Ceramic Nano Coating or PPF

So what is about the mom and pop washes that makes you think it will scratch and swirl a coating but not the clear coat? Coatings are just like super durable coat of wax. Both a Prosumer coating and regular sealant of wax product are basically sacrificial layers that protect the paint underneath. If it's marring a coating, I guarantee it will be marring clear coat. And a "good Marine wax" wont stop that from happening, a coating like CSL or Cquartz is much harder and more durable then any wax product.

There's nothing special about washing a car with a coating. I use the same two buckets I always have with meguiar's Gold class car shampoo from Costco for my weekly or bi-weekly maintenance washes. The only thing different is that maybe once or twice a year it's a good idea to use something like CarPro Reset to help restore your coating and or use something like wetcoat or reload to boost the protection a bit. Which is really much easier and less time consuming then waxing your car every 2 months or so. Why would you spend more time and be careful to wash a coated car then you would a non coated car? I'm sorry, I'm just not understanding the logic here at all. The whole point of coatings is that they are easier to car for, aid in preventing swirls and scratches, makes washes easier and only need to applied every 3-5 years in stead of every couple of months like wax.


If you watch some examples of good coatings and sealants, you will find that certain types and brands are very slick to the touch. So slick in fact that a microfiber towel will slide off of any surface that is not level like the hood. The SIO2 products do this very well. Another positive of such a slick surface is that a lot of dirt and contamination comes right off with a rinse down. A wax generally does not have this effect.

There are a lot of good sealants on the market that can be applied by the owner without special tools. Gyeon has been mentioned and they are good. There are several brands out there. Autogeek is a great source of info as is Esoteric car care with their YouTube channel.

Don’t forget the interior as well. In my CX5 I used Gyeon Leather Coat on the seats and in the soft panels of the doors. Rain just beads and falls off. The surface remains smooth. The finish is a low satin which is ideal for interiors.
 
If you watch some examples of good coatings and sealants, you will find that certain types and brands are very slick to the touch. So slick in fact that a microfiber towel will slide off of any surface that is not level like the hood. The SIO2 products do this very well. Another positive of such a slick surface is that a lot of dirt and contamination comes right off with a rinse down. A wax generally does not have this effect.

There are a lot of good sealants on the market that can be applied by the owner without special tools. Gyeon has been mentioned and they are good. There are several brands out there. Autogeek is a great source of info as is Esoteric car care with their YouTube channel.

Don’t forget the interior as well. In my CX5 I used Gyeon Leather Coat on the seats and in the soft panels of the doors. Rain just beads and falls off. The surface remains smooth. The finish is a low satin which is ideal for interiors.

Youre preaching to the choir here my friend. I know all of this information already. Im trying to understand Bmninadas stance on the whole thing. He seems to be ok with having a mom and pop car wash place wash his uncoated car but thinks they will swirl the crap out of his car if he coats it.

Personally Ive been liking the gtechniq CSL topped with EXO but I might try the CarPro CQuartz next and top that with there new Gliss!
 
Like the OP I wanted to spend more time taking care of the CX-5 than I did with previous cars. Just as I was preparing to purchase in 2013 I also set up an appointment to have Xpel put on the front of the hood and bumper area. As a package he also put it on the side mirrors and door cups, but at this point I wished it was only on the front. With 60K miles and being hit hard by rocks several times there are at least three small tears in the film, but the paint below is fine. The tears do not look good, but it is doing pretty good protecting the front because most rocks have not penetrated the film.

The other part was taking time to learn how to DIY detail at home. So I've spent many hours watching videos and reading on detailing forums and speaking with a coworker that is a detailing fanatic. I am far from being a detail pro, but go through all the steps in prepping the car to apply sealant. Since the process is the same I have Cquartz and Gtechniq EXO V3 to use one on my car and one on my wife's new car. Our cars are both pearl white so the downside is they don't look as impressive when detailed like darker colors. I am little nervous about the first consumer coating attempt, but it looks like the products are getting easier to apply and remove.

My coworker uses Cquartz on his black GTI. It always looks like it has just been detailed and says the coating makes it much easier to keep clean. He keeps it topped with either Reload or Optiseal. I've been doing pretty good keeping my wife's car topped off with sealant and that too makes it much easier to clean.

I think I will need to take a day off from work when I do the CX-5 because I have let it get a little dirtier and it is probably going to take a couple days to go through the process to get it ready for the coating. Probably Friday cleaning and prepping then apply the coating Saturday morning and let it sit in the garage that day and the next to cure.

1. Optimum Foam soap pre soak, pressure wash rinse
2. Two bucket wash, rinse
3. Foam soap panel at a time and clay or nano mit, boar's hair brush all body seams and tight areas.
4. Dry with MF towels

Move into the garage
5. Carpro Iron X
6. Carpro Essence with Porter Cable polisher and yellow pad
7. Carpro Eraser
8. Cquartz or Gtechniq EXO 2 coats
9. Let it cure in the garage
10. Carpro Reload to finish if Cquartz is used. (I have read not to top EXO with a sealant until later cleaning)

I have lots of MF towels available, polishing pads of various types, clay bars and nanomits and have a portable work lights coming to help put more light on the car in the garage. It's not like I have a Porsche, but this to me is a fairly challenging/rewarding experience even if the white paint doesn't really pop when finished. I hope to get better and more efficient at this so this CX-5 is more of a car to practice on.
 
