Where did you apply 3M?

[leftwing]

When I got my car I had the dealership apply 3M to the hood (just past the lights), the head lights themselves, bumper, A pillars, that bit of roof between the windshield and the pano-glass and the side mirrors. However, the chrome accents on the front of the car (around the grilles) wasn't done, and since that are is basically the most susceptible to being hit by road stuff, I'm wondering if I should have it done.

Also, without mud guards (still can't order them yet, at least in Canada) the area of the panels directly behind the tires seems to be prone as well - so I'm thinking about getting those four areas done, regardless of if/when I get the mud guards.

What did you guys get done, and did that include the chrome in the front of the car?

 

[tofu]

I'm thinking of getting a ceramic coating for the whole car instead of the paint protection film.

 

[leftwing]

I'm thinking of getting a ceramic coating for the whole car instead of the paint protection film.

I thought that ceramic coating didn't guarantee against rock chips, is that right?

 

[tofu]

I thought that ceramic coating didn't guarantee against rock chips, is that right?

You're right, although it's better against minor scratches.

 

[leftwing]

I might actually do a combination, although it's pricey to get the ceramic. I'm still not sure how best to deal with those front chrome pieces.

 

[Euljiro1ga]

I got a ceramic coat for the whole car. Compared to film, ceramic coating does not give you the best protection, but looks nicer in my eyes. Before I took delivery of my Stinger I planned to install protective film, but once I saw the paint and those dark chrome pieces, I really didn't want to ruin the shine. I might still get protective films on smaller areas like door edges and door handle well.

 

[Melissa Rothburg]

What does it cost to ceramic coat a car. Or to have protective film installed?

 

[leftwing]

When I looked into it locally, a four-coat ceramic application was around $1,600, and the 3M application that I got was half of that. The ceramic undoubtedly looks amazing, however, it is still only rock chip resistant - of the shops that I was looking up they all had a disclaimer saying as much. That's what I was most worried about since where I live, every time it snows significantly the city puts down gravel. The gravel doesn't get cleaned up until the spring, which can leave ~3 months of rocks spitting up from the vehicles in front of you. If I lived in California, Arizona, etc. (little or no-snow places) I think I would have opted for ceramic only.

 

[MelbourneStinger]

Ceramic coating will protect your paintwork, not sure about protecting from stone chips, but paint protection film i believe is best, at a cost though.

 

[voon]

What does it cost to ceramic coat a car. Or to have protective film installed?

As for ceramic coating: Down to 15 USD, Melissa If you order Mr Fix 9H on AliExpress and do it yourself. All hard coats apply really easy in my experience, as they're all suspenden in a very liquid solvent. if you want to pay more for a brandname, you can try the various ones selling around 65.

Of course if you walk into a crazy expensive garage, they'll do the same for 1000 or more for you.

Applying film is way more ... that should be around 2000 to 5000, depending a bit on car size, complexity of exteriors and quality of film ... plus whatever a seller think he's worth.

And yes, no ceramic coat, wax or whatever will do anything against rock chips. Only protective film helps there. But ceramic coats nicely protect against minor washin scratches etc. It's basically the semipermanent solution for "waxing" (well obviously not a wax, but the same goal .. shinyness, easy washing, water repellent etc).

But don't ask me about detailing. It's a fetish and i can talk for days about proper detailing Owning dozens upon dozens of products for it .. most just to own them

 

[leftwing]

As for ceramic coating: Down to 15 USD, Melissa If you order Mr Fix 9H on AliExpress and do it yourself. All hard coats apply really easy in my experience, as they're all suspenden in a very liquid solvent. if you want to pay more for a brandname, you can try the various ones selling around 65.

Of course if you walk into a crazy expensive garage, they'll do the same for 1000 or more for you.

Applying film is way more ... that should be around 2000 to 5000, depending a bit on car size, complexity of exteriors and quality of film ... plus whatever a seller think he's worth.

And yes, no ceramic coat, wax or whatever will do anything against rock chips. Only protective film helps there. But ceramic coats nicely protect against minor washin scratches etc. It's basically the semipermanent solution for "waxing" (well obviously not a wax, but the same goal .. shinyness, easy washing, water repellent etc).

