thanks to all. so various price points are only marketing profits?
It seems price is also somewhat tied to longevity and 'special' features like claimed self-healing. Unfortunately, true longevity is somewhat of an unknown due to a variety of factors.
You'll never know for sure how durability will really turn out until you actually try it in your climate and your situation. Some things can be estimated by finding others experiences in similar conditions and usage but that's still just an educated guess.
We have 2 cars with considerably different usage patterns; both protected with same set of products and getting the same maintenance; product combo was rated 24-36 months. One car met the longevity expectations, the other far exceeded it (or would have if I didn't re-do it early)
Car 1 was at 3 years and coating performance was probably 85% 'like new' when I removed and redid it. Likely easily coulda gone another 2 years barring any changes to usage patterns. About 17k miles at time of redo.
Car 2 was at 2 years and was recently redone as coating had reached it's functional endpoint with regards to hydrophobic/self cleaning performance. About 43k miles at time of redo.
Car 1 is about 5500 miles a year, no freeway, sits outside from April thru November but only really driven daily November thru April, short trips, no freeway.
For 1st 2 years it sat outside 24/7, 365 days a year. We live on a wooded lot so it would spend weeks in Spring and Fall covered in debris from Maple, Oak, Cottonwood and all manner of other trees, mixed with frequent rain, snow and frost.
Car 2 is year round daily driver, generally always garaged, 20k miles a year, 95% freeway.
All are in NE Ohio.
Same protection, varying usage far different likely outcomes. Freeway use, especially during winter, is very, very hard on a vehicles finish. Merely sitting static outside as Car 1 has done most of its life seemed to have relatively little detrimental effect on coating. Here in the wintery NE, mileage w/ the consideration of how the car is used seems to be more indicative of longevity as opposed to the passage of time.
However, I once had an exchange with a coating user in Arizona who pretty much observed the exact opposite; cars that sat stationary in Arizona had coatings that degraded quicker than cars that were frequently driven...effects of the nuclear sun in AZ, I'd guess. Last time I was in AZ I couldn't believe how toasted the hoods, roofs and trunks of cars were.
Point being, no claims listed on a box can even begin to adequately predict longevity.
It's the ultimate YMMV scenario.
Additionally, just because a coating is sold as 'pro only' doesn't always equate to 'better than consumer/prosumer'; like consumer avaliable coatings, pro-only seem to have a 'good, better, best' hierarchy as well. I ran a mid-level pro coating 50/50 on a hood along side an upper level consumer coating and the consumer offering ate the pro coating for lunch...not even close.
End of the day it's really just a kinda a crapshoot with so many variables involved, not to mention the subjectivity of appearance. Hence my belief that there is no universal BEST coating...but there may be a 'best for you'. Finding that is the trick...
