There’s a lot of questions when it comes to ceramic coatings. This page is aimed to expand on what it does (or doesn’t) do for your vehicle.

What’s the point of a ceramic coating?

It’s the best form of protection and gives the most gloss for your paint. It’ll form an invisible shell around your paint to protect it from rain, debris, and bug etchings. It’s far superior compared to the traditional waxes, sealants, or spray waxes. In the best conditions, a sealant might last 12 months on your paint. A ceramic coating, specifically the one that we offer, is rated to last up to 9 years.

Does a ceramic coating protect my paint from scratches?

Ceramic coatings are amazing, but they are not invincible. If you want to protect your paint from actual scratches like branches or key scratches, you would need to go with a paint protection film on your vehicle.

The ceramic coating does a great job at sheeting off water, dust, and debris, but it can still get waterspots if it’s not washed soon or if it’s very hard water.

My car came with a ceramic coating from the dealership. Do I still need one?

If the dealership claims there is a coating on the vehicle, do you best to get a copy of the product name of the coating. If possible, also ask about the process in how the coating was applied. We hear this often but once we inspect the paint, you can easily see all the imperfections in the paint. Then when we go to wash the car, it doesn’t have the properties of a coated vehicle. This leads us to going through our entire correction and coating process.

Can you coat my car if it’s wrapped in paint protection film (PPF)?

We sure can! Ideally, we would first correct and polish the vehicle to a 90% swirl-free finish, then have the PPF installed on the vehicle, and finally we would install the coating on top of the PPF.

Once the PPF is installed, whatever imperfection are underneath it are there to stay since it’s not wrapped.

Can you apply the coating on wheels or glass?

Yes! You can coat the wheels, glass, or trim for ultimate protection and gloss. For the wheels, it’ll have the same benefits of the paint to where it makes cleaning the wheels much easier. For the glass, the rain will roll right off the windshield.

Do I still need to wash my vehicle?

Sometimes detailers take it too far when it comes to explaining the benefits of a ceramic coating that it makes it seem like you’ll never have to touch the paint again. Yes, a ceramic coating makes it very easy to clean, but that doesn’t mean you should have the mindset of, “Well, I shouldn’t worry about washing. It’s coated.”

Like most things, you need to find the right balance on how you maintain the vehicle.

Who shouldn’t coat their vehicle?

As great as coatings are, there’s going to be scenarios that makes more sense to not coat the vehicle. For instance, if you have a garage Queen that gets driven maybe once a month, the need for a coating isn’t as imperative since it’s always stored and away from inclement weather. You can go months without washing it and it still looks in pristine condition.

What’s the best ceramic coating?

There’s so many brands offering ceramic coatings, many times, various tiers of ceramic coatings, so it’s hard to say which one is better than the other. It seems though that every year, there’s a new way to advance the coating technology that the landscape is always changing. We currently use the DPC Coating line which is a professional coating.

Can you just apply the ceramic coating alone?

In order to apply a ceramic coating, you must first prep the paint by machine polishing 90% of the swirls and scratches from the paintwork. This will allow for maximum gloss, clarity, and adhesion between the coating and paint. If you apply the coating without the prep work, you are not getting the benefits from it.

At that point, it would make sense to simply go with a more traditional wax or sealant application.