DIY ceramic coat vs Professional shop

[Glossox]

Has anyone DIY’d a ceramic coat for their new mustang? I’m seeing products like Gyeon that look pretty straightforward to use.. especially for a brand new car with perfect paint. It looks like iron remover, clay bar, wash is all that’s needed (for a new car).

The shops around here, and probably anywhere, charge about $1500. I’m having a hard time reconciling $1500 every 3-5 years vs $150 every 1-2 years.

However.. i don’t want to end up with a lumpy streaked up mess of a coating,, so I’m wondering is anyone has experience doing it themselves. How difficult was it? Tips? Pitfalls? What would have done different? How long did it last? Any info at all would be super helpful!

If you end up with some high spots.. can they just be polished away with an orbital?

Thx!

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[roadpilot]

Brand new car with perfect paint? No such thing. Take a close look and you'll see. Even with a brand new vehicle, I'd suggest at least a single step paint correction before ceramic.

I contemplated various paths as well. I've decided I'm going to let the experts tackle this 2+ day job.

Hand wash, clay bar, iron decontamination
1-step paint correction
IGL Kenzo - Exterior Paint and plastics
IGL EcoCoat Wheel - wheels off (inside and outside) and brake calipers

The above is $1,150

Also doing Apex Ceramic tint (75% windshield, 35% front doors, and 5% rear windows + back window) and PPF behind all four wheels. Another $850 here.

The Kenzo comes with a 5 year warranty, but the shop owner says it will last almost indefinitely as long as you maintain the vehicle properly throughout the years.

 

[Lookin2Buy]

Has anyone DIY’d a ceramic coat for their new mustang? I’m seeing products like Gyeon that look pretty straightforward to use.. especially for a brand new car with perfect paint. It looks like iron remover, clay bar, wash is all that’s needed (for a new car).

The shops around here, and probably anywhere, charge about $1500. I’m having a hard time reconciling $1500 every 3-5 years vs $150 every 1-2 years.

However.. i don’t want to end up with a lumpy streaked up mess of a coating,, so I’m wondering is anyone has experience doing it themselves. How difficult was it? Tips? Pitfalls? What would have done different? How long did it last? Any info at all would be super helpful!

If you end up with some high spots.. can they just be polished away with an orbital?

Thx!

I'm in the same boat as you, I'm having a tough time mentally with paying the $1500+ for the 3-5 year coating. I'm also hesitant to pay the shop that says "yeah I'll do it for $800". I thought about doing the Adams Graphene Ceramic Coating and have watched a couple of YT videos on it but like you I would be pissed beyond belief if I screwed up the paint on my brand new car.

At this point I'm thinking about just using the good old fashion polisher to polish and wax it. Yeah the coverage doesn't last as long but I can justify that bonding time.

Also, the whole brand new car needing minimal prep has been proven to be untrue. After days of YT watching and reading reviews, I plan to do my detail in this order:
Foam Cannon
Rinse
Foam Cannon
Decontamination towel (clay)
Rinse
Iron Remover
Rinse
Polish (Meguiar's Ultimate Polish)
IPA wipe (probably DIY Detail or Adams Surface Prep)
Wax (Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax)

I feel like I'll start on a Friday afternoon and take my time over the weekend so that I'm mindful of cure times and such.

 

[Glossox]

Brand new car with perfect paint? No such thing. Take a close look and you'll see. Even with a brand new vehicle, I'd suggest at least a single step paint correction before ceramic.

I contemplated various paths as well. I've decided I'm going to let the experts tackle this 2+ day job.

Oh ya.. that’s a good point. I guess i just expected the paint to be good right off the bat. You’re def swaying me here. You mentioned upkeep of the cc. Iv seen vids about spraying it with a… refresher? Topper? Is that what ur talking about as far as maintenance goes? Or would you have to take it back to the shop

 

[Glossox]

, I plan to do my detail in this order:
Foam Cannon
Rinse
Foam Cannon
Decontamination towel (clay)
Rinse
Iron Remover
Rinse
Polish (Meguiar's Ultimate Polish)
IPA wipe (probably DIY Detail or Adams Surface Prep)
Wax (Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax)

lol.. same boat indeed. I literally just 1 hour ago wrote down those exact steps more or less
Pre wash,
Foam and rinse
iron remover
clay bar lubricant and clay bar
rinse
polish,
Rinse
Adam’s surface prep
And a spray on wax/ceramic hybrid

This is the other route i was thinking about instead of having the pro coating done. And every time i get an oil change, I’d do the process again.

for the IPA wipe.. is that as simple as using isopropyl alcohol and spraying on the car? It won’t damage anything?

