The full blown ceramic coatings comes in a little glass bottle and a very few in a little spray plastic bottle. 30ml or 50ml is what's geared to the consumer coatings and the few in the plastic bottles comes in 4oz or 8oz. The bigger bottles you will know by the high price on them. Otherwise you have from around $50 and up. This is the ceramic coatings that could last you over 2 years. There are also a few that comes in a syringe too.
Can we cut the SiO2 coating nonsense out?
- Thread starter nakranij
- Start date
The full blown ceramic coatings comes in a little glass bottle and a very few in a little spray plastic bottle. 30ml or 50ml is what's geared to the consumer coatings and the few in the plastic bottles comes in 4oz or 8oz. The bigger bottles you will know by the high price on them. Otherwise you have from around $50 and up. This is the ceramic coatings that could last you over 2 years. There are also a few that comes in a syringe too.
Desertnate
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- Aug 5, 2013
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Along with SWETM's advice on the packaging being a clue, also look at the durability claims on the product pages. While you're results may vary, if a product claims to get 3+ years you should easily get 18 months to 2 years with no problems from a reputable brand/product.
Calendyr
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The claims on these products have to be taken with a grain of salt.
First off, they are all semi-permanent, so they will stay on the paint until you remove them. On the other hand, maximum effectiveness of the product diminishes with time, and what you normally loose first is the hydrophobicity of the product.
As an exemple, I have been installing McKee's 37 paint coatings for 3 years now. This year I implemented a nano-ceramic maintenance program for my clients. Basically it's a detailed wash with chemical decontamination and application of a ceramic sealant (CarPro Reload).
All the clients I did this package for that had 1 year old coating from McKee's (that I installed last year) had flat paint. No hydrophobicity at all. The product is still there and it's still protecting the paint, but the main advantage of it is gone (ease of maintenance and water repellency). So I will very likelly remove that product from my offering when I am done with my current stock (one bottle left) and go with something else. McKee's claims 3 years on this product... I don't know what aspect of it is 3 years but less than a year for water repellency is pretty bad for a coating. I was hoping to be proven wrong with Scott's newest test but McKee's only sent Hydro Blue. So that confirms to me they don't want their product to fall flat on it's face in a durability test.
Very sad because the price is great, and application is really good too. But if it can't offer decent durability, I see no reason to use it.
Now I will have to find a product with similar characteristics that can last about 2 years.
Not even the decon wash revived it some?
That's not so good if the coating behavior is totaly flat after a year. Then it's more to be compared to the coating lite range of products. And it's much about how the customer maintains the coating or you get it in to maintance every 6months to check how it's doing and do the necessary to revive it and at the end refresh it with a topper to have it's behavior on top.
Pinnacle Black Label have a coating in the spray bottle if remember correctly. Otherwise in your environment a tried and great results is Carpro CQUK 3.0. Then IIRC you are a mobile detailer and that gets other properties that needs to be working for you when you apply it and also when you can release the coated car out in the wild again.
Desertnate
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Those are pretty disapointing results from the McKee's. I used the original version and was able to get 18 months of visable performance by only doing routine washes and a wipe down with a QD spray. The vehicles even saw the worst winter my area had seen in 40 years. Tons of salt and grime on the cars for weeks at a time.
So far I've seen great results from CQUK 2.0 and I'm sure the cars I've done with 3.0 will do fine as well.
So far I've seen great results from CQUK 2.0 and I'm sure the cars I've done with 3.0 will do fine as well.
Belo
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what your asking for basically applies to any product that exists for anything with the exception of some of the regulated fda stuff.
all sorts of chemicals, cleaners, oils, cars, fuel system cleaners down to different brands of cucumber seeds. That's a big reason amazon is popular. If there are enough good reviews you'll know it's a decent product and does what it claims.
One thing that tweaks me a little about autogeek is that you can't review everything you buy, they only seem to post it if you get "selected" so you never really know how good a product is.
all sorts of chemicals, cleaners, oils, cars, fuel system cleaners down to different brands of cucumber seeds. That's a big reason amazon is popular. If there are enough good reviews you'll know it's a decent product and does what it claims.
One thing that tweaks me a little about autogeek is that you can't review everything you buy, they only seem to post it if you get "selected" so you never really know how good a product is.
Calendyr
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No, the decon did not help. Of course you get hydrophobics back when you apply reload, but that comes from the sealant, not the coating.
Cquatz is no good because you need to apply multiple layers. I can't stay there for 4-6 hours doing nothing while the first layer dries.
Calendyr
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I did not know that. Everytime I purchase from Autogeel I get an email asking me to review the products. Maybe they use the results internally to select what products they offer?
