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Got the 2500 ceramic coated today

on the fence about doing mine when it arrives , your looks great !
 
That's not a bad price.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
 
Sorry for the ignorance, but what does the ceramic coating do? Is that to help protect it from rock chips and things?
 
jm888 said:
Sorry for the ignorance, but what does the ceramic coating do? Is that to help protect it from rock chips and things?
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No, it will not protect from rock chips, those clear film wraps are best for that
 
r440 said:
I was quoted $1200 for paint correction and ceramic coat
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There are guys out there making a fortune on this and there are guys charging reasonable rates. The ones charging a fortune seem to think they are the best and so 'Pay Me". There are those who don't know what they are doing and they charge much less, and then in the middle are those who are providing a great service, great product and excellent results for fair pricing... The product itself is pricey but not hundreds of dollars, its the labor and the amount of detail that makes it right.. Go with someone who is reasonable and has great reviews and such I had my truck done for 450... I had my motorcycle done by someone else prior for 550..... The guy that did my bike ripped me off as well as his work sucked! ( in the end the guy doing the bike was upside down after buying me new parts but that's a different story)
 
I was also quoted $1100. Seems to be the going rate. If you got $375 good for you.
 
$375 is a great deal, although i doubt there was paint correction in that price.

Truck looks amazing!!
 
gimmie11s said:
$375 is a great deal, although i doubt there was paint correction in that price.

Truck looks amazing!!
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I had a lot of scratches and swirls from the car wash, and they are gone now, so I'm very pleased with it
 
A quality paint correction/ceramic coating is a minimum of $1000. I have gotten prices just recently from $850 to $1600. This is on a brand new truck, only molested by the stealership at delivery time so far.

This, PPF, tint.....man these trucks cost!!!
 
whitexc said:
A quality paint correction/ceramic coating is a minimum of $1000. I have gotten prices just recently from $850 to $1600. This is on a brand new truck, only molested by the stealership at delivery time so far.

This, PPF, tint.....man these trucks cost!!!
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It used to be that price range but in recent years it has come down a lot. The ceramic products are widely available and even the more expensive ones are about $100 and a single bottle can do up to 3 vehicles. It‘s labor to do it properly but the paint correction step is a lot of “it depends” answers. Light scratching and swirls is compound and polish but maybe only polish because it depends on the scratch depth. Wet sanding and polishing should only be for last resort or when the factory paint has serious leveling issues. There is a finite amount of clear coat to work with, it is not good to overwork it just because you can.

Where detailers cut corners to keep costs low is how they strip the paint and prep, and many applications of the ceramic they apply. Wiping down with isopropyl alcohol will strip off the was/sealer on the paint and it’s usually enough, especially on new vehicles, but sometimes you need more intensive methods or you are just locking the paint contaminants under the ceramic. Good detailers spend time here on this step and it takes more time. On a new vehicle, clay bar and a wipe down with alcohol will do the just fine. In this case, probably a clay bar, polish, and then wipe down with alcohol given the swirling. Whatever you put on the paint to correct it with, you have to remove before ceramic application.

The ceramic products are used applied in very small amounts and a single bottle will coat multiple cars. However, the better coatings are designed with multiple application layers and this takes time, uses more product per vehicle. What most people don’t realize is that ceramic coating is not a forever thing, it needs to be refreshed and the amount of time depends on how many coating layers were applied the first time. A quality product like Blackfire will last up to 5 years with annual refresh cycles but that is when you apply the recommended 3 coats. If you do just one coat it will still look awesome but need reapplication in 1-2 years.

If I were paying $1k for paint correction and ceramic I would have a vehicle with serious paint issues and I would want to know exactly what the detailer was going to do. For $375 the detailer probably saw the OP’s truck as not having a lot of prep to do properly, and applied 1 layer of the ceramic product. It can still be a quality job at that price because it is really almost all labor going into it. The truck looks great and it really makes the red pop but I would plan on refreshing the ceramic in a year. After the ceramic cures, it depends on the specific product for time required, I would come back and wax/seal over the ceramic to give it a longer life.
 
I know a lot of the members love Ceramic coating. I could possibly see this being done if it was stored outside 24/7 but why not just have a detailer put a good wax on it a couple times a year ?
 
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