetail]

It's entirely about what set of circumstances you want to put up with. They have positives and negatives. I only coat trim and rims. Nothing can protect and make rims easier to clean then coating it. Trim is always the first things to start showing age and UV damage.
I look at coatings this way. Think about it as a really good paint sealant that last two years and makes cleaning your car a little easier and after it's washed and topped it looks like it's just been coated again. You still have to wash it and you will still top it with a coatings topper. Once they fail you have to do it all over again. They are not bullet proof, scratch proof and still need to be cared for just as much as if you were putting a $30 sealant on your car 3 or 4 times a year.
Other options that may interest you which are still expensive but more of a DIY would be a hybrid wax or sealant that contain coating active ingredients like Shine Supply Cherry, Angel Wax Enigma and Fireball Fusion, Tac Systems Moon Light, Kamikaze Infinity. I know there are other "hybrid" type products coming around all the time. They will give you the protection but less durability, much easier to use, use them outside and you don't have to deal with product expiring and going to waste.