Is car ceramic coating worth it and which one is preferred

renegade

renegade

Staff member
Super Mod
Wanted to know what are our thoughts on Ceramic Coating. I have read a lot on Ceramic vs PPF and am convinced that PPF is not the way to go for me due to the application process, cost, yellowish tinge in long term, chances of chipping etc.

I have for long been a wax it yourself person but no longer have the time and space to do it now. Still have half a bottle of Mothers Marine Synthetic wax lying around, which if I remember correctly was recommended by @SunnyBoi back when I had got the Verna in 2017.

So I figure Ceramic looks like the best compromise of all worlds. Hopefully not as expensive as a PPF and not too time consuming as waxing the car myself every other month.

Please suggest whether I should go with ceramic coating and which type/brand. From what I have gleamed from my cursory research, graphene is being talked up a lot but should also be the most expensive.
 
My thoughts on PPF is that good quality PPF is very expensive. The real test for quality of a PPF is the removal after 5-6 years after it is baked under in extreme sunlight. Good ones will be easy to remove and won't damage the clear coat.

If you have a repaired painted panel and PPF is applied, on removal it can bring the paint with it.

PPF craze is booming in India. If you have to do it on a budget then the front hood, side mirrors housing and back trunk are good places to do it because these are the most vulnerable areas.

Next areas will be the roof and front and back fenders.

And in the end will be the doors.
 
PPF is only for exotics where getting something repainted is a big deal. For most normal cars owned and driven by normal people, PPF is not required at all. Get your car detailed every 12/18 months instead.
 
Heisen said:
My thoughts on PPF is that good quality PPF is very expensive. The real test for quality of a PPF is the removal after 5-6 years after it is baked under in extreme sunlight. Good ones will be easy to remove and won't damage the clear coat.

If you have a repaired painted panel and PPF is applied, on removal it can bring the paint with it.

PPF craze is booming in India. If you have to do it on a budget then the front hood, side mirrors housing and back trunk are good places to do it because these are the most vulnerable areas.

Next areas will be the roof and front and back fenders.

And in the end will be the doors.
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I'd add the side where the driver enters, ie the driver side rear door. Reson is, due to narrow parking spaces, most people would get out of the car easily in an accessible space, but the driver would brush against the read door to exit and enter. And most of us wear jeans/pants with belts which tend to leave scuff marks on the rear door. Similarly behind all door handles, as we unknowingly tend to leave scratches there. These are the most common areas of regular wear and tear outside the already mentioned areas.
 
Ceramic coating helps, to an extent but eventually will fade off. Also you need to understand it doesn't and will not offer any sort of real physical protection barrier. That's where PPF defers over Ceramic.

PPF is expensive sure, but I can personally vouch for the protection and benefit it offers from reasonable scrapes, scratches, road rash and rubble damage from flying stones and flints from our roads, especially if you travel out of city.

I got my full car ppf done when I took delivery of my Kushaq in December last. Cost me about 85k .. but it's already saved my bacon (paint) at least on 3-4 occasions so far. On the way to Goa at least 2 high speed stone deflections rubbed off a top layer of ppf but no underlying damage. On Goa an idiotic AP registered moron tried to overtake outside his line and rubbed past my ORVM.. again saved by the PPF.

Finally not to mention the ease of cleaning (hydrophobic properties) and protection from the acidic damage of birdshit on your paint.. all worth it. PPF also have self healing properties.

And yeah.. the gloss and shine the ppf provides beats having to repeatedly wash and wax the car. Plus no Orange peels.

The only precaution I would however advise is to try and have your vehicle parked in the shade as much as possible. This should extend the life of your PPF as much as possible.

Eventually though, I'd recommend you get a 3Y check up (annual till 3Y) and then every 6m till 5Y from your PPF installer/detailer.

At the 5Y mark you can consider replacing it.

Honestly, if you value factory paint quality and care about saving yourself and your car from the innumerable events that can leave it with small nicks scratches and dents, ppf is worth it.
 
mach9 said:
The only precaution I would however advise is to try and have your vehicle parked in the shade as much as possible.
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this in general extends the life of the paint, we had a 12 yr old santro [sold it last year] never got it repainted I can proudly say that it never lost it shine the only thing we did was it was never left in direct sunlight never. also there is huge difference in paint quality now done by OEMs I have seen a new honda city with dust in its paint right out of the showroom.

also its always recommended to get PPF from a very reputed vendor, some cheap PPF chips paint when tried to remove [learnt this through brotomotiv yt channel.
 
White color wins in all this glam glam thing.
Park in direct sun no issues.
Have minor scratches, its hardly noticeable.
Same goes for dark indigo or olives colors.
 
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In India, in what I've seen, the best paint is on the Germans, Europeans in general. Mind you, dust specs even show up on their cars. If you have keen eyes, you yourself or any good detailer will point them out for you. Usually they are of no significant consequence (unless there are multiple such panels in which case it's better to reject the car at PDI itself).