 

[Ryunker]

Brand new car with perfect paint? No such thing. Take a close look and you'll see. Even with a brand new vehicle, I'd suggest at least a single step paint correction before ceramic.

Paint correction is an absolute must especially on a new car, my DH upon delivery has slight imperfections on every panel, excluding the roof. Whatever you ceramic coat over will be there like 3-6 years.

If you end up with some high spots.. can they just be polished away with an orbital?

Nope.

First consideration in ceramic coatings is many products require long cure times, have seen as much as 8 days so in my opinion do the coating and don't touch/drive it for like a week.

Second consideration is how to know when the factory paint is cured? Internet is quite full of opinions regarding this. Fact is when the paint finishes shrinking. My car has a build date of December 3rd. The paint thickness measured on February 6th and remeasured it on March 6th and there is still a measurable thickness difference. Have to see what April 6th will reveal. As paint finishes cure, chemical trapped escape thru the top coat and to the atmosphere. Many factors at play. I can see noticeable decline in the shine of the car since delivery. So when the ceramic coat is applied too soon, how can the chemicals escape? Sorry no good answers for that one.

Ceramic coat maintenance, spray and wipe stuff, that is the easy part. By doing so the ceramic should really last forever.

Hope this helps

 

[Glossox]

.

Hope this helps

Yes.. totally helps.

1. I’m not doing it myself

2. Since it’s gonna need paint correction anyway, I’ll just wait a few months so factory paint is properly cured before getting it coated.

3. maintenance will be easy

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

Couple things to consider and this is where opinions very. You can use iron remover with your decon towel while the car is foamed. Dont waste product and start spraying all over the car. It’s a waste and pointless. One spray on the towel and a wide spray on a panel and you are good to go. The iron remover and the foam offer a ton of lubrication and reduces scratching. No need to spray and let it sit like many people do.

Also, if you ceramic coat yourself get a user friendly one. If the company suggests you don’t drive it for days or a week then find another product. ( They are still good products, but there are others just as good that are more practical) They are using old chemical technology. Newer products are as little as a couple of hours and up not to get wet but they are bonded to the paint immediately. Still shouldn’t wash for a few days to a week but it’s ok to drive it. And yes if you have high spots you can polish them down, that’s how you remove ceramic coatings on paint. Again, not promoting anyone but my choice of coatings gives you up to an hour to lower high spots by applying more product and leveling it. Very simple to use and I had no high spots.

I’ve applied a few ceramic coatings and if you get a user friendly option and you can apply a wax or sealant, you can apply ceramic coating. You should have good lighting so you can see well. Again, watch a few good videos to learn but it’s not that hard as say a professional coating that can be more finicky but even those are getting more user friendly.

I have everything I needed except the coating which set me back $115 I think. And if you really don’t want to do that. I had great success with Turtle wax seal and shine and TW ceramic spray coating. Awesome shine and water beading and lasts from 8 months to a year on cars that stay outside and in the Florida sun. If you garage your car then you can get well over a year and one bottle will last you several years at $20

I’ll add another. If you don’t have a polisher or a DA you don’t need to buy an expensive one for this job. You can buy a cheap HF polisher or DA polisher for under $100 and be just fine. If you plan on doing dozens of cars a year then get a good one. And no, you aren’t going to screw up the paint with a polisher and burn the clear coat like so many think. This discussion is for another thread though.

