Has anyone had their vehicle Ceramic coated? Is it worth it? 

What are results like?

My local detailer uses gtechnics, then will come every 8 weeks to top it up.

Any thoughts?

T.I.A.

@Gizmo has and I believe that he was most impressed.

We have had our last 3 cars ceramic coated with Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra. 

 

Depends on your definition of 'worth it'.

 

It will add a good layer of protection on the car, it will help slightly with stone chips, as there is a coating on the paint, BUT it won't stop them!

 

It will make cleaning the car so much easier.

 

Depending of which coating you pick you can almost forget about re-applying another coating. (My Superb was 5 ½ years old and 60K miles and I didn't add anything in that time).

 

It won't keep the car any cleaner (well marginally cleaner maybe).

It won't add any value to the car. (but may be a selling point).

 

If you want the car to look as good as it can with the minimal amount of effort then yes go for it.

Thank you Gizmo for your reply.

I'm just one of them fussy beggars that likes to keep my cars looking like new all the time. 

I dont like car washes and when I clean the car, rinse, snow foam, two bucket wash method, I'm hoping it will cut down on the time I spend cleaning it, typically 4 hrs if I'm polishing and waxing.

It will certainly cut out the polishing stage.

 

Not all 'ceramic' coatings are equal, so do your homework beforehand, likewise avoid those who come to you (a true ceramic needs to cure overnight... in the dry).

 

I always:

 

rinse

snowfoam

rinse

2BM wash

rinse

DI rinse

blow dry.

 

 

Sometimes if the car isn't very dirty (mainly dusty) I will just:

 

rinse

snow foam

rinse

DI rinse.

 

The gets the car almost clean (to most people it would be perfectly clean enough)

Had 2 cars ceramic coated following paint correction. Can't remember the brand used but it came with a 3 year lifespan under normal conditions. Not sure about your detailer needing to 'top up' every 8 weeks - are you sure it's a ceramic coat he's proposing?

In any event I will have all future cars coated as it makes cleaning so easy and my days of spending a weekend doing the full monty on cleaning, prepping and coating a car are long over.

With my ceramic coating, key is to abrade it as little as possible, so my routine is a simple hose down all over, then re-hose the panel that I'm going to work on followed by a wipe over with lambswool mitt using a weak shampoo mix. Hose off and move to next panel. Two bucket method used and frequent re-hosing to stop the water drying (we have rock hard water) and then when all washed it's drying time with the towels. No pressure washers - doesn't help the longevity of the ceramic coat, and besides if it's a decent coat then the dirt doesn't adhere bad enough to need it. All sounds a faff, but I can do the whole job in under a couple of hours. In fact the same amount of time is spent on the wheels as on the body - those damn fiddly Crater Alloys!

Thank you for all your replies 😀

That's it all done, Ceramic coated