Ceramic Coating?
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 397
Likes: 7
From: SW Louisiana
Just made my appointment today for next week; X-Pel clear bra on entire front, partial hood & fenders,and mirror caps, optional A pillars and door rocker panels as well as along the full bottom sections of body panels on fenders, doors and bed plus Ceramic Pro Gold Package including paint prep, and 5-coats of Ceramic Pro (4 x coats/layers of N9 and 1 top/finish layer coat) followed by Infrared light curing; all in $3,000 - told to expect 5-days for the work to be completed.
FWIW, was told on a new vehicle the prep work typically runs $400-500 but because I'm doing the Clear Bra at the same time, they waive the prep. charge. I also wanted to ensure that paint correction was done prior to the clear bra application and since they recommend not applying the clear bra over ceramic coating, then it made sense to find a "one stop shop" that can do it. All. Also, they are throwing on the tinting of my front driver & passenger side windows with 3M Crystalline Tint.
Lastly, I checked references, they are licensed and certified by Ceramic Pro Inc., have been in ceramic coating business 5-years, all technicians factory trained and certified by Ceramic Pro and the list of previous customers is lengthy, i.e. 100's.
FWIW, was told on a new vehicle the prep work typically runs $400-500 but because I'm doing the Clear Bra at the same time, they waive the prep. charge. I also wanted to ensure that paint correction was done prior to the clear bra application and since they recommend not applying the clear bra over ceramic coating, then it made sense to find a "one stop shop" that can do it. All. Also, they are throwing on the tinting of my front driver & passenger side windows with 3M Crystalline Tint.
Lastly, I checked references, they are licensed and certified by Ceramic Pro Inc., have been in ceramic coating business 5-years, all technicians factory trained and certified by Ceramic Pro and the list of previous customers is lengthy, i.e. 100's.
New User
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
The cost is all about the preparation and labour. To do these jobs properly on a big vehicle like these trucks, it takes a couple full days of prep for a skilled detailer and then at least another day to do the application. Quiz the shop about how the prep the paint and how many hours it takes. If they don't impress you with that information, take your money elsewhere. There are four or five good shops in Calgary, so I'm sure Vancouver has at least that many. Ask around on forums where the guys with the supercars hang out. Those guys know who is taking enough care.
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 477
Likes: 3
Just made my appointment today for next week; X-Pel clear bra on entire front, partial hood & fenders,and mirror caps, optional A pillars and door rocker panels as well as along the full bottom sections of body panels on fenders, doors and bed plus Ceramic Pro Gold Package including paint prep, and 5-coats of Ceramic Pro (4 x coats/layers of N9 and 1 top/finish layer coat) followed by Infrared light curing; all in $3,000 - told to expect 5-days for the work to be completed.
FWIW, was told on a new vehicle the prep work typically runs $400-500 but because I'm doing the Clear Bra at the same time, they waive the prep. charge. I also wanted to ensure that paint correction was done prior to the clear bra application and since they recommend not applying the clear bra over ceramic coating, then it made sense to find a "one stop shop" that can do it. All. Also, they are throwing on the tinting of my front driver & passenger side windows with 3M Crystalline Tint.
Lastly, I checked references, they are licensed and certified by Ceramic Pro Inc., have been in ceramic coating business 5-years, all technicians factory trained and certified by Ceramic Pro and the list of previous customers is lengthy, i.e. 100's.
FWIW, was told on a new vehicle the prep work typically runs $400-500 but because I'm doing the Clear Bra at the same time, they waive the prep. charge. I also wanted to ensure that paint correction was done prior to the clear bra application and since they recommend not applying the clear bra over ceramic coating, then it made sense to find a "one stop shop" that can do it. All. Also, they are throwing on the tinting of my front driver & passenger side windows with 3M Crystalline Tint.
Lastly, I checked references, they are licensed and certified by Ceramic Pro Inc., have been in ceramic coating business 5-years, all technicians factory trained and certified by Ceramic Pro and the list of previous customers is lengthy, i.e. 100's.
