Ceramic coating and PPF worth it or not..lets hear from the masses

[tyler2you]

There were areas the PPF pulled itself back short of the edges and corners. Quite a few hairline cuts in the paint from improper technique with the razor blade. Trim at the B-Pillars (between the windows) was stressed too much and is no longer straight. I had to buy a new 2500 hood badge because it was marred so bad from removal, paint is scratched underneath. Also bought a new hood gasket because he tore and ripped it during removal.

Worst part of all is I was out of town and trusted them that the truck was sitting pretty in their shop like they said it would be to show their clients the work they've done. Long story short - The guy was using it as his own personal work truck. 370 miles on the tow-odometer! It's a shame this guy is praised for the work he's done on high-end exotics and classic cars, because I know now what he does with these cars after they're left with him. Smoking the tires down the street, taking UTVs for a rip out in the desert nearby... stuff like that. Karma will catch up with them.

^^^^^^^This is critical^^^^^^^^^

Take your time, do the research, and find someone competent. When I lived in C. Springs many years ago, a friend of mine took his brand new Audi S4 to a local tint shop for PPF. They put 2 deep slices in the paint on the front fascia where the guy was cutting the film on the car. He fought with them for several months to get it fixed, but after they got the quote for the repairs they balked and he ended up paying for it himself. Then he drove it to Broomfield to have a respected guy reinstall the PPF on the front. It was an expensive experience. The local tint shop also melted the gasket on one of his windows putting on the tint. No idea how they managed that, but they did replace it.

 

[phatboy64]

There were areas the PPF pulled itself back short of the edges and corners. Quite a few hairline cuts in the paint from improper technique with the razor blade. Trim at the B-Pillars (between the windows) was stressed too much and is no longer straight. I had to buy a new 2500 hood badge because it was marred so bad from removal, paint is scratched underneath. Also bought a new hood gasket because he tore and ripped it during removal.

Worst part of all is I was out of town and trusted them that the truck was sitting pretty in their shop like they said it would be to show their clients the work they've done. Long story short - The guy was using it as his own personal work truck. 370 miles on the tow-odometer! It's a shame this guy is praised for the work he's done on high-end exotics and classic cars, because I know now what he does with these cars after they're left with him. Smoking the tires down the street, taking UTVs for a rip out in the desert nearby... stuff like that. Karma will catch up with them.

That sucks…I don’t understand the hood gasket part,did he remove your hood? I set my Valet mode on in Uconnect

 

[phatboy64]

^^^^^^^This is critical^^^^^^^^^

Take your time, do the research, and find someone competent. When I lived in C. Springs many years ago, a friend of mine took his brand new Audi S4 to a local tint shop for PPF. They put 2 deep slices in the paint on the front fascia where the guy was cutting the film on the car. He fought with them for several months to get it fixed, but after they got the quote for the repairs they balked and he ended up paying for it himself. Then he drove it to Broomfield to have a respected guy reinstall the PPF on the front. It was an expensive experience. The local tint shop also melted the gasket on one of his windows putting on the tint. No idea how they managed that, but they did replace it.

The shop I am going to has a machine that laser cuts the PPF to the exact model car/truck it is being placed on so hopefully that minimizes the risk of getting knife cuts…but that has been one of my worries.

 

[ollicat]

I had MD do the ceramic coating on my new 23 I received about 2 months ago. To be honest, I see zero difference between the ceramic coated truck and my other vehicles. In retrospect, it was a waste of $750 - would not do it again.

 

[Vdrsnk]

I had MD do the ceramic coating on my new 23 I received about 2 months ago. To be honest, I see zero difference between the ceramic coated truck and my other vehicles. In retrospect, it was a waste of $750 - would not do it again.

Never have a dealer do that, or any detail for that matter. I’d agree you wasted $750 unfortunately.

 

[unclelala]

I had MD do the ceramic coating on my new 23 I received about 2 months ago. To be honest, I see zero difference between the ceramic coated truck and my other vehicles. In retrospect, it was a waste of $750 - would not do it again.

