Applying sealant to ceramic coating

[garfy]

My sister-in-law bought a new car which the dealer applied some kind of ceramic coating on with a 5 year warranty. When I ran my fingers over the paint, it didn't feel very slick at all (about 2 months after it was done). I'm wondering if applying a sealant like Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant will be beneficial as my own car which has WDGPS feels many times slicker and smoother even though I applied the sealant almost 5 months ago. Thanks for your help!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

My sister-in-law bought a new car which the dealer applied some kind of ceramic coating on with a 5 year warranty. When I ran my fingers over the paint, it didn't feel very slick at all (about 2 months after it was done). I'm wondering if applying a sealant like Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant will be beneficial as my own car which has WDGPS feels many times slicker and smoother even though I applied the sealant almost 5 months ago. Thanks for your help!

More and more I hear people telling me,

"The dealership applied a ceramic coating"


I say, tell them to PROVE IT.

Make them show you the bottle the product came in and see exactly what it is they applied.


I'm not saying I don't believe that dealerships are not applying ceramic coatings, it is the trend for the future. But you get what you pay for and it takes time, work, the proper tools and the proper towels to correctly apply a ceramic paint coating and historically dealerships couldn't apply a coat of wax without screwing it up. So how are they all of a sudden now able to apply a ceramic paint coating?

Trust but verify.


As to your question....

First - some ceramic coatings leave the paint feeling rubbery. Personally I don't like coatings that leave the paint feeling rubbery and I won't use them. I prefer the paint to feel slippery and I know from experience this makes drying safer and faster because your drying chamois will slide over the paint instead of stick to it.

As to whether they applied a coating or not and whether or not you can apply a sealant over whatever they did, the answer is "yes". Go for it.

If they did apply a coating Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 doesn't contain any cleaners so all it's going to do is sit on top of the coating, not remove it.

If they didn't apply a coating then you're doing your sister-in-law a favor. (nice guy)

 

[fightnews]

More and more I hear people telling me,

"The dealership applied a ceramic coating"


I say, tell them to PROVE IT.

Make them show you the bottle the product came in and see exactly what it is they applied.


I'm not saying I don't believe that dealerships are not applying ceramic coatings, it is the trend for the future. But you get what you pay for and it takes time, work, the proper tools and the proper towels to correctly apply a ceramic paint coating and historically dealerships couldn't apply a coat of wax without screwing it up. So how are they all of a sudden now able to apply a ceramic paint coating?

Trust but verify.


As to your question....

First - some ceramic coatings leave the paint feeling rubbery. Personally I don't like coatings that leave the paint feeling rubbery and I won't use them. I prefer the paint to feel slippery and I know from experience this makes drying safer and faster because your drying chamois will slide over the paint instead of stick to it.

As to whether they applied a coating or not and whether or not you can apply a sealant over whatever they did, the answer is "yes". Go for it.

If they did apply a coating Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 doesn't contain any cleaners so all it's going to do is sit on top of the coating, not remove it.

If they didn't apply a coating then you're doing your sister-in-law a favor. (nice guy)

Coatings are overrated anyway, They may last a year or 10 years but what difference does it make when you're going to get water spots, swirls and other imperfections that you will want to polish off at least every 9 months.

The water spots are my real issue. Even with temp coatings you get them easily and as you know they don't just wash off.

 

[garfy]

More and more I hear people telling me,

"The dealership applied a ceramic coating"


I say, tell them to PROVE IT.

Make them show you the bottle the product came in and see exactly what it is they applied.


I'm not saying I don't believe that dealerships are not applying ceramic coatings, it is the trend for the future. But you get what you pay for and it takes time, work, the proper tools and the proper towels to correctly apply a ceramic paint coating and historically dealerships couldn't apply a coat of wax without screwing it up. So how are they all of a sudden now able to apply a ceramic paint coating?

Trust but verify.


As to your question....

First - some ceramic coatings leave the paint feeling rubbery. Personally I don't like coatings that leave the paint feeling rubbery and I won't use them. I prefer the paint to feel slippery and I know from experience this makes drying safer and faster because your drying chamois will slide over the paint instead of stick to it.

As to whether they applied a coating or not and whether or not you can apply a sealant over whatever they did, the answer is "yes". Go for it.

If they did apply a coating Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 doesn't contain any cleaners so all it's going to do is sit on top of the coating, not remove it.

If they didn't apply a coating then you're doing your sister-in-law a favor. (nice guy)

Thanks so very much for your reply. As for the coating, it doesn't have a rubbery feel to it, but I didn't like the fact that it didn't feel very slick to me at all. In fact, my 2012 Fit with just WGDGS 3.0 feels so much better. I guess she trusts the dealership "did something" because she knows the guys there (she used to work for them long ago) and I guess it would be so wrong for them to charge so much and not do it (it was a "package" that included Scotchgard for the upholstery besides the paint coating). I read a lot online about ceramic coatings and most pretty much say that the coating alone won't protect your vehicle's paint without proper care/cleaning/etc. Anyway, after applying the WGDGS 3.0 on her car, it now feels close to my own car's finish which just has the clearcoat as it came from the factory. I kind of told her not to take it to automatic car washes as many of them are bad for the exterior finishes (she just had it done before dropping it off and I had to remove a lot of debris and stuff that the car wash didn't remove; kind of tells me that the coating may not be that great, though she hadn't done anything in the 4-5 months she's had the car other than taking it to automatic car washes). I never use those car washes; prefer washing my cars myself and applying sealant every 4-6 months which seems to work out well for me.

Again, thank you so much for your reply. Next, I'm going to try using Klasse sealant which I've read all sorts of horror stories in removing it, but I want to see if it's more long-lasting than Wolfgang's.