Help with Black 2016 Jeep Wrangler

[mayberry]

At the beginning of Covid, I ran across a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara for a great price. So, I bought it as a 2nd vehicle. Never off road, had 25k miles and was in great shape. The only issue was the prior owner had run it through car washes, it appears, consistently. Small micro scratches and swirls all over it. I spent about 9 hours total using compound, clay barring, polishing and waxing and the Jeep looks great. There are still some imperfections in the paint, but I've done what I'm able to do.

Recently, I've started looking into more "permanent" solutions to help keep the Jeep clean and shiny. It looks unbelievable when I wash it, but the square nature of the front end causes there to be horrible bug splatters that are a pain to get off. I have been considering getting it ceramic coated. A local guy said he could fully detail, paint correct, iron remove, and ceramic coat it with a 5 yr product for $1200. While that sounds steep to me, I have nothing to compare it to. I'm certain I don't want to ceramic coat it on my own. I'm very comfortable with polish, wax, orbital polishers, etc....but I don't want to use a difficult product and screw the Jeep up. My questions are:

-Being a black Jeep, will I get more, or less, deep wet shine with a ceramic coating? I've been using Klasse All in One Polish, followed up with Blackfire Ice liquid wax, both applied with a Porter Cable polisher.

-Will the plastic parts: bumpers, front grill, plastic body colored fenders, door handles, side mirrors, hold the ceramic coating well and allow bug removal to be a LOT easier? I'm looking for something I can spray with a foam cannon, wipe with a mitt, rinse and dry, and it look as good as it does now.

-Is a ceramic coating really durable for 5 yrs? I live in Georgia, Jeep stays in a garage when I'm not driving it, and the top almost never goes up. So, no constant sun and weather on it, unless I'm driving it. I do drive it most days from March-October.

-Is there any downside to a ceramic coating, other than price? I spend a lot of time maintaining and detailing my vehicles. I also have an F-250 Super Duty diesel truck and that thing takes FOREVER to wash. It's white, so luckily, it can go between washes for a longer period. If I can cut down on time, and still have the shine and pop I love in the Jeep, that would be very helpful. I also run my own business and have 3 kids in sports all the time. So, time is a big consideration with washing and maintaining.

Any suggestions, or help you can provide is appreciated. Just trying to make up my mind. I don't mind spending the money if it's a life changer. But, I don't want to waste money, either.

 

[ShaneK]

You might consider Gyeon CanCoat. Looks good and should last 12+ months easily on a garaged vehicle. I have been using Cerakote wipes on textured plastic. Don’t think AG carries them. Doesn’t do well on smooth plastic.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Cerakote worked fine for me on the smooth plastic on a 2016 rav4. Applied it smooth and like a actual coating.

Before

After:

Installed last April. Over 10 months ago. Bumper is dirty but you can still see that it’s nice and dark. Impressive stuff.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Guz]

At the beginning of Covid, I ran across a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara for a great price. So, I bought it as a 2nd vehicle. Never off road, had 25k miles and was in great shape. The only issue was the prior owner had run it through car washes, it appears, consistently. Small micro scratches and swirls all over it. I spent about 9 hours total using compound, clay barring, polishing and waxing and the Jeep looks great. There are still some imperfections in the paint, but I've done what I'm able to do.

Recently, I've started looking into more "permanent" solutions to help keep the Jeep clean and shiny. It looks unbelievable when I wash it, but the square nature of the front end causes there to be horrible bug splatters that are a pain to get off. I have been considering getting it ceramic coated. A local guy said he could fully detail, paint correct, iron remove, and ceramic coat it with a 5 yr product for $1200. While that sounds steep to me, I have nothing to compare it to. I'm certain I don't want to ceramic coat it on my own. I'm very comfortable with polish, wax, orbital polishers, etc....but I don't want to use a difficult product and screw the Jeep up. My questions are:

-Being a black Jeep, will I get more, or less, deep wet shine with a ceramic coating? I've been using Klasse All in One Polish, followed up with Blackfire Ice liquid wax, both applied with a Porter Cable polisher.

-Will the plastic parts: bumpers, front grill, plastic body colored fenders, door handles, side mirrors, hold the ceramic coating well and allow bug removal to be a LOT easier? I'm looking for something I can spray with a foam cannon, wipe with a mitt, rinse and dry, and it look as good as it does now.

-Is a ceramic coating really durable for 5 yrs? I live in Georgia, Jeep stays in a garage when I'm not driving it, and the top almost never goes up. So, no constant sun and weather on it, unless I'm driving it. I do drive it most days from March-October.

-Is there any downside to a ceramic coating, other than price? I spend a lot of time maintaining and detailing my vehicles. I also have an F-250 Super Duty diesel truck and that thing takes FOREVER to wash. It's white, so luckily, it can go between washes for a longer period. If I can cut down on time, and still have the shine and pop I love in the Jeep, that would be very helpful. I also run my own business and have 3 kids in sports all the time. So, time is a big consideration with washing and maintaining.

