355 Ceramic Coatings

Anyone else do their 355?

I've been detailing cars since I was a kid, progressively doing more and more as I learn. I had heard about these coatings, but always had be content with high end sealants and waxes. A friend at work who is also a professional detailer, highly recommended a ceramic coatings. He has used quite a few of them (carpro cquartz, gyeon etc), and recommended getechniq crystal serum light with the EXO v4 topcoat. I bought the 50ml kit which left plenty for doing most of my other cars.

The application was easy as long as you knew what you were suppose to do. Youtube is your friend. The most time consuming and hardest part was getting the car ready. I easily spent a ~dozen hours on the paint.
My detailer friend helped out showing me his techniques, as well as do's/don'ts..
Basically, wipe down the car with a alcohol/water mix or the gtechniq panel wipe.
Make sure you fully prime the pad.
Work it evenly in small areas, roughly 3sq/ft or smaller.
Let flash for 15-30 secs
Use 2 or 3 towels, and gently level and wipe away the product.
Apply the EVO v4 after, the same way you did the ceramic. It a bit more forgiving, you can do a slightly larger area, and EXO has a longer working time.
Its as easy as wax, you just must make sure you remove the product completely

Its definitely shiny, very slick on a typical car exposed to the elements it should last 3 years.
Its probably more beneficial for a daily driver since it has excellent protection for the elements, thing the ferrari will never see lol. But for a 45k mile, almost 21 yr old car, looks pretty sharp

Video of the EXO application on top of the ceramic:


An of course, pictures


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Love that color!
I've coated my 348.
Used the Kamikaze line - Miyabi, ISM then Zipang last. Also did the wheels and calipers too.

The most important part is the prep work. Spend the time on the polishing. That's the most important part.

The best part about a ceramic coated car is clean up. I use a foam cannon on it, rinse it and blow it dry with a 540cfm dedicated leaf blower. Makes cleaning it very easy.

Did mine and the wife's DD's as well... coating doesn't last quite as long but the cleaning is the clear winner in time savings.

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Need to.get rid of that millenial cliche tow hook..other than that looks superb!!

[emoji3059]

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Also, that is hands down the BEST paint color


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I agree about a tow hook on any exotic car, or any nice road car really.
Always gives the impression that the car is unreliable and always breaking down, so might as well have a tow hook ready because it will happen again any day now

 

I recommend those who haven't done this yet, dont forget to ceramic coat your wheels. I've learned from my other car which has ceramic coated wheels, I've never had the need to wash the wheels, brake dust doesnt find a way to stick to your wheels when they're ceramic coated. Simply rinse them off and they shine like new.

So for 60 dollars I got a small 30ml bottle of armor shield ix which should last 5 years under proper conditions, even getting 3 years outnofnit is worth it.

The surface is now so smooth that my fingers just slip on the surface as though its oiled vs the previous surface that seemed like you can feel microscopic pits that show the surface isnt 100% smooth. Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I plan on Ceramic Coating my C63s this weekend.... thanks for the honest review and the warning about how long the prep is!
I had to get special stuff as its matte paint and I cant wax / polish / buff it so the coatings were the only way to protect it without wrapping the whole car....

Will post pix here when its finally done.

 

You have an edition one c63s? I had the matte paint on mine before and that is a tough one to keep clean. Be sure to check whether your ceramic coat you go with works with matte. You can wrap with a clear bra then ceramic coat too.

 

I've always been curious what you can do with a matte paint job. Let us know how it goes.

I bought a 50ml bottle, and had plenty of leftover so I ended up doing several of my other cars.
Longevity is still to be determined but so far I'm very impressed with how well this product works. Obviously, the 355 really won't see any weather, but on my other cars, I've noticed that they don't get dirty as much. They are also much, much easier to clean.
I attached a picture of my wife's Acadia, after we drove it all day in the rain and misty, dirty roads. I stepped out of the car to noticed that it looks pretty much perfectly clean. Image Unavailable, Please Login



I think it's related to the hydrophobic properties of the coating. On a wax Car the water beads up in little piles, but on a ceramic coated car it makes little balls on top of the surface that don't actually seem to be in contact with the paint. Drying a car after washing takes about 30 seconds with a leaf blower. It's crazy how easily the water falls off the car

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Acadia done
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