If you did not see any difference then you probably did not get a quality job. All my cars over the years have been night and day from a regular wax vs ceramic. Its in the reflection Ceramic is a much deeper reflection and clearer

 

[phatboy64]

My dealer offered some sort of ceramic coating, I think it was a Simonize product But like vdrsnk said, I don’t trust my dealer to even wash my truck

 

[jbncccb]

Just for reference these dealer applied products are not true ceramic costings. To do a proper ceramic coating it will take typically 3 full days. They do paint preparation then apply ceramic in 1ft sections and cure that section with a UV light. It takes a lot of time that's why it's pricey.

The dealers advertise a ceramic product like a wax that is applied in about an hours time. Which is a waste of $$.

Love my Ceramic Pro but I'm in TX too. No snow.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

 

[Combatgrunt]

IMO Ceramic coat it. G techiq or Car Pro no coating will last years without maintenance I apply reload every six months and use a ceramic detail spray as well. PPF on half the hood would have a weird line across the hood as it ages I would do the whole hood or not at all.

 

[phatboy64]

I did pull the trigger and got the full front PPF (10 mil) which included the headlights, 5 year Ceramic coating and Ceramic window tint on all six windows, front was only a brow.
I had been talking to a local detail shop who does all the detail stuff (tint, ceramic, PPF, Waxoy…) for a few weeks. Got a very comfortable feeling about the shop and was able to see a lot of their work in person. When I dropped it off Tuesday night to get the windows tinted I decided to get the PPF and Ceramic coating.
I got it back last night and man does it look good.Super glad I did it. The guys at the shop were really good about going over what they did, how I should maintain it, gave me some products to maintain the Ceramic coating…

It is raining here today and the water is beading up nicely on the paint…


Thank you to all you provided great input on this thread…

 

[Vdrsnk]

I did pull the trigger and got the full front PPF (10 mil) which included the headlights, 5 year Ceramic coating and Ceramic window tint on all six windows, front was only a brow.
I had been talking to a local detail shop who does all the detail stuff (tint, ceramic, PPF, Waxoy…) for a few weeks. Got a very comfortable feeling about the shop and was able to see a lot of their work in person. When I dropped it off Tuesday night to get the windows tinted I decided to get the PPF and Ceramic coating.
I got it back last night and man does it look good.Super glad I did it. The guys at the shop were really good about going over what they did, how I should maintain it, gave me some products to maintain the Ceramic coating…

It is raining here today and the water is beading up nicely on the paint…


Thank you to all you provided great input on this thread…

Happy for you! That’s awesome, you are going to love it and how easy it is to maintain for years.

 

[Dave01]

Congrats! Now you've got me thinking again ... just had my truck nicely waxed and it looks great, but know it could be that way every day for years with ceramic and minimal effort.

 

[Mikerob14]

I did pull the trigger and got the full front PPF (10 mil) which included the headlights, 5 year Ceramic coating and Ceramic window tint on all six windows, front was only a brow.
I had been talking to a local detail shop who does all the detail stuff (tint, ceramic, PPF, Waxoy…) for a few weeks. Got a very comfortable feeling about the shop and was able to see a lot of their work in person. When I dropped it off Tuesday night to get the windows tinted I decided to get the PPF and Ceramic coating.
I got it back last night and man does it look good.Super glad I did it. The guys at the shop were really good about going over what they did, how I should maintain it, gave me some products to maintain the Ceramic coating…

It is raining here today and the water is beading up nicely on the paint…


Thank you to all you provided great input on this thread…

I’m waiting on my truck to arrive and this is one of the first things I plan on doing. I have dashcam to install and I’m waiting till after the tint and everything is put on. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did you pay for all this? I’m looking at a shop near me that will be doing all this but I am skeptical as it’s Miami prices…. If you’d rather PM, I can do that too. Thanks for the write up, been following this thread pretty closely.

 

[ollicat]

And with my dealer ceramic coating, I noticed this gray truck scratches VERY easily.

 

[BadKarma]

I got ceramic, came with an 8 year warranty. I will say it does look clean longer. I’ve always hand waxed my vehicles and washed weekly.

