Consumer available coating experiences

L

LeadfootCJ7

New member
New member here, but not new to detailing. I have been doing detailing and such for about as long as I have had cars (20+ years). I would say I have done quality detailing for about 12-15 years. However, I have never ventured into the world of coatings (ceramic or otherwise). I purchased a new car a couple of weeks ago. I have had paint protection film done for the front bumper and entire hood. Since the car is brand new and has virtually no swirls or anything I wanted to consider a coating before my wife and I start driving it. I have read quite a bit and keep coming across bits on information. This car will be in Houston so it will see plenty of rain and such, but not much snow or ice. I have seen CQuartz and Gtechniq available and read about many others.

I am looking for personal experience and opinions from those that have used coatings available to consumers. How hard is the application, how long the coating seems to last, how much maintenance is required, etc. If you have used several and have any comparative information that would be great as well.

Another thing of interest is that some coating companies also offer a coating for wheels, interior surfaces, and rubber/plastic trim. Any experience or thoughts on those would also be appreciated.
 
First welcome to Autopia! Everyone here on the forum will probably point you to a different coating, and that`s a good thing! Coating application is almost as easy a sealant, just not as forgiving. The prep work is where you want to spend your time. Coatings will magnify defects. As far as a brand, the two easiest (imho) are McKees and Pinnacle Black Label. I have used CarPro CQuartz, Polish Angel, and Wolfgang coatings and if you take your time I find them easy to apply. About the only one that I hear problems with is the Blackfire Crystal Coat, but it may have been reformulated, not sure. Read some of the reviews and pick a coating and we can try to walk you through the application.
 
In the past year have used:
Wolfgang Uber Ceramic
McKees 37 Paint Coating
CQuartz `Classic`
Gyeon MOHS
Kamikaze Miyabi (non PBMG)
Kamikaze ISM (non PBMG)
Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light
Pearl Nano (non PBMG)
The Gloss Shop Ceramic Coating (non PBMG)
22ple HPC (non PBMG)

- Easy to use/most forgiving/most economical: McKees 37, no question. Good performance, especially if no winter driving. Easy to correct highs spots up to an hour or two after coating
- Easy to use, pretty good longevity: Kamikaze Miyabi
- Easy to use, most amazing gloss, no idea non longevity yet: 22ple HPC
- Easy to use, looks nice, longevity remains to be seen, nice price point for 50ml: The Gloss Shop Ceramic
- Anecdotal evidence suggests *one* the best for daily driver, relatively easy to use, nice gloss, supposed to be plenty durable: Gyeon MOHS

If`n I was you, first time and all I`d go with the McKees due to lower cost (around $35 for multiple applications), easy to level a missed spot an hour or two later, nice looks, resonable longevity especially with no harsh winter driving to consider. Can`t remember how the recommend application but I found spraying a Lake Country yellow/black foam coating applicator and applying with that gave me best coverage/indication of coverage. Wolfgang Uber Ceramic is nice and easy to use, looks good but I find it to be a bit over-priced in comparison to some other `equivalents and it didn`t make it though a NE Ohio winter on vertical panels.

You`