Any suggestions, or help you can provide is appreciated. Just trying to make up my mind. I don't mind spending the money if it's a life changer. But, I don't want to waste money, either.

Congrats on the Jeep.

Lets start with the first thing you mention about bugs. How long are you leaving them on the paint to have them become difficult to remove?

As far as looking for a permanent solution, a coating is not permanent. They are semi-permanent but will last longer than what you are currently using. When having someone else do it, you are paying for the labor for the prep work. The price is going to vary by area.

How much experience do you have with polishing? Do you want to take the time to polish it on your own? You will have to answer these questions yourself. If not then look to have it done by someone else.

A

-Being a black Jeep, will I get more, or less, deep wet shine with a ceramic coating? I've been using Klasse All in One Polish, followed up with Blackfire Ice liquid wax, both applied with a Porter Cable polisher.

A majority of the "shine" comes from polishing. A coating will give a different look than a wax and in some cases a sealant. A coating will tend to give more that dipped in glass appearance over the warm carnauba appearance.

-Will the plastic parts: bumpers, front grill, plastic body colored fenders, door handles, side mirrors, hold the ceramic coating well and allow bug removal to be a LOT easier? I'm looking for something I can spray with a foam cannon, wipe with a mitt, rinse and dry, and it look as good as it does now.

Yes a coating will do a better job in overall washing. The thing is, does the plastic need any type of restoration? If so I would not coat it. See the following video to learn about plastic.

-Is a ceramic coating really durable for 5 yrs? I live in Georgia, Jeep stays in a garage when I'm not driving it, and the top almost never goes up. So, no constant sun and weather on it, unless I'm driving it. I do drive it most days from March-October.

This is an open ended question as certain variable such as maintenance and the environment it is exposed to will dictate how long a coating truly lasts. If it is sitting in the garage it could technically last forever. Those claims on years are lab claims and the true test is mother nature. You take care of the coating and it will do just fine.

-Is there any downside to a ceramic coating, other than price? I spend a lot of time maintaining and detailing my vehicles. I also have an F-250 Super Duty diesel truck and that thing takes FOREVER to wash. It's white, so luckily, it can go between washes for a longer period. If I can cut down on time, and still have the shine and pop I love in the Jeep, that would be very helpful. I also run my own business and have 3 kids in sports all the time. So, time is a big consideration with washing and maintaining.

Again really an open ended question. Some will say yes and some no. The benefit of a coating is the ease of washing and maintenance. Then there is the potential for water spotting more than a wax or sealant. Again this does not mean it is going to happen. The key word is potential. And this also is spotting from hard water (ie sprinkler).

The other con is if you personally want to invest in coating it yourself.

There are two types of coatings. Full fledged coatings and lite versions of a coating. Perhaps you would want to try a lite version before going the full fledged path. For example Gyen Cancoat Evo is a great option and very simple to use. A step up above that is Gyeon One Evo or Cquartz Lite. I would toss Optimum Gloss Coat in this as well just based on my personal experience with it.

 

[mayberry]

Very informative and helpful. Thank you!

I think I might take your advice and go one of the light application routes before dropping that much money.

I don’t mind polishing and waxing it. I’m fairly good at it and I do enjoy it. But, with 3 kids playing sports Year round and me running my own business, I find myself not having the time to take care of the cars consistently enough. The cutdown on time is attractive, for sure.

 

[dlc95]

It sound like you have a handle on the paint correction end, and that where most of the labor costs are factored in performing a correction/coating job.

I would recommend CarPro Gliss. It's designed to be a topper for Cquartz UK 3.0. But also works great as a stand alone coating. I hated glass bottle coatings because the first one I ever used was Ceramic Pro 9H and Top Coat. They were very difficult to work with and didn't hold up like I would have expected considering the price we charged, and the level of difficulty applying.

But Gliss is a breeze to work with. It will give you luscious gloss, great slickness, and great water shedding.

Maintenance is a big deal for me personally, and CarPro has a great line of products to help Gliss along.

I prefer rinseless and waterless washes, and Ech2o can take care of both of those needs. Carpro Reload is a dedicated sio2 spray sealant. It needs to be applied to bare, panel wiped paint, or a coated surface to really "shine" (no pun intended). CarPro Elixir is a sort of combination of Ech2o and Reload, and is one of the coolest products I've ever used.

Meguiar's Hybrid Coating is also serially nice, and very easy to apply. My buddy whose truck I applied it to raves about it.

Another long term form of protection that I'll sti use once in a while is Duragloss 111 Clear Coat Polish with 601 Polish Bonding Agent. The 111 is a pure sealant - no abrasives, and just a touch of cleaners to get a clean surface to bond to. The addition of 601 amplifies gloss and extends durability.