How much have you paid for full paint correction and coatings

jaxcam02 · June 25, 2018

I bought my 2017 about a month ago off a dealer over stock. Needless to say it was apparent that it was washed a number of times incorrectly and The black paint is swirled to hell with holograms and a ton of grit lodged in the paint. I got a quote for a full exterior paint correction and dual layer 5 year certain coating for about $1500. Just wondering what others have paid for this kind of service. I'm aware of all the work needed to be performed and it seems like a fair price but just curious.

Rock1500 · June 26, 2018

1500 is about standard. I detail full time. My rado is black and I will not be buying another black truck without metallic in it. Didn’t realize the gm Black is literally just black lol

The metallic paint isn't all that great. The paint is cheap to begin with and easily chips and when attempting to add touch up paint, it never comes out exactly matching. It hides it but you can still kinda see how it doesn't blend in either. And by the way, I'm using the correct paint as well.

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seamus2154 · June 26, 2018

I have all black cars including my Truck. Getting it right and keeping it right is very important to me. I never quite understand when people say Black cars are so much work? My wifes car is white and my M3 is silver. Its just as much work to be right. Do lighter colors show less dirt and swirls? Yes. But it doesn't mean it's not dirty, it just looks better dirty. Either way dirty is a problem for me. Swirls are a sin!!! LOL But once corrected proper good habits on washing and drying prevent it from happening again. I invested in a Flex orbital and Menzerna compounds but it is a learned skill and a LOT of work. But my high end body shop here in south Florida has quoted myself and one of my friends 500 bucks for a swirl correction. So adding 1000 to that for a good detail and coating seems pretty high. Alot of shops dont want the risk of burning paint but a skilled high end shop will break out a paint meter, then proceed with the correct tech and compound. I would try another shop that seems pretty high. Also those ceramic coatings have been quite a fade and money maker for shops, but there are many downsides plus its expensive. I would break it up into get it correct, have a detail guy seal it with a synthetic sealant not a ceramic coating that literally has to be repaired if there is a mishap. With a sealant it's just a buff and reapply, with ceramic it's involved. Good luck

I brought my truck home from the dealer and spent 4 days on it. I ordered it, it was transported and then the dealer. I could not believe how good it wasn't!. Not swirls but bonded contaminants, sap, road grim, and some swirls from their dealer swirl maker car washwash! LOL But it was a one time big deal and been an easy keep since. But people really notice that you are "different" (LOL) when they see a perfect, clean, glowing black truck!! LOL It is badass..... Again good luck it is a labor of love, and respect for your money!

EDL · June 26, 2018

I'm curious about these ceramic coatings and have been doing a lot of reading and watching videos. To be honest, at this point, after all that, I think a lot of it is hype and it's way over priced. It seems these coating companies make a lot of claims about the stuff that tests just don't seem to bear out in many cases.

There are a lot of test videos online that do exposure and time testing of many of the coatings simultaneously. Some of them actually do OK, at least as far as standing up to soapy washing and beading water, and surprisingly, some the "top rated" ones didn't last at all.

I did read one article by a fellow who tested coatings on his own vehicles and his conclusion was that

1. It doesn't work well on every paint.

2. For vehicles that see a fair amount of dirt and grime and don't get washed every week, it's not a good choice. His reason was that the sun does soften the coating as it is a polymer (quartz and ceramic claims to the contrary) and dirt on the vehicle for extended periods actually gets stuck into the polymer making it harder to wash off.

3. They are good for people who are exceptionally fastidious about keeping their vehicle clean.

So, it seems a bit of a mixed bag.

Still, for the ones that do seem to work, the cost of the products alone are a big barrier.

I'm still reading and watching, definitely more to learn about them.

Kubs · June 26, 2018

I was quoted $1250 for a full paint correction and ceramic coating of Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra (comes with a 9 year warranty when professionally applied). I actually got a discount to $950 because I brought it to my detailer same day I picked up my truck directly from the dealer. This preventented more contamination to build up and gave him a blank slate so a little less labor.

