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  1. #1
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    Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    While ceramic coatings do enhance the appearance of the paint surface and certainly offer much improved protection over conventional waxes or sealants, in my experience, they seem to offer relatively little in the way of scratch resistance.

    I do understand the "Pencil Hardness" scale and how ceramic coating manufacturers use it (9H, 10H, etc.) to boast the "hardness" of their product. I also understand that no manufacturer is claiming their product is scratch-proof. However, I struggle to see a vast improvement in a surface's resistance to scratches coming from what most would consider "normal wear-n-tear. Things like towel scratches from wipe-downs or other similar scratches and marring.

    Like I said, no manufacturer is claiming its product is scratch proof, but I am not impressed with the scratch resistance I am seeing thus far.
    While proper wipe down procedures are always necessary to minimize any scratching, I kind of expected more protection from how most (non detailing) car owners would care for their car. By far and away, the evidence of this is most apparent on jet black paint. No mental flake or metallic, just pure black. I am frequently seeing cars with typical toweling scratches all over.

    It would be one thing to see a few cars here and there with some scratches and chalk it up to either improper coating installation and/or improper after care by the vehicle owner, but in my experience, the vast majority of cars I see (in black) have almost as many fine scratches as any other car, or slightly less.

    Anyone else seem to think the scratch resistance implied by ceramic coating manufacturers is not quite as good as they would have you think?

    As for the other characteristics of ceramic coating, so far so good.

  2. #2
    Super Member rlmccarty2000's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    I think the main purpose of a ceramic coating is to take the abuse that your thin clearcoat would normally absorb. Coatings are not the magic bullet that they once were going to be. Coating are just better protection than wax or sealants. It’s hard to lump all coatings into one basket and hardness may not be as important as flexibility or a combination of the two. Some manufacturers tout hardness where others say it’s not important. The key is to have proper wash techniques to minimize the marring that comes from touching the paint/coating.

    If you are seeing marring and scratches in your coating it could be the coating or it could be your wash media. Change one or the other to see if anything changes.

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  4. #3
    Super Member DaveT435's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    There are a couple self healing coatings out there that are pretty impressive.
    2015 F-150 Crew Cab Lariat
    2016 Chevrolet Camaro 2SS

  5. #4
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    Thanks for your response rimccarty2000.
    It's not on my vehicle, its on vehicles coming in for routine detail services that have been ceramic coated. Like I said, I'm just not impressed with the stated scratch resistance from ceramic coating manufacturers. The other characteristics seem to be holding up well like shine and ease of cleaning, but as far as scratch resistance, I am seeing very little improvement if any at all. Still seeing plenty of scratching/marring that causes most people to pursue detailing services.

  6. #5
    Super Member The Guz's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    Scratch resistance is completely over rated with coatings. Proper care is still needed and improper care is going to scratch anything.

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  8. #6
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    Thanks Guz,
    I am in complete agreement (obviously) with your assessment on the overstatement regarding scratch resistance. Its a damn shame though. Just what our industry needs is more "overhyping" product capabilities!

  9. #7
    Super Member FUNX650's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    IMO:
    •The claim of “9H Pencil Hardness” is
    nothing more than a marketing angle
    used by Coatings’ manufacturers as a
    means to sell their brand of Coatings:
    {i.e.: “scratch resistance” is directly
    correlated to Coatings’ level of pencil
    hardness: the harder, the more scratch
    resistant—becomes the mantra.}


    •However...
    -All we have to do—to put a reality check
    on the above marketing model—is to keep
    Newton’s Third Law of Motion in mind:
    {”For each action, there is an equal and
    opposite reaction.”
    }
    -That is one sure-fire way of knowing that
    “hard Coatings” are, in actuallity, very prone
    to being scratched. {Think: “density”.}



    Bob
    "Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk."
    ~Joaquin de Setanti

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  11. #8
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    Third law of motion? I was thinking more on the lines of the second law, but I could be wrong. Anyway, they do claim a pencil hardness rather than Mohs, which is a bit misleading and indeed doesn't mean anything in terms of scratch resistance.

  12. #9
    Super Member Calendyr's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sonic Pilot View Post
    While ceramic coatings do enhance the appearance of the paint surface and certainly offer much improved protection over conventional waxes or sealants, in my experience, they seem to offer relatively little in the way of scratch resistance.

    I do understand the "Pencil Hardness" scale and how ceramic coating manufacturers use it (9H, 10H, etc.) to boast the "hardness" of their product. I also understand that no manufacturer is claiming their product is scratch-proof. However, I struggle to see a vast improvement in a surface's resistance to scratches coming from what most would consider "normal wear-n-tear. Things like towel scratches from wipe-downs or other similar scratches and marring.

    Like I said, no manufacturer is claiming its product is scratch proof, but I am not impressed with the scratch resistance I am seeing thus far.
    While proper wipe down procedures are always necessary to minimize any scratching, I kind of expected more protection from how most (non detailing) car owners would care for their car. By far and away, the evidence of this is most apparent on jet black paint. No mental flake or metallic, just pure black. I am frequently seeing cars with typical toweling scratches all over.

    It would be one thing to see a few cars here and there with some scratches and chalk it up to either improper coating installation and/or improper after care by the vehicle owner, but in my experience, the vast majority of cars I see (in black) have almost as many fine scratches as any other car, or slightly less.

    Anyone else seem to think the scratch resistance implied by ceramic coating manufacturers is not quite as good as they would have you think?

    As for the other characteristics of ceramic coating, so far so good.
    No. The idea of the scratch resistance is to prevent the most common type of scratching one car: Micro-marring. Once the car is coated, it will be much harder to create love marks on the paint when you clean the vehicle.

    Those who advertize ceramic coating as a scratch resistant layer are abusing the term and mis-representing what the coating can do. If you take a key to the panel, you will scratch it no matter what product you put on it. If this is the type of protection you are looking for, it exists, just put a paint protection film on the car.

  13. #10
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    Re: Anyone else less than impressed with the scratch resistance offered by ceramic coatings?

    One of the best scratch resistant products I have ever put on my cars is Sonax Speed Protect.


    Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

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