Ceramic coatings are incredible products, and personally I think every vehicle out there on the road should have one. They keep your vehicle looking incredible for a very long time, make maintenance super easy, and protect your paint from the elements.
With the popularity of coatings exploding, and buzzwords like "ceramic" and "graphene" being used in almost every type of product these days, it's important to know what you're really getting with a ceramic coating. There's a lot of NOISE to sift through, and unfortunately a lot of it is marketed hype. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about...ever seen those social media ads of people lighting their hoods on fire!?
With all the noise surrounding ceramic coatings, this article could go on forever trying to cut through it all. but rather I'll save you and me both some time and get straight into the facts of this article and highlight some very important points that you should know before you invest in a ceramic coating for your vehicle.
Any product in a plastic spray bottle is NOT a true ceramic coating. The word ceramic is being slapped on every type of product out there these days. Heck, even your local automatic car wash probably has the word ceramic in one of their options. These spray bottle types of products are water based, don't require much skill at all to apply, and will not give you the benefits of a true ceramic coating. A TRUE ceramic coating will be in a small glass bottle, not be available in a store like Walmart or Autozone, will cost around $100-$200 per bottle, and has a short shelf life so can only be used on one, maybe two vehicles. The scary part here, is that some detailers may say they're applying (and charge for!) a true ceramic coating when really they are not. Please do you research to make sure you know exactly what you're getting! TRANSPARENCY and INTEGRITY are two of the biggest aspects of how I run Roberts Auto Detailing
A ceramic coating will not prevent rock chips. Ceramic coatings can not stop a small rock hitting your vehicle at 75mph from chipping your front bumper or hood. This is not what ceramic coatings are designed to protect from.
You still need to wash your vehicle, while it will be 100x easier and more enjoyable. I often see people thinking they can just rinse off their vehicle after it's coated, or that they no longer have to care about the maintenance of their vehicle. This is false, you still need to wash the vehicle with a proper wash mitt and quality soap. More importantly, you still need to dry the vehicle either with forced air or a quality drying towel. Please read our Ultimate Ceramic Coating Maintenance Guide to learn about properly caring for your coated vehicle.
Ceramic coating will not fill in scratches, swirls, or micro-marring in your paintwork. While a ceramic coating is a thick, hard, layer over your vehicles paint surface, it does not have fillers in it. This is why preparation and paint correction/polishing before a coating is applied is so important. You're not going to want to be locking in a finish that has defects, swirls, or scratches in it for years to come.
Ceramic coatings are not scratch proof. While yes they are scratch RESISTANT to a degree, as most TRUE ceramic coatings, once cured are around 9H on the mohs scale of hardness, which is going to be harder than clear coat, this does not mean that they are not susceptible to improper wash techniques and lack luster care.
I see the benefits of TRUE ceramic coatings every day on my personal vehicles and they really do perform how they are intended to if installed and maintained correctly. Ceramic coatings are the future of car care and vehicle protection. If you are interested in having a TRUE ceramic coating installed on your vehicle, make sure you do your research, and ask your detailer the right questions so you know exactly what you are getting. For ceramic coating options from Roberts Auto Detailing, please find our ceramic coating page listed HERE.
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