Coatings...Really good or just a load of nonsense

Ron Burgundy II

I'm due to get a new car in Jan and have been looking up various waxes, keen freaks, 50 cal etc., sealants, and coatings, such as carbon collective, cquartz etc.

I've always used waxes on my cars and liked the deep wet look gloss you get from these products, but will you get the same look from coatings? Just googling coatings brings up a number of different products offering two or three years protection, which I'm a bit sceptical about such claims of longevity.

What are the advantages of coatings over applying waxes and sealants?? Can you apply waxes over the coatings?

I like the range of Kleen Freaks products and from their instagram page, their products seem to be very good to an extent they seem to provide the same hydrophobic properties as coatings or as close to it.

I want to make sure what I do to the car is right so looking for your feed back.

Curran

Choosing a wax / sealant / ceramic coating for your car can be a bit of a challenge. The reason being, there are advantages and disadvantages to each one.

Waxes give a wet look and warm glow with nice beading, but don't last too long; 3-4 months on average

Sealants then to give a more glassy look than waxes and are better suited to lighter colours, and last a bit longer than waxes; maybe 4-6 months

Ceramic coatings are durable, in most cases, over a year if maintained well. They are a bit more difficult to apply, but offer a certain amount of scratch resistance while also adding a few microns of depth to the paint, so what does get scratched is the coating first, before paint...it will be the same appearance but it means you'll have more depth to work with when polishing. Again, they will give a very glassy appearance which the fans of waxes don't like, but that said, the car is far more protected and generally easier to keep clean and wash.

Yes, wax can be aplied over a ceramic coating but by doing so you are removing some of the advantages of the coating in favour of the waxes advantages. So you gained a deeper wet look from the wax, but it's now the top layer and thus you've taken away the hydrophobic ability of the ceramic coating so it won't stay as clean looking for as long and won't be as easy to wash.

Most products when applied first will offer fantastic hydrophobic ability and that's often when pictures of its ability are taken...the first rain shower after fresh application; and it will look brilliant from all products. Over time the wax / sealant will start to show signs of deterioration and beading will become less and less impressive; nobody tends to take pictures then. Beading isnt the be all and end all, protection is still in place and will be for a while longer. With a ceramic coating it will continue to perform well in all departments for quite a whole, assuming the correct shampoo, etc used, as regular pH neutral shampoo will often clog the molecular structure of the coating and in ding so it effectively becomes part of the structure and takes away from the beading properties, but that can be cleanse to return the coating to its former state.

So; what do you go for? Well that's only something you can answer yourself. What do you need or want the product you choose?
I've yet to venture into ceramic coatings on my own cars due to the fact I've always had time to strip back and re-apply my coating and having a black car, I'd always have gone for a wax. But lately have had little or no time to wash, let alone really tend to the car, so my plan is to give it a good polish in the spring and go with CQUK to protect it well; yes I'll loose the ultimate appearance that I could get but I'd rather know the car is well protected in case I don't have time to re-apply something when the wax is broken down after a few months.

If you do decide on a ceramic coating, be sure to get the right shampoo and quick detailer type product that goes best with the coating so you get the max potential from it.

Vectra I'm sure will be along to share his experiences of the CarPro ceramic range...he had it applied to his new Passat and seems quite pleased with what he decided to go for. His car is white, so better suited, in terms of appearance to a ceramic coating over a darker colour, for example.



Hope this helps and any other questions, fire ahead.
Apologies if there are a heap of spelling mistakes...replying on a phone with fat fingers....need to order myself a dialing wand!

Ron Burgundy II

Thanks Curran, that was a very informative post.

I've seen pictures of Vectra's car after he applied Car Pro and it looks very well. But my concern is the colour that I'm getting .... VW describe as a "Deep Black Pearl Effect" what ever that means. But what ever I put on the car I want to make sure it doesn't dull the colour in any way, which I believe ceramic coating can cause. As you've mentioned the coating adds another few microns of depth, will this have an effect on the paint appearance, as in will it make the paint slightly duller??

The other point you make is about the aftercare of the product. I like to clean my car and over the years from reading posts on this website and others have built up a number of various products, from apc, snowfoam, shampoos, mitts etc. and as a result I've had various brands. My concern is that moving into the world of ceramic coatings is that you're .... for the want of a better word, "locked" into a particular brands aftercare products.

I like some of the benefits of the coatings, such as the scratch resistance...but I do like getting out and spending time on the car cleaning it and applying a good wax... I find it therapeutic to some degree, as sad as that sounds.

I guess I'm looking for the best of both worlds.

Curran

When I say it adds a few microns of depth...the coating sets alomost like another layer of clear coat, if that makes sense. It's clear, so will not affect the appearance of the colour.
What I meant was that the coating offers scratch resistance but it subsequently when or if scratch or swirled will look the same as swirled paintwork....but it will likely to be a harder finish than the paint....but VW is hard anyways.

In terms of the colour...certainly the right wax will make the metallic pop much better than a ceramic coating...it's not that would dull it but the flake won't stand out as much as with the right wax....even within the wax range, there'd be waxes better suited to help enhance the metallic flake pop.

Regarding the Detailing gear you have already, some but not, all may be need replacing with a better option; shampoo and quick detailers being the most critical. Then others would depend on the product. Snowfoam for example, providing there are no gloss enhancers then it would be an issue. You'll always find someone else car to use redundant products, or at least I do...someone who may not appreciate the job you've done, and bring it to a brush wash the week after! :P

I know what you mean by getting out and the therapeutic effect, but washing the car with a ceramic coating is so much easier that it's therapeutic in its own way! :P You'll probably find yourself spending the time saved concentrating on something else on the car!

Ron Burgundy II

Thanks Curran

I've been looking up various ceramic coatings Gtechnic C1 seems like the top dog for coatings but at circa 200 pounds is beyond what I'm willing to spend. Carbon collective seems to have mixed reviews while car pro seems to be a well rounded product in terms of application and final appearance.

So not going to jump into anything straight away, i'm very much a measure twice cut one approach but so far car pro cquartz seems like the better product on the market.

Curran

Cquartz is certainly the least fussy in terms of application. Most ceramic coatings require a very controlled environment when applying; there's ideal temperatures and humidity to apply and don't like fluctuations in those conditions also...room temperature is the optimal for most. Which in many countries wouldn't be too much of an issue, but in Ireland, it is not ideal for the detailing enthusiasts who may not even have shelter, let alone anything close to being able to somewhat control ambient conditions.
CarPro realised that in countries like the UK and Ireland, where the weather would play havoc for the Detailing enthusiasts looking to venture into ceramic coatings, so they developed CQUK, which has a far wider range of acceptable conditions....+5 degrees Celsius and pretty much once it's kept dry, it's good to go. So as you can image, it suits the majority of enthusiasts. Provided it is maintained fairly well they say it should perform the same after a year, as it on day one and their claim for durability is 2 years.