In my case my Kushaq has a dust spec on the hood. My detailer pointed it out to me when installing the PPF. He also mentioned that it is one of the reasons why he doesn't usually do PPF on repainted cars. He's quite upfront about it.. Bad underlying paint jobs will only mean a more than likely bad experience if you ever have to remove a ppf ..

At the end of the day, as with paint, Sun damage is the only thing that will literally fry PPF.. but again I'm talking extremes (leaving aside bad PPF.. In which case you're just fked to begin with). As long as you exercise basic care and for your car with PPF.. You should be fine.

Needless, annual to 3 and 6 to 5 if followed, should let you identify and address any issues with PPF wear and ageing before it gets bad for your paint.
 
Heisen said:
Very common these days, from a detailer perspective the amount of clear coat we get now a days is negligible compared to earlier cars. Except the europeans cars.


Black is the hardest paint to maintain, it shows imperfections very easily.
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nsas02 said:
A BIG NO. Black color cars a PINT to maintain as they show even small scratches very clearly.
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Correction, dark indigo is what I meant!
 
This is the color that I have, which is as good as black. :p
 

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The windshueld washer fluid that comes from the tata services center keeps leaving a whitish residue. Quite a few brands on amazon, any recommendations?
 
renegade said:
Wanted to know what are our thoughts on Ceramic Coating. I have read a lot on Ceramic vs PPF and am convinced that PPF is not the way to go for me due to the application process, cost, yellowish tinge in long term, chances of chipping etc.

I have for long been a wax it yourself person but no longer have the time and space to do it now. Still have half a bottle of Mothers Marine Synthetic wax lying around, which if I remember correctly was recommended by @SunnyBoi back when I had got the Verna in 2017.

So I figure Ceramic looks like the best compromise of all worlds. Hopefully not as expensive as a PPF and not too time consuming as waxing the car myself every other month.

Please suggest whether I should go with ceramic coating and which type/brand. From what I have gleamed from my cursory research, graphene is being talked up a lot but should also be the most expensive.
Click to expand...
I am an Car Detailing enthusiast so will try to answer your question based upon my experience:-

When to do PPF(Pros and Cons):-
1. Usually on High end cars its worth because their paint repair bills are very high as compared to smaller segment cars so that high investment on PPF is justified.
2.You want to keep the vehicle for longer duration 10 years or so.You drive the vehicle on daily basis which increases the chances of scratches and all.
3.You park or operate in an area or city where due to traffic and other factors dings and scratches are day to day occurrences.
4.On Dark Colored vehicles PPF is worth as maintaining them is usually an expensive affair.
5.In an event of an accident if a panel is getting replaced the whole PPF on that panel has to be reapplied which is again an additional expense.
6. If you are not good in maintaining the vehicle as in cleaning it regularly the PPF gives you peace of mind. Just a wet cloth swipe and its clean.
7.Most important factor is how skilled is the PPF installer.A good installer can ruin a expensive PPF and other way around.Its purely a skill based job.
8. PPF gives you peace of mind from day to day scratches and dings as they never reach the paint itself.
9. PPF cost depends on the size of the vehicle and usally is double or even higher as compared to a Ceramic coating.
10. Brands and their availability depends city to city . Price will wary as well PPF to PPF. Metro cities will hve more options . Tier 2 cities will have lesser options so chose wisely.Negotiate hard

When to do ceramic Coating(Pros and Cons):-
1.Coating protects the paints and reduces the duration of washes as the dust doesn't stick to the surface that easily.
2. IT REQUIRES MAINTENANCE. Your regular car wash guy will screw it in 1 wash. SO DONT get it coated if you are not going to take care of the vehicle.
3.Coating is less expensive and for non luxury vehicles its worth the investment.
4. IT WILL NOT protect the car from scratches and dents so dont get fooled if someone says it will.
5.For lighter cars its one of the best option and with a few Dos and Donts you can maintain it for atleast 2-3 years.
6. In case of an accident only that panel needs coating which is less expensive.
7. Most important factor is how skilled is the installer.A good installer can ruin a expensive coating and other way around.Its purely a skill based job.
8.Brands and their availability depends city to city . Price will wary as well PPF to PPF. Metro cities will hve more options . Tier 2 cities will have lesser options so chose wisely.Negotiate hard as the majority of the expense is for the installer. The product itself is hardly 30percent of the cost.
Below is my review on the coating i got done in Dec2022 and with regular maintenance its sill holding up.

www.team-bhp.com

Getting Artyom shielded again with IGL Kenzo (Graphene infused ceramic coating)

Getting Artyom shielded again with IGL Kenzo (Graphene infused ceramic coating)
www.team-bhp.com www.team-bhp.com
 
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