Sam
Cross-Country
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 75
Likes: 2
I have opti coat on a couple cars, that are barely driven, never get dirty etc, so literally today I scheduled to have the SD done. I want to see how well the stuff works on a normal daily driver. Will drop it off next week.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 199
Likes: 2
OP...This website can teach us all a ton on Ceramic coating. Most products have a YouTube video that is very well done to help explain.
Esoteric is on on the cutting edge of paint protection. This link is to the product I am going with this spring.
https://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-ism-coat-v2-0/
Esoteric is on on the cutting edge of paint protection. This link is to the product I am going with this spring.
https://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-ism-coat-v2-0/
Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
and also curious the opti coat place around here is about 2000 Canadian for the job and you need to bring it in to them every year charge of 200.00 for the maintenance , so my question is if you are a decent detailer yourself and you wax your vechicle yourself is this really worth it for the initial 2000 then another 200 a year
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,300
Likes: 554
If you have it ceramic coated make sure you do research on the correct way to maintain the coating. IE the correct soaps and detail sprays. This company has clear instructions on his products, there are many others out there as well. Just do your due diligence to get the most outta your ceramic coating.
https://shinesupply.com/collections/coatings
https://shinesupply.com/collections/coatings
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Joined: Jan 2019
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Just made my appointment today for next week; X-Pel clear bra on entire front, partial hood & fenders,and mirror caps, optional A pillars and door rocker panels as well as along the full bottom sections of body panels on fenders, doors and bed plus Ceramic Pro Gold Package including paint prep, and 5-coats of Ceramic Pro (4 x coats/layers of N9 and 1 top/finish layer coat) followed by Infrared light curing; all in $3,000 - told to expect 5-days for the work to be completed.
FWIW, was told on a new vehicle the prep work typically runs $400-500 but because I'm doing the Clear Bra at the same time, they waive the prep. charge. I also wanted to ensure that paint correction was done prior to the clear bra application and since they recommend not applying the clear bra over ceramic coating, then it made sense to find a "one stop shop" that can do it. All. Also, they are throwing on the tinting of my front driver & passenger side windows with 3M Crystalline Tint.
Lastly, I checked references, they are licensed and certified by Ceramic Pro Inc., have been in ceramic coating business 5-years, all technicians factory trained and certified by Ceramic Pro and the list of previous customers is lengthy, i.e. 100's.
FWIW, was told on a new vehicle the prep work typically runs $400-500 but because I'm doing the Clear Bra at the same time, they waive the prep. charge. I also wanted to ensure that paint correction was done prior to the clear bra application and since they recommend not applying the clear bra over ceramic coating, then it made sense to find a "one stop shop" that can do it. All. Also, they are throwing on the tinting of my front driver & passenger side windows with 3M Crystalline Tint.
Lastly, I checked references, they are licensed and certified by Ceramic Pro Inc., have been in ceramic coating business 5-years, all technicians factory trained and certified by Ceramic Pro and the list of previous customers is lengthy, i.e. 100's.
I did the X-Pel too. I had them add protection to the door sill plates (the painted part) and the most important overlooked area is strip above the windshield. The kit they use is about 3” wide but does not go all the way down to the windshield. I had the shop add a small piece to make sure the paint right at the edge of where the windshield met the paint was covered. Every truck I have ever owned has ended up getting rock chip there and it is crazy expensive to have that painted because they have to remove the windshield to do it. Might be the best $50 extra you will ever spend. That is if you plan on keeping your truck for over 5yrs and do some gravel road driving. Well worth it. My mirror caps started lifting in a few places so the installation shop is going to redo them. They says it’s pretty common due to the rounded shape of the caps.
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New User
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
so again if your waxing your truck every year yourself do people think its worth it? seems to me you obviously need to go to someone that really needs to do it right aswell as you have to pay their maintenance fee every year to keep the ceramic coating up to date? so if your waxing your vechicle yourself and using like an adams paint sealer is the ceramic really worth it
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 477
Likes: 3
If you have it ceramic coated make sure you do research on the correct way to maintain the coating. IE the correct soaps and detail sprays. This company has clear instructions on his products, there are many others out there as well. Just do your due diligence to get the most outta your ceramic coating.
https://shinesupply.com/collections/coatings
https://shinesupply.com/collections/coatings
Sam
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