 

[Glossox]

I have everything I needed except the coating which set me back $115 I think. And if you really don’t want to do that. I had great success with Turtle wax seal and shine and TW ceramic spray coating. Awesome shine and water beading and lasts from 8 months to a year on cars that stay outside and in the Florida sun. If you garage your car then you can get well over a year and one bottle will last you several years at $20

thanks. Specifically what ceramic coating did you use? And also.. how was the gloss/shine with the tw vs a paint correction and ceramic coat? Very noticeable, or only if you’re looking for it? I care about the protection.. but applying a spray every few months i think would be adequate. But how’s the shine?.. that’s important to me. There’s no way tw is equal to paint correction and cc… I’m trying to figure out how big a difference there is. It’ll be the difference between getting it coated vs me just spraying it every few months.

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

thanks. Specifically what ceramic coating did you use? And also.. how was the gloss/shine with the tw vs a paint correction and ceramic coat? Very noticeable, or only if you’re looking for it? I care about the protection.. but applying a spray every few months i think would be adequate. But how’s the shine?.. that’s important to me. There’s no way tw is equal to paint correction and cc… I’m trying to figure out how big a difference there is. It’ll be the difference between getting it coated vs me just spraying it every few months.

The shine was good but not like the ceramic coating. If the cars were side by side you’d notice the difference but by themselves most people can’t tell if it’s a good wax or ceramic coated. The TW has UV protection in it as well. If I didn’t go ceramic I would have used TW. There are other good products similar to TW as well. You can also use a topper over the TW to help the shine like a good wax and it’ll become the sacrificial layer instead of TW. Nothing I’ve found shines better than a high quality wax. The other poster on here has some very good knowledge and he/she hopefully will chime in as that person seems to have experience in this area as well. I think it’s DF50. I don’t know that person but they post very good information on some other threads I’ve watched about paint protection.

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

Another option is to go the safer route and use a sealant or wax that you are more comfortable with and after some time goes on and you gather more information on ceramic coatings and how to polish cars you can then choose to do your own ceramic coating. The important thing is get protection on it soon after you get it.

 

[Glossox]

Another option is to go the safer route and use a sealant or wax that you are more comfortable with and after some time goes on and you gather more information on ceramic coatings and how to polish cars you can then choose to do your own ceramic coating. The important thing is get protection on it soon after you get it.

Yes. Iv been back and forth about it.. but i think this is what I’ll do initially,, and take some time to think about it more.. depending on how the car looks etc. And if i change my mind down the line.. i can always get the proper paint correction and cc done. Thanks.. everyone has been super helpful!!

 

[Glossox]

The shine was good but not like the ceramic coating. If the cars were side by side you’d notice the difference but by themselves most people can’t tell if it’s a good wax or ceramic coated. The TW has UV protection in it as well. If I didn’t go ceramic I would have used TW. There are other good products similar to TW as well. You can also use a topper over the TW to help the shine like a good wax and it’ll become the sacrificial layer instead of TW. Nothing I’ve found shines better than a high quality wax. The other poster on here has some very good knowledge and he/she hopefully will chime in as that person seems to have experience in this area as well. I think it’s DF50. I don’t know that person but they post very good information on some other threads I’ve watched about paint protection.

Ah ok. I didn’t t know i could put the topper on top of wax!! The responses here are great. I’ll use the tw/topper when the car arrives and take a few months to see if i want to still commit to a proper cc at the time. It’ll have to get a paint correction anyway.

 

[roadpilot]

Is that what ur talking about as far as maintenance goes? Or would you have to take it back to the shop

I'm primarily referring to proper normal cleaning/maintenance with products designed to be used with your ceramic. With the IGL Kenzo, it has a 5 year warranty so they want me to bring it back once a year for a little TLC on their end, too.

 

[Vapor Blue GT]

Ah ok. I didn’t t know i could put the topper on top of wax!! The responses here are great. I’ll use the tw/topper when the car arrives and take a few months to see if i want to still commit to a proper cc at the time. It’ll have to get a paint correction anyway.

I’ve tried a traditional wax on top of TW ceramic spray and it looked a little more “wet” but I like the use of TW spray ceramic on its own and the same for Sealn shine. The wax is usually the topper. I just want to make that clear. I’d definitely use a product that offers UV protection. The actual wax itself doesn’t matter when you use it as a topper. And TW spray ceramic is a wax with ceramic infused in it.

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