2018-05-29_09-04-52 by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

IMG_20180407_183259583_HDR by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

IMG_20180407_183107324_HDR by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

Denali34 · June 26, 2018

Im dropping my truck off to have the full paint correction and ceramic coated next week. They are charging me $1850 for everything. They are using CeramicPro and will do 3 coats of it with 1 Light coat. 9H hardness. I have a Challenger that has it and my past vehicles have had it done as well. Its well worth the money in my opinion. Going on 3 years having my Challenger coated and (it stays outside and gets driven about 12K a year) it still looks like the day they did it and passes the "tape not sticking to it" test.

EDL · June 26, 2018

1 hour ago, Denali34 said:

Im dropping my truck off to have the full paint correction and ceramic coated next week. They are charging me $1850 for everything. They are using CeramicPro and will do 3 coats of it with 1 Light coat. 9H hardness. I have a Challenger that has it and my past vehicles have had it done as well. Its well worth the money in my opinion. Going on 3 years having my Challenger coated and (it stays outside and gets driven about 12K a year) it still looks like the day they did it and passes the "tape not sticking to it" test.

Can you explain what "9H" hardness is and how it is measured or determined? Also, what that means in terms of protection for the paint?

I'm still researching and trying to learn and understand this stuff.

Edited June 26, 2018 by EDL

rrmccabe · June 26, 2018

6 minutes ago, EDL said:

Can you explain what "9H" hardness is and how it is measured or determined? Also, what that means in terms of protection for the paint?

I'm still researching and trying to learn and understand this stuff.

Its like hardness of a pencil. Same number system. Super hard and less chance of getting wash swirls.

EDL · June 26, 2018

1 hour ago, Blk17Machinep said:

Coatings are Si02 pour some Out on a spoon and wait. It will become a little glass ball. The sun does not soften a coating. The sun softens your clear coat.

They may contain silica or other materials in them, but they do not cover your vehicle in a ceramic coat. Metal flake paint contained (back in the day) tiny metal flakes, but spraying it on your car did not give you an impervious steel coating and those flakes provided no actual protection.

If these products actually put a "glass" coating on your car, they would shatter and crack just from driving the vehicle since it flexes and moves, and temperature changes would cause cracking as well.

rrmccabe · June 26, 2018

Si02 coatings contain silicon dioxide which is one of the ingredients in glass.

I just did my High Country myself. I am very pleased with the results but too early to tell about longevity. If it makes it two years I will be thrilled and pull out the Rupes and give it a good paint correction and do it again. I have my bottle of ceramic boost and plan to give it a spritz on a monthly basis.

One thing for sure is it almost rinses clean. Nothing hardly sticks to it.

EDL · June 26, 2018

28 minutes ago, rrmccabe said:

Its like hardness of a pencil. Same number system. Super hard and less chance of getting wash swirls.

Ahhh! That makes sense. Now, knowing that, I am able to find something meaningful to understand it. It's based on the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) pencil test and our equivalent in the U.S. is DIN ISO 15184. It's designed to check the hardness and scratch resistance of coatings (paint, protective films, etc).

Cool.

CYbanana · June 26, 2018

New to coating, I used to do clay bar polished once every other year and wax twice a year. Can coating be done easily at home? I would love Ke to save some money if it’s not too difficult. Plus it’s also enjoyable to detail your own car.

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rrmccabe · June 26, 2018

I just did coating at home myself. With the product I used you need to have a place to keep vehicle inside 24 hours to let the ceramic dry before adding the final spray. In hot and dry weather the cure times will be less.

I used Adams ceramic coat kit and it was as easy as wax. Its a slower process as you can only do a 24" x 24" section at a time. You need to buff it down with the microfiber after about a minute or two to level the product but the process could not have been easier for me. Its a very forgiving product.

https://adamspolishes.com/shop/exterior/coatings/adam-s-ceramic-paint-coating-kit.html

diegosaurus · June 26, 2018

11 hours ago, Blk17Machinep said:

Get that thing polished and coated and you’ll see what I mean about no metallic. It just looks dumb imo. Go look at a black ram or a black tundra black ford the majority will have flake in the paint adding depth and gloss. I coated a tundra the other day man that black was beautiful.

I’ve never had paint chips repair that the paint matched. same codes. It won’t match. In the future wax the area around the repair, new paint won’t stick to that wax leaving paint only in the chip.

Make sure you go with a well known coating brand. Cquartz. Gtechniq. Servfaces. Opticoat.

Can you explain this chip repair process a little more in depth? Once you wax and apply new paint on chip, do you go back over with anything else?