Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
What does it cost to install a ceramic paint coating? Example #1
This is the first in a series of articles that will document the full cost to install a ceramic coating on your own car (do-it-yourself)
OR to understand what it cost for a Pro Detailer to do-it-for-you.
Example #1 - 2009 Porsche Carrera S 997.2
Recently I performed the paint correction on a Porsche and then installed the 3D Ceramic Paint Coating. More about this car here.
Here's the final results.
What does it cost to install a ceramic paint coating?
There is SO MUCH interest in ceramic coatings now days and that's because ceramic coatings, at least the knowledge of them has gone mainstream. The term and the product, ceramic paint coatings, has hit the Tipping Point. Actually, I would say ceramic paint coatings hit the tipping point at least a year or two ago.
What most people know is a ceramic coating is a product or a replacement for a conventional car wax except it comes in a tiny glass bottle.
What most people don't know is that you need a few more things than the just the little glass bottle of coating and these other things cost money.
After doing the paint correction and installing the ceramic paint coating on the Porsche, I spread everything I used out on a table and then took some pictures to show what I used and then added up the cost of everything I used including inserting the link to the AG store where you can purchase these items or do your own math.
A picture tells a thousand words....
Down below, I'll type out what I used
Paint Correction - you can call it compounding if you like....
For the correction work I used the FLEX BEAST and by my count, 15 Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Orange Foam Cutting pads.
I used the SONAX Glass Cleaner for both a waterless wash and also as my clay lube. You can see I used about 3/4 of a bottle and the clay I used was the Wolfgang Elestic Poly Clay. For the paint correction work I used the 3D One Compound/polish.
Final Polishing
Below are RUPES 7" yellow foam polishing pads. I used these to get into the louvers over the engine. The tapered design works well to give you a tick more REACH plus the edge of the pad is a little further away from the backing plate and I needed this reach to buff out the louvers without having the backing plate touch the louver above the louver below it while buffing.
For all of the rest of the polishing work I used the Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid BLACK foam finishing pads and the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze. NOT A GLAZE. Just to note, the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze is NOT a glaze, it's a fine cut polish. I'm not sure who named this product but it was named long before I cam to work for Autogeek. We should rename it so we stop confusing the market place. The reason I used this instead of the 3D One is simply because on this black paint I found the Wolfgang Finishing POLISH to finish out more perfect than the 3D One. 3D One is a great product but some paints are a tick more sensitive than others and this is why you do a TEST SPOT before buffing out an entire car.
Chemically stripping and installing the coating
This was a review for the BRAND NEW 3D panel wipe called WIPE so I used it and also used the 3D Ceramic Paint Coating.
This is in keeping with my philosophy and personal practice of Synergistic Chemical Compatibility
Microfiber towels
I took these pictures after washing and drying the towels.
I took this picture after inspecting and folding the towels to get a towel count.
51 Forrest Green Edgeless towels and 12 Storm Gray Towels
Summary of what I used with my comments....
Orbital Polisher
I used the BEAST. These are not cheap but they are good. Because this is a gear-driven orbital polisher there is zero pad stalling. Thus as I like to say, I can power through a detail job.
FLEX XC 3401 VRG Gear-Driven Orbital Polisher aka The BEAST! - $436.00
Buffing Pads
I always tell people it takes more than one or two pads to buff out a car, at least when using foam pads. The reason why is because as a pad becomes wet with the product you're using, it SOFTENS the foam.
When your foam cutting and polishing pads become soft they lose their ability to cut or abrade the paint therefore you're wasting your time. To do the paint correction steps as fast as humanly possible you MUST switch out to a clean, dry pad OFTEN.
Not only will switching to a clean, dry pad often enable to you work faster and more efficiently, because you're NOT TORTURING your pads by getting them wet and getting them HOT and buffing for hours with them - they will last longer. You'll get more detail jobs out of your pads before they wear out. When you only use a few pad to buff out an entire car your pads only last for a few detail jobs and then they're toast.
By my count, I used,
15 - Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Orange Foam Cutting Pads - $10.99 Each
2 - RUPES 180 mm (7 inch) Yellow Polishing Foam Pad - $14.99 each
6- Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Foam Finishing Pads - $10.99 Each
Products also referred to as liquids
SONAX Glass Cleaner - $11.99
I used the SONAX Glass Cleaner as my rinesless wash, my clay lube and as a glass cleaner for the windows.
Wolfgang Elastic Poly Clay Bar - FINE Grade - $29.99
3D One - 16 ounce bottle 16 ounce bottle - $23.99
Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 - 16 ounce bottle - 39.99
Microfiber Towels
Most people don't have enough HIGH QUALITY microfiber towels to do the paint correction step and then install the ceramic coating. Besides behind high quality - they also must NOT be contaminated. If there's just ONE tiny abrasive particle lodged into the weave of just one of your towels and you wipe the paint with it - you will undo all your hard work by putting swirls and scratches back into the paint.
I used a combination of the Forrest Green and Storm Grey Edgeless Towels.
For the rinseless wash, claying, wiping off compounds and polishes I used the Cobra Forrest Green Edgeless towels.
For chemically stripping the paint and then giving the paint a final buff to spread the coating and remove any high spots, I used the Cobra Storm Gray Edgeless towels.
These are the same type of towel, just different colors.
The best deal is to purchase these towels by the 12-packs.
Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber towels - 12 Pack $19.99
Cobra Storm Gray Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloth - 12 Pack - $19.99
This is the first in a series of articles that will document the full cost to install a ceramic coating on your own car (do-it-yourself)
OR to understand what it cost for a Pro Detailer to do-it-for-you.