But don't ask me about detailing. It's a fetish and i can talk for days about proper detailing Owning dozens upon dozens of products for it .. most just to own them

So what would you suggest for the chrome around the front of the car? Can that be filmed and is that what you would use? What about the parts of the car that weren't filmed - would you uses ceramic on that? Is it difficult to apply?

 

[voon]

Many film makers sell "front sets" that just protect the exposed front against rockchips.

As for normal detailing to maintain shine and ease of washing, it depends on what your detailing fetish is.

For the lazy, I would suggest either a long lasting sealant like FK1000P (best of all worlds .. lasts months, dirt cheap, good shine, easy to apply etc) or a ceramic coating like Carpros CQuartz etc .. or chinas Mr Fix 9H for the daring types. These can last one up to many years.

For detailing Zen, where people love detailing their car regularly, go for a decent canrauba wax, of which there are many very good affordable variants (and totally overpriced stuff, up into the absurd of several thousand dollars). Those last way less usually, in the up to 3 months range, but present a somewhat different shine and water beading some may prefer.

For all these things, a very careful washing is crucial to have the products stick well. And in the case of ceramics, you don't want to preserve dirt, lime and other crap below your hard coat for years to come.

Ceramics are usually very easy to apply, since you only need a small bit of apply cloth (but one, that leaves absolutly no crap on the surface) to apply very little of the very liquid product ... feels like gently rubbing your car surface with alcohole. This is one of the easiest application steps I know. Th etrick comes after: read the manuals carefully, and stick to them! Never leave coatings to dry to long or work on too much surface at once etc, because you need to remove/gently buff off the remainig residue before it hardens totally, or you'll be left with very very hard streaks you cant get rid of other than with a polishing machine- these things harde to "glass". Apart from that: very easy.

Personally, I'll go with a ceramic coating I apply myself.

 

[Melissa Rothburg]

Thank you for the info everyone. @voon I know I can't do the work myself because I'm clumsy but it's not cheap to have done. In any event I think we found our "detailing guru" of the community!

When I first heard about ceramic coating I didn't even know it was to prevent scratches. I thought it was to keep the car clean for longer. Is that not the case? I thought people were using ceramic coating on their wheels to prevent brake dust.

 

[voon]

There's a lot of gurus around So maybe you have a neighbour that'll help you. Ceramics are a bit both because they're fairly hard ... but they come out of the entire wax etc group, which was for shiny, "beading porn" and to let crap slip off easier

 

[Chris]

You are correct Melissa. Ceramic coating will not protect against "real" scratches. It does help keep the car clean, and will offer some protection against those really minor paint swirl marks you can get when washing the car. The claim is that it also helps protect against UV damage. I've never used it but I'm not sure it is all it's cracked up to be. When it first came out it claimed it lasted for lifetime. They then dropped it to 5 years. Now I believe it is 5 years only if you get the "pro" version and if you go in for yearly "check-ups."
I would also agree with you, that I don't believe I have the patience or skill to do it myself, if you take it to the pros they do a ton of work to prepare the paint first, or should anyway.

 

[Melissa Rothburg]

Thanks, guys. I've heard it takes about 8 hours to ceramic coat a car and that sounds like a lot of labor. Sorta kinda like getting a paint job. And then with the preparation you mentioned, @Chris, time really adds up. Or maybe that's part of the 8 hour process. Either way, not something I'd want to take on even if I could because of the possibility of messing it up. lol

 

[voon]

By the way, this is an example beading porn (and not something out of 50 shades of gray)

And yes, for a proper car coating, you'll work several days. Shampooing, handwashing, then again the whole car with flying rush speck remover, then degreaser and sometimes claying ... depending on the dirt/age. And only then coating. That is why it costs 1000+.

 

[leftwing]

Thanks for the explanations everyone! I feel like this is a pretty deep subject. For me, because of the nature of our winters and roads, I think I would be crazy not to get my whole front end filmed - so I think I will look further into getting the chrome filmed. For the rest of the car I think I'm going to get the pros to do the ceramic coating. I just don't know enough about how to prep it properly, and I'm not sure if our at or below 0C temperatures here would affect the way the coating goes on, but I don't have a heated garage and WINTER'S COMING!

 

[leftwing]

This community is amazing - thank you very much for helping me to figure this out!

 

[Kia Stinger]

This community is amazing - thank you very much for helping me to figure this out!

Thank you for the kind words! We do have an awesome group of people here! From all ends of the globe...