This time around on the new truck (especially since it’s a 2500 vs the Jeeps, GTO and 1500 I had prior) I didn’t want to wash and wax anymore.) I was miss lead initially by all the hype behind ceramic. After I talked to the company I realized it is more or less a glorified wax job.
I am happy, it had some swirls and light scratches prior to me taking ownership. I would say I am picky when it comes to stuff like that.
The paint correction made it look better than new. Even though I don’t drive as much anymore it still collects a lot of dust but still manages to looks clean.
The main benefit for me personally is washing is stupid simple now. What used to take an hour and a half to do a two bucket job now takes 30 minutes at most. Often times it’s just foam cannon and rinse then blow it dry.
They coated almost everything, windows, trim, wheels paint etc… if I get my windshield replaced they coat the new windshield for free. It was $1,250 and they gave me soap, detailer and glass cleaner(more or less a smaller detailer bottle) took them about a day and they kept it an additional two because I happened to have it done one of the 3 days it rained in Phoenix so far this year and it needed to stay dry for 48 hours after application.

All In all, if you haul, off road or plan on beating on your truck the ppf probably would be the better route. I bought the truck because I could, not necessarily because I needed it. So this time around I’m not that mad. Maybe after the home remodel I’ll get the ppf as I do occasionally hunt. For now, easier cleaning and looking cleaner longer is really the most I’ll get out of it.
I will also say it does feel extremely clean. Compared to just clay barring and waxing this is definitely more “slick all the time”. If it looks dusty I can blow it off and it looks clean again vs prior to having it if I blew the dust off it still looked kinda dirty.

PPF is probably what most trucks should get if you’re in the trades or outdoors. Dropping the kids off at school and grocery shopping you could be happy with ceramic.

 

[22BlackBigHorn]

I bought myself a $30 ceramic coating kit off of Amazon as it was recommend to me from a friend. His car looked amazing. So I tried it myself. Was super easy to do.
I've had it for about a month or so now, and it does keep this black truck clean for a longer time.
It is easier to wash
it is easier to dry
I can dry it via a hose practically.
I love it. I just bought some no ph soap to wash the truck with so it lasts and doesn't eat the coating.

If this $30 kit was this good. I'd HATE to see what a $150 bottle can do.
or better yet, having my entire truck corrected and then applied professional for like $3400! That must look like a mirror.
Mine already does!

 

[dieselscout80]

Got a l

I bought myself a $30 ceramic coating kit off of Amazon as it was recommend to me from a friend. His car looked amazing. So I tried it myself. Was super easy to do.
I've had it for about a month or so now, and it does keep this black truck clean for a longer time.
It is easier to wash
it is easier to dry
I can dry it via a hose practically.
I love it. I just bought some no ph soap to wash the truck with so it lasts and doesn't eat the coating.

If this $30 kit was this good. I'd HATE to see what a $150 bottle can do.
or better yet, having my entire truck corrected and then applied professional for like $3400! That must look like a mirror.
Mine already does!

Got a link for this product? I have a black 2500 Bighorn.

 

[desertskier]

I had MD (Although they actually sub it out to a local detailer) coat mine before I picked it up. The paint correction looked perfect and still looks great. Water still beads up after a year in the AZ sun. When I wash the truck I dry it with my leaf blower. Water streams off. Great deal for $700. They used Carpro CQUARTZ.

 

[22BlackBigHorn]

Got a l

Got a link for this product? I have a black 2500 Bighorn.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B972MFV1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[44Dan44]

Unpopular opinion:
Ceramic is basically an overpriced wax job. Paint correction is a good thing but after that.... nano polymer hydrophobic whozitwhatsitz meh
PPF meh, its a truck, wash, touch up paint, repaint as needed in 10 years. What are we doing?

Of course anyone who has paid thousands of dollars already will tell you how amazing they both are, not having a scientific basis to say the truck would look the same a year later. You'd have to set up a whole control group/test group testing under the exact same conditions to prove otherwise.

Note: Your attempt to prove me wrong will fall on deaf ears, as will my opinion to skip both to your ears. I have no say in how you spend your money, I'm not mad, argue amongst yourselves. @tyler2you The purple font is unreadable to me.
View attachment 54163

As you can see I am on record as anti-PPF, well, more accurately I'm not Anti but rather just don't think the benefits outweigh the cost.

But I gotta say, Matte finish PPF? Pretty slick but still that cost OMG.
Glenn if you are here, looks pretty great on a darker color Ram.