Brand New Car, want a ceramic coating on it (I think). Which one?

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planestrainsandcars

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Hey all. Just bought a (basically) brand new Silver Kia Forte. (Only 6500k miles, used). Trying to make this car last as long as possible. 200k miles If I can. I am a paint fanatic (I want my car to look good!), But yeah, I know, it's only a Kia forte. Gotta take care of and love what you have, right? I live in Ohio, near Canada and the winters are killer. And much of spring is dirty slush and Mud. The paint is perfect. Not a dent, not @ scratch, no swirls! Not even going to try to paint correct right now at all. I'm going to save any clear coat for the future. I may, at most, polish by hand after washing. Now. I've always waxed cars. But living in dirty cold ohio, those ceramic coatings are looking tempting. I'm more than willing to pay the $120 for wolfgang or any other high end brand so long as I can apply it myself and make it look great. I just want my paint to look as good as possible while being protected as fiercly as possible (from rust, stone chips, etc, which happen every day here!).

Sorry for the length, but do you guys have any recommendations? What would you seal with and how long should it last? I've used chemical guys jet seal before but that's only going to stay good for 6 months. Which is fine, I can reseal every 6 months, but I also want the best, most durable coating that also looks good. I just paid 13k, $120 is nothing to protect that and now is the time to do it when the paint is perfect!
 
Just approved this post. For some reason it was in the Moderation Queue

Also took the liberty to BREAK UP you huge chunk of text to make it easier to read. I'm not sure why, but so many people when typing out a post don't ever hit the old [ENTER] key.


As to your questions, "yes" look into a ceramic coating for longer lasting protection plus faster washing and drying, even self-cleaning when it rains.

I parked my car outside today for the storm going over us and she looks all clean and purty.


I would also recommend finally making the jump to machine polishing. You'll get so much better results.


:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
Just approved this post. For some reason it was in the Moderation Queue

Also took the liberty to BREAK UP you huge chunk of text to make it easier to read. I'm not sure why, but so many people when typing out a post don't ever hit the old [ENTER] key.


As to your questions, "yes" look into a ceramic coating for longer lasting protection plus faster washing and drying, even self-cleaning when it rains.

I parked my car outside today for the storm going over us and she looks all clean and purty.


I would also recommend finally making the jump to machine polishing. You'll get so much better results.


:)
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Sorry about the paragraphs, I'll watch that from now on.

Thanks for the advice. Do you think I should try for a more permanent (4 year) ceramic coating or more like halfway between a sealant and a ceramic (like maybe something siO2) that lasts maybe a year?

Also, I just detailed a car (that I don't care about) fully with a rotary. It looked fantastic overall...except for all the holograms on the black paint! First time with a rotary (harbor freight).

This car, I care about. I am thinking the Griots G9 would be a good option for this one, and then maybe a mini DA or RO for edges and details. I would like a nice rupes DA but $450 is a lot. I would also love to learn the rotary better but I just don't think this is the car to practice on.

Also just need to get starting thinking on product selection (for sealant/coating) and don't know where to start.
 
To be honest if you want to go full on ceramic coating, machine polishing is a must. The griots g9 is a good option for you. Get s lot of pad, mix of white and orange ones amd you should be good to go. Kia doesnt really require anything more aggressive. Get good polishing liquids. 3D, sonax, are good options. I prefer water based liquids just because of easier clean up. Rupes and Menzerna liquids are good as well but too oily for my tastes. You need a good paint prep spray like CarPro Eraser. You can use other ones, I just prefer Eraser.
 
What do you think about meguiars ultimate polish (not compound, polish)? Less cut than UC, available everywhere for $10. Might even follow up with an even finer glaze for that beauty. Then coat. Decent idea?
 
Why glaze? You'd have to remove it with a panel prep before coating it.
 
planestrainsandcars said:
Sorry about the paragraphs, I'll watch that from now on.

Thanks for the advice. Do you think I should try for a more permanent (4 year) ceramic coating or more like halfway between a sealant and a ceramic (like maybe something siO2) that lasts maybe a year?