Felt_Rider, I don't how well Cquartz plays with EXO but why not use Gtechniq Crystal serum light topped with EXO? They actually sell it as a bundled package from most of the detailing suppliers. I used that combo on my wifes GLE350 and it worked amazingly well. One thing with CSL is to apply and wipe off/level right away. Other coatings say to let it sit for several minutes and then buff off but I found that if I did this it left steaks that would buff off. On and off right away was what worked for me.

Also, the eraser or panel wipe after Essence isn't needed. If you research it Essence works as a coating primer and the coating can be applied directly on top of it. Again, I did that to my wifes car last spring and it worked really well.
 
Thanks for the tip on the Essence.

For the coatings I intended to write that I will use two coats of one type. I haven't decided which one to use on my car and the other on my wife's car. If I can get both done about the same time I can see if there is a difference between Cquartz and EXO. I'll have to check out the Crystal serum. I am just now learning about Gtechniq products.
 
Ride92, talking with my coworker/detailing fanatic we think I should order the Crystal Serum Light and give it a try as you mentioned and top it with the EXO. How much curing time did you give between the CSL and EXO?
 
Ride92, talking with my coworker/detailing fanatic we think I should order the Crystal Serum Light and give it a try as you mentioned and top it with the EXO. How much curing time did you give between the CSL and EXO?

If memory serves me correctly I waited roughly 12 hours or so. I polished and coated with CSL starting on a Saturday morning so the CSL went on in the afternoon, I let it cure over night in the garage and then sunday afternoon I coated it with the EXO V3. Hope that helps
 
If memory serves me correctly I waited roughly 12 hours or so. I polished and coated with CSL starting on a Saturday morning so the CSL went on in the afternoon, I let it cure over night in the garage and then sunday afternoon I coated it with the EXO V3. Hope that helps

Yes it helps. I ordered the CSL this morning and the EXO V3 is on its way already. I am getting psyched up about doing this.
 
15+ hours later and hopefully the car is coated for 3 years or more. I took Friday off and started at 7:00 am. Most of Friday was spent prepping the car (wash, decontamination, polishing, coating) and the last couple of hours applying a coat of Crystal Serum Light and a coat of Gtechniq Trim Permanent Restorer. Saturday morning (about 12 hours later) I put a coat of EXO V3 and went around the base of the car again with the trim restorer, clean and coat the windows with EXO and then a little inside work. Garage kept until 12 today for curing.

What took the most effort and time was cleaning all the door and hatch sills due to a lot of grime and mildew in the hatch. I try not to park near trees, but organics seems to get in all the cracks and crevices. The small boars hair brush served well in cleaning tight areas and body panel seams. It was amazing how much stuff comes out of these cracks. What was disappointing was I missed two fine lines of mildew on the top against the roof rails and because I am short I actually put coating over those two lines. I saw them later when doing the final buffing with a MF towel. Ugh.....not a pro that's for sure.

It was tough work and I see why pro detailers charge from $1K to over $2K for a full detail with paint correction and coating.

Anyway I look forward to seeing how it all holds up and especially the trim restorer. I've tried a number of products for that massive bit of plastic at the bottom and it always looks weathered a few weeks later. Supposedly this is like a restorer and a sealant. It sure looks good at this moment with a jet black look, but not glossy.

And with the car being white it doesn't look all that special for 15 hours of effort, but hopefully it will be easy to keep clean for the next couple of years or more. I plan to use something like quick spray Optiseal or the Car Pro Reload to extend the life after cleanings.
 
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Paint Protection Film is thicker than Ceramic Coatings. Both are able keep your car looking shiny for longer. I've tried these two in the past and I love the result 🤗🤗
 
You will never get the $2,200 back during resale. Any add-ons are mostly lost when it comes to sell the vehicle years later.

I didn't see where he asked about the ROI. and actually, he will see a partial return of the investment and he's wont be selling a car with a beat up front end, or can enjoy the mostly chip-free car yourself
 
Nothing beats 3 to 4 times clay/polish/wax. Period.

Ceramic coating are a joke for the price. I was quoted 5 year protection for $900. My detailing routing costs me $100 a pop or $300 / yearly. Do the maths - the final 2 years 4th and 5th. seems to be worth it. But did you know these coatings suffer from the same problems as normal waxing? Automated car wash - swirl marks, bird droppings, scratches, water spots, regular cleaning/dusting is still required. I can guarantee you - after 3 years you'll end up doing ceramic coating again. They are like battery warranties - they say 84 months but last around 3 to 4 at most. If you want E2E protection then the detailers stater must car wash at their place / similar place only. Charge: $40. Do the Maths. Worth it? Definitely not in my book.
Totally agree, I also did my cx-5 full detail with ceramic protection (two foundation layers, two topper layers, and two sacrificial layers) to help with maintenance. The whole process took me a little over a week, including the proper cure time. I think it is best to do yourself. But some people do not have the time, patients, knowledge, equipment, supplies nor interest to do it (but they do have the doe). So paying someone, is an option. It would just finding one that not only does a great job and uses top quality products, that has some fair prices. Once done up keep/maintenance is key. Either by the owner, or bundled in the prices.

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