In any case, I don't think a review system like Amazon has would be much help. People review the products when they use it, so if it fails 7 months down the road, the review has already been done when they applied it.
For the price, McGee's coating is still a good value. I just hate the claims they make for 3 years when it won't provide a full year of maximum effectiveness.
The Guz
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- Jun 17, 2013
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Cquartz does not need multiple layers. One is fine. Also there is only a 45 min to 1 hour wait time in between coats. Unless Gliss is being used which is not required.
RippyD
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Coatings are good and marketing BS is alive and well. Both are true. Read reviews here and elsewhere and they'll steer you toward the better coatings and better values. Wild claims are likely just that.
Consider if you really want a coating on your car for more than 2 years. They're not impervious to accumulating contaminants and in my limited experience they may accumulate road grime faster than clear coat. After a year or two the coating could still be there but not be sheeting water due to contamination, and likely doesn't look as good as it did when new? I don't get the point of having a coating for more that 1-2 years on a car that's going to get driven in weather.
For those with more coating experience, how long or how for how many washes does that glassy look remain? It's one thing to get it on Day 1. It's another thing to have it a year later.
Consider if you really want a coating on your car for more than 2 years. They're not impervious to accumulating contaminants and in my limited experience they may accumulate road grime faster than clear coat. After a year or two the coating could still be there but not be sheeting water due to contamination, and likely doesn't look as good as it did when new? I don't get the point of having a coating for more that 1-2 years on a car that's going to get driven in weather.
For those with more coating experience, how long or how for how many washes does that glassy look remain? It's one thing to get it on Day 1. It's another thing to have it a year later.
acuRAS82
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This is where my head has always been at. I’m ok trying coatings at this point in my detailing life, but no way it’s staying on the car for more than 9-12 months and will likely get SiO2 toppers after 4-6 months to keep the surface looking as shiny as I want it to.
Calendyr
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Hum, they must have changed their process, I clearly remember not wanting to use Cquarzt because of the multiple layer requirement and time between layers. Thanks, I will look into it then, maybe that will be my next 2 year coating.
Calendyr
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You are right, this is why a yearly decontamination of the paint is advisable. This is what I offer to my client: Chemical decontamination once a year to remove road film, iron particles, tar, sap and dead bugs. Once this process is done, the coating should be hydrophobic again, but in the case of McKee's, it isn't.
Calendyr
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Why? The coating give a great semi-permanent barrier of protection that no sealant or wax can offer.
If you want to top it with a sealant, especially a SiO2 one, then you get the advantages of both.
The only case I can make about long durability coating is that once they start to get damaged, you might want to polish the swirls out and this will remove the coating. So it's really a matter of cost here. If you do the job yourself, the cost difference is minimal. If you go with a pro coating, then it can be night and day.
I agree with you that paying 2,000$ to get a 7 years coating it not the best solution in most cases. 5 years coatings seems to be the sweet spot in terms of value, you are not paying that much more than a 2 years coatings and your coating will be in need of re-application about the same time as it would be to polish the car.
acuRAS82
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My background: enthusiast who loves touching my car and looks forward to the near perfection (to me) and fun that comes with polishing at least once a year. I only own daily drivers, with one garage spot for 3 cars. I wash, WW and RW each of them 40-50x per year because I want my cars to look nice often, so even with careful washing technique I’m going to get mild swirls that bother me after 9 months.
I was giving my own opinion based on my own process and desires, but I completely agree that a 2 year coating can not only be great for most people, but is also desired by those who want their paint protected long term and don’t yearn for touching paint as much as I do. If I was paying, I would get a 2 year for my money.
rlmccarty2000
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For me a two year coating is my Goldilocks area. I’m at the 2 year mark on my CarPro Coating and while it still beads very well there are some scratches and marring that needs to be removed. I may use my bottle of Essence+ that has been gathering dust to see if I can go another year without polishing or I may just want to try out a new coating just for the fun of it.
I’m happy that “SiO2 nonsense” was created so I can make my clearcoat last as long as possible.
I’m happy that “SiO2 nonsense” was created so I can make my clearcoat last as long as possible.
UpperEchelonDetail
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yeah, I’m actually a certified installer for tsunami and can vouch the validity of their claim. I’ve also used opti coat pro plus, and Feynlab self heal plus in the past. I’d put the 4/7 against either of them, with the exception of feynlabs self healing aspects.
Is the opti coat pro plus as good as the old opti coat. I don't know how long it lasted because I sold the car after 3 years and it was still looking wonderful after each wash as if I had done a 3 step process