Also, I just detailed a car (that I don't care about) fully with a rotary. It looked fantastic overall...except for all the holograms on the black paint! First time with a rotary (harbor freight).

This car, I care about. I am thinking the Griots G9 would be a good option for this one, and then maybe a mini DA or RO for edges and details. I would like a nice rupes DA but $450 is a lot. I would also love to learn the rotary better but I just don't think this is the car to practice on.

Also just need to get starting thinking on product selection (for sealant/coating) and don't know where to start.
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Don't buy into those long claims. If you are in a harsh condition, expect to be repolishing and reapplying in the spring as harsh conditions take a toll on a coating.

Can you apply a coating to unpolished paint and unprepped? Sure it can be done. Just don't expect maximum performance from an unprepped surface. I see the car has 65k miles on it. With that many miles I expect it to have some defects as the previous owner probably didn't care for it unless he was OCD about getting his paint dialed in. The benefit of silver is that it hides defects very well. So I am sure they are there under the proper lighting.

Get yourself a dual action polisher. It does not have to be a Rupes right off the bat. Get yourself some pads and some good products. You don't have to compound but at least a polish will suffice. Don't forget to chemically decontaminate the paint and mechanically decontaminate prior to polishing. The most important thing is to get a good panel wipe to endure the surface is clean. And I mean something other than IPA.

And no glazes are needed. You will need to remove that anyway.

Check into Gyeon CanCoat or Cquartz Lite. Both are good entry level coatings.
 
"If", the paint is as good as you say, no swirls to be found (which is rare on a used buy) then yes, a coating could be applied without polishing, claying, iron removers and so forth. But are you actually 100% sure of this?

Keep in mind with a very durable Coating, let's say from Carpro, you'll be hitting "freeze frame" upon that Paint, and will have to live with what's under that coating until it 1, either wears off, or 2, is polished off to strip the Coating.

Try this: After a wash, and dry, try the "Plastic Baggie Test". Find yourself a thin Plastic Sandwich Bag, place your hand inside of it, and feel the paint on different Panels and even all the Glass. That will tell the tale if any above surface contaminants are on the paint?

Usually, for almost any vehicle, there can likely be Iron Contaminants on-in the Paint Finish. It would practically have to be a vehicle straight out of a paint booth, and taken covered to a garage not to have such to some degree.

If a need of Claying and/or Iron Removers is needed because of such found contaminants, most would say it is quite hard not to instill some small degree of marring into the paint even with the most gentlest of Clays.

If you're serious about going into a good D/A Machine, yes the new Griots G9 appears to be a mighty fine machine. Figure with Pads, you'll be looking about at least $200-$225 right there, and likely more. Even for a small car such as yours, you should have minimum 4 White LC Pads, and 5-6 is even better to have on hand.

Coating with say a good Coating, such as Carpro Cquartz UK which is very durable, you will need to use a panel prep product after all washing, decon and polishing processes are done. In the Carpro Line-Up, that Panel-Prep Product is called "Eraser". This product will help insure proper bonding of the Coating, and as well eliminate Coating installation problems because of improper bonding occurring, which it can without proper prep.

There's other factors that would influence the need of a Ceramic Coating as a choice versus other protectant products. Let's say you have a garage, and the ability to heat it occasionally during the winter months?

Then you could apply protectants during winter if desired.

Coatings are without problems either, many can be prone to water spotting as well as other products, and one usually uses some "sacrificial topper product" on them . One commone one would be Carpro Reload, and there are numerous others made today which would also be suitable.

Other options much less expensive could/would be a good Hybrid Wax-Sealant instead. Such could be Collinite #476 Super Doublecoat Paste Wax. It is a fine product.

Sure, you can use a Polish such as the Meguiars you mention, it is a very good product and can be used by hand as well as machine. Will amp Gloss, clean the paint, and help remove some nasties that might be on the paint.
 
The Guz said:
Don't buy into those long claims. If you are in a harsh condition, expect to be repolishing and reapplying in the spring as harsh conditions take a toll on a coating.