Example #1 - 2009 Porsche Carrera S 997.2
Recently I performed the paint correction on a Porsche and then installed the 3D Ceramic Paint Coating. More about this car here.
Here's the final results.
What does it cost to install a ceramic paint coating?
There is SO MUCH interest in ceramic coatings now days and that's because ceramic coatings, at least the knowledge of them has gone mainstream. The term and the product, ceramic paint coatings, has hit the Tipping Point. Actually, I would say ceramic paint coatings hit the tipping point at least a year or two ago.
What most people know is a ceramic coating is a product or a replacement for a conventional car wax except it comes in a tiny glass bottle.
What most people don't know is that you need a few more things than the just the little glass bottle of coating and these other things cost money.
After doing the paint correction and installing the ceramic paint coating on the Porsche, I spread everything I used out on a table and then took some pictures to show what I used and then added up the cost of everything I used including inserting the link to the AG store where you can purchase these items or do your own math.
A picture tells a thousand words....
Down below, I'll type out what I used
Paint Correction - you can call it compounding if you like....
For the correction work I used the FLEX BEAST and by my count, 15 Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Orange Foam Cutting pads.
I used the SONAX Glass Cleaner for both a waterless wash and also as my clay lube. You can see I used about 3/4 of a bottle and the clay I used was the Wolfgang Elestic Poly Clay. For the paint correction work I used the 3D One Compound/polish.
Final Polishing
Below are RUPES 7" yellow foam polishing pads. I used these to get into the louvers over the engine. The tapered design works well to give you a tick more REACH plus the edge of the pad is a little further away from the backing plate and I needed this reach to buff out the louvers without having the backing plate touch the louver above the louver below it while buffing.
For all of the rest of the polishing work I used the Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid BLACK foam finishing pads and the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze. NOT A GLAZE. Just to note, the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze is NOT a glaze, it's a fine cut polish. I'm not sure who named this product but it was named long before I cam to work for Autogeek. We should rename it so we stop confusing the market place. The reason I used this instead of the 3D One is simply because on this black paint I found the Wolfgang Finishing POLISH to finish out more perfect than the 3D One. 3D One is a great product but some paints are a tick more sensitive than others and this is why you do a TEST SPOT before buffing out an entire car.
Chemically stripping and installing the coating
This was a review for the BRAND NEW 3D panel wipe called WIPE so I used it and also used the 3D Ceramic Paint Coating.
This is in keeping with my philosophy and personal practice of Synergistic Chemical Compatibility
Microfiber towels
I took these pictures after washing and drying the towels.
I took this picture after inspecting and folding the towels to get a towel count.
51 Forrest Green Edgeless towels and 12 Storm Gray Towels
Summary of what I used with my comments....
Orbital Polisher
I used the BEAST. These are not cheap but they are good. Because this is a gear-driven orbital polisher there is zero pad stalling. Thus as I like to say, I can power through a detail job.
FLEX XC 3401 VRG Gear-Driven Orbital Polisher aka The BEAST! - $436.00
Buffing Pads
I always tell people it takes more than one or two pads to buff out a car, at least when using foam pads. The reason why is because as a pad becomes wet with the product you're using, it SOFTENS the foam.
A cutting pad becomes as soft as a finishing pad and stops correcting.
A polishing pad becomes as soft as a finishing pad and stops polishing.
A polishing pad becomes as soft as a finishing pad and stops polishing.
When your foam cutting and polishing pads become soft they lose their ability to cut or abrade the paint therefore you're wasting your time. To do the paint correction steps as fast as humanly possible you MUST switch out to a clean, dry pad OFTEN.
Not only will switching to a clean, dry pad often enable to you work faster and more efficiently, because you're NOT TORTURING your pads by getting them wet and getting them HOT and buffing for hours with them - they will last longer. You'll get more detail jobs out of your pads before they wear out. When you only use a few pad to buff out an entire car your pads only last for a few detail jobs and then they're toast.
By my count, I used,
15 - Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Orange Foam Cutting Pads - $10.99 Each
2 - RUPES 180 mm (7 inch) Yellow Polishing Foam Pad - $14.99 each
6- Lake Country 6.5" Force Hybrid Foam Finishing Pads - $10.99 Each
Products also referred to as liquids
SONAX Glass Cleaner - $11.99
I used the SONAX Glass Cleaner as my rinesless wash, my clay lube and as a glass cleaner for the windows.
Wolfgang Elastic Poly Clay Bar - FINE Grade - $29.99
3D One - 16 ounce bottle 16 ounce bottle - $23.99
Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 - 16 ounce bottle - 39.99
Microfiber Towels
Most people don't have enough HIGH QUALITY microfiber towels to do the paint correction step and then install the ceramic coating. Besides behind high quality - they also must NOT be contaminated. If there's just ONE tiny abrasive particle lodged into the weave of just one of your towels and you wipe the paint with it - you will undo all your hard work by putting swirls and scratches back into the paint.
I used a combination of the Forrest Green and Storm Grey Edgeless Towels.
For the rinseless wash, claying, wiping off compounds and polishes I used the Cobra Forrest Green Edgeless towels.
For chemically stripping the paint and then giving the paint a final buff to spread the coating and remove any high spots, I used the Cobra Storm Gray Edgeless towels.
These are the same type of towel, just different colors.
The best deal is to purchase these towels by the 12-packs.
Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber towels - 12 Pack $19.99
Cobra Storm Gray Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloth - 12 Pack - $19.99
