Ceramic Coatings to me are totally not worth it for a daily driven car. Yes, some will argue this point but I am going off my own experience. I had CQuartz UK 3.0 + Gliss applied to my wife's truck, and my car about a year ago. Now, there is SSOO much hype over these products of whatever brand but here is the truth to me, and now why I personally feel I wasted my money.
Usually I do this kind of work myself, I am not pro, but I know my way around the detail booth if you know what I mean. I injured my spine a couple years ago and didn't want to do it myself with my injury. So I paid a guy to do it. Here are where the problems begin. My vehicles were in VERY good condition paint wise when I dropped them off one at a time. The truck was done first. The process to get the car (swirl free) took 3 days for our truck. So #1 negative. Time. If you have a big vehicle like a full size truck? Even if you do it yourself your vehicle will be down several days. The whole process is crazy long, because you have to "Properly Prep" the surface right? So you have to wash, clay, decon, polish/compound, clean, then apply. Wait for cure times, apply another coat, wait, apply and so on.
After I get the truck done about 3-4 days later, I drop off my car. First thing I noticed were some high spots from the coating. Problem #2. Even with good lighting you miss a high spot? Frickin pain in the ass to get it to look right. So back to the guy it went. He had the Truck for another day fixing the high spots he missed.
I live in the Low Deserts of Southern California where the temps can get up to 125F in the summer. My wife takes the truck to work, bird bomb hit the truck while she was working, She gets home and carefully tries to remove it and guess what? It etched right through the coating. Problem #3. It protects no better than a good sealant. I had to take the truck back to the guy AGAIN to have the hood compounded to get the etching off, then the coating re applied. Protection?
Then we had a fluke summer thunderstorm, the truck got wet, we wash it and guess what? Water spots all over from the rain that wouldn't come off. I take it back AGAIN to the detailer and he had to use a mild acid to take off all the water spots. Then he applied another coat again, I think this time he used a spray type like Shine Supply Clutch.
My wife and I would do weekly 2 bucket method washes weekly on our vehicles and we take care to be careful. My Dad was in the autobody biz for 30 yrs and he taught me how to take care of the paint best you can anyway.
After about 3 months? Problem #4 swirls. I am looking at the truck in particular and start noticing light swirls. I thought this stuff was resistant to this stuff? WRONG. It seems to swirl easier than your factory clear with a simple sealant on it. I say this because I used sealants before like DG 105, Colinite 845, Mezerna Power Lock etc. I didn't have this happen prior to the coating. It took 3 yrs doing it my way to get these kind of swirls that only took 3 months with the "coating".
My conclusion? Waste of money. Yes the coatings made our vehicles look "Glossy" that is about it. Durability? Didn't seem that great. I asked the guy that put the stuff on how many coats he did. He said he applied 2 coats of CQuartz UK 3.0 and 2 coats of CQuartz Gliss so a total of 4 coats. After 3 months I noticed that contaminates didn't come off as easily, swirls marks seemed to come easier, and the work involved to keep the coating up? I mean I was supposed to use these specialty products to keep the coating up and I am like why? Isn't this stuff supposed to be a stand alone product? If I have to apply a special spray over it every time I wash the cars? Then what is the point?
To me, these coatings are great for garage queens. A car that you don't want to touch too often and you just bring it out for a show, then drive it home. For a DD car that sits outside, or even one that is garaged but driven daily, a car that is actually USED not just looked at I would just stick with a good sealant and apply 2-3 times a year. If you end up having to use a specialty product on the coating you just spent a grip of money to have someone apply? Then why not just maintain your sealant? Then top your sealant with Bead Maker after every wash? Same thing your have to do for your coating and MUCH MUCH Less expensive (you could use bead maker on your coating, though I did not I was told to use another product that was much more expensive than bead maker to maintain my "coating")
Now if you want to do the work yourself, and spend your whole weekend polishing your car to get the finish as close to perfect as possible and you do this all yourself? Then why not, but remember, every time that polisher hits the surface your not taking swirl marks or light scratches out, your polishing your clean coat down. I would rather keep as much of my factory clear as possible and just apply the sealants or use an AIO. People are obsessed with polishing, and don't realize over time how much clear they are actually removing. Are you using a paint thickness gauge? I doubt it. Most don't and have no idea how they are actually taking clear off in an effort to have that perfect finish. Do this every couple of years, not every other weekend people.
Anyway, I know people will comment and say this and say that...but this was my REAL WORLD review. Sure there may be "better" coatings, also for a "better price". and Though the shine is superb the upkeep and down time of the vehicle just isn't worth it compared to the ease of just applying a good wax or sealant.
Just my thoughts...