Can you apply a coating to unpolished paint and unprepped? Sure it can be done. Just don't expect maximum performance from an unprepped surface. I see the car has 65k miles on it. With that many miles I expect it to have some defects as the previous owner probably didn't care for it unless he was OCD about getting his paint dialed in. The benefit of silver is that it hides defects very well. So I am sure they are there under the proper lighting.

Get yourself a dual action polisher. It does not have to be a Rupes right off the bat. Get yourself some pads and some good products. You don't have to compound but at least a polish will suffice. Don't forget to chemically decontaminate the paint and mechanically decontaminate prior to polishing. The most important thing is to get a good panel wipe to endure the surface is clean. And I mean something other than IPA.

And no glazes are needed. You will need to remove that anyway.

Check into Gyeon CanCoat or Cquartz Lite. Both are good entry level coatings.
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From the OP, it's actually got over 6 million (6500k) miles!!! :) Assuming that should be 6500 miles, I still agree that it probably has some small defects/swirls that are masked because of the color. I also agree about not believing the longevity claims. No way any coating is going four years on a daily driver in the salt belt, at least nothing consumer grade.

As someone who also lives where the winters can be long and nasty I think a good sealant is just about as good as a coating. The main benefit of the coating is the ease of cleaning/self cleaning characteristics of the coatings. The main drawbacks are the added cost and increased time it takes to apply. I've had good results with WG DGPS on several vehicles and Collinite 476 works awesome on the sled trailer. I've also used Polish Angel Viking Coat with really good results on my truck, but that is getting up close to the price and time of a coating.
 
Lol Ok Let's Clarify the mileage, it's got 6500 miles. Total. First owner wanted a bigger car, traded it in. I basically got the "drove it off the lot" discount.

I get the idea that a real ceramic coating just isn't going to be for me. In this area within a 100 mile radius, no one even washes their car. If they do, it's 100% guarantee through a carwash scratch machine. But screw everyone else, I want my car to look fantastic. Still, realistically, I plan to wash and reseal/wax every fall and spring. I know that's not much, but I feel like it's quite a realistic routine for me.

So looks like it's a good idea to

- strip wash, clay (just a one-time clay because it's new, been sitting around the dealership for a couple years, don't plan to clay every time)
- polish with a Griot's G9 (no compound needed for this new of a Kia, right? just polish)
- seal, by hand or with G9

Pretty easy routine. I like it.

I still need to decide what product. You guys have made some good suggestions. My only experience so far is with chemical guys JetSeal (great, but doesn't last too too long, about 4-6 months in reality). I'm looking for something like that that's easy to work with, but more durable, and easy to touch up.

I'm hoping to make some modifications and aesthetic changes to the car as time goes on (new wheels, etc) to look a little nicer than your standard sedan, but for now, I need to get that paint protected and looking fantastic.

Our roads are terrible around here. Awful. Worse than country roads. The city is messed up. I literally leave to go to more rural areas and the roads get better. So rock chips are a real threat. Trying to cope with the fact that I will have to deal with that one way or another. Seems like everyone around here drives a pickup/jeep/etc, or just submisses into eventually having their car destroyed. Or both. :laughing:
 
Why not give something like WG ceramic spray coating a try, decent durability and not over the top expensive or Collinite super double coat # 476 (apply every 6 months) or # 845( used this on myF150 every 6 months in NE PA , held up nice.
 
That WG ceramic spray looks enticing. Might be exactly what I'm looking for. Worth it to wax on top of that? Or just a total waste?
 
If you are planning to do the car every 6 months (exactly what I do), then a clay in the spring followed by a polish and hit it with 845 or 476s like Mark suggested above is about as simple and long-lasting as it gets for a non-ceramic product.

In the fall, I just give it a good wash and slap another coat on for the winter.
 
If you do go with ceramic then upkeep is typically an SiO2 silica spray (WG recommends every 6 month with their spray, I typically do every 3 months depending on driving conditions. )
 
I do live in Canada and CQuartz UK held up quite well on my car with all the salt slush and what not. In the winter time, I don't really bother doing too much washes, I just power wash it every week, more for the undercarriage than anything else and just to spray all the salt off. Maybe once a month I'll do an actual wash or so. Optimum Glosscoat didn't live through wintertime, but CQuartz UK definitely did. I want my car to look good but I don't want to re-do my car every 6 months or so, I want to re-do it once every two years lol. I'm lazy but it's also to preserve clearcoat. I want to polish as little as possible to save the maximum amount of clear.

To get down to the nitty gritty of it as well, I like a coating with a measurable thickness. Basically, it means that when I do polish, the amount of clear I cut out is lessened because I have the 2 microns of coating (This is brand dependant though) and then I might end up removing only one micron of clear as I am only using a fine polish to do the job, for a total of roughly 3 microns being removed. This to me is a better way to do things than to just re-doing the car. Although I could be misunderstanding what you mean by re-doing the car? I know that when I re-seal a car, I at least use a paint cleanser first so it not be an abrasive product really, meaning I may not be removing any clear at all.

That being said, I do think that coatings are not for everyone. It is a significant investment to get into coatings. But also some people just don't like it, some people like applying something to their cars every few washes or so. I'd actually suggest CanCoat over CQuartz Lite just because CanCoat is easier to use I find. I like the aerosol bottle to be honest.
 
I’m OCD. I like gloss all the time. I have been a weekly washer for years, and used wax, polymer sealants, SiO2 based sealants and toppers. Now I’m turned on by ceramic coatings. During winter as long as ambient temp is above 35° I’ll wear ice fishing gloves and wash. I’m also a fan of Xpel or any PPF. My last car only had high impact areas wrapped and current car is no compromise fully wrapped.

Generically speaking one spray product will feel slick but doesn’t bead water as well or another feels grabby but beads like crazy. There’s always something disappointing among spray application, water based products. Until I applied a quality coating I didn’t realize how pleasurable it is to put a wash mitt on my car over any sealant I’ve tried. Hydrophobic, slickness and durability are up a big level.

In my limited experience in coatings (Gtechniq Halo, Gtechniq C5 and soon Nanolex SiShield) it was not difficult to apply vs. a sealant. Its performance, however, after multiple contact washes is the proverbial I can eat a cake and have it too.

I like Griots DA, have two of them and I like their Boss correcting and fast correcting creams. It cuts and finishes well with a Rupes yellow foam pad and if I need more cut I put on a Rupes medium wool pad. The cone flare shape on Rupes foam pad gives me more precision around edges.

Good luck and congrats on the new ride!
 
planestrainsandcars said:
I just want my paint to look as good as possible while being protected as fiercly as possible (from rust, stone chips, etc, which happen every day here!).
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I suspect you misunderstand what ceramic coating does. It will _not_ protect from stone chips or rust. If you want to protect against stone chips, you'd need protective film, not a coating.

Also, ceramic coating will mar and scratch just like paint. It will also require washing and care. Mainly, ceramic coating remains hydrophobic for a longer period of time.

However, you are also locking in any imperfections on the paint.
 
Some good points have been brought up by other members.

Vehicle care varies dependent upon what part of the country one lives in. For those who experience harsh winters, vehicle care goes beyond just the exterior paint.

Salts take their toll on areas not initially thought of, door jambs and rocker panels, under hood, wheel wells and undercarriage. Make sure you address such areas with protectants. Such can be as simple as the use of a WOWA product like Optimum Opti-Seal or Ultima Paint Guard Plus.

And as for interior, salt really does horrid damage to carpeting. Good Floor Mats are wise to have, and even a brush handy so that you can get some of the snow and such off of shoes-boots while entering.

Many vehicles today commonly have plastic front wheel wells, but often not so in back. Thoroughly cleaning such metal wheel wells and coating with something like 3M Rubberized Undercoating can help prevent rust.
There's many vehicles I've done this to, and it helps.

I'd commonly do a wheels off detail to such areas prior to winter weather coming.

Snow Brushes, there are many nice ones today that have very soft bristles, extendable handles and such. They aren't that expensive to have a nice one on hand. Hard bristled cheapo brushes are damaging to surfaces.

The coin op spray washes, they help, but can be problematic for an owner when temps drop below freezing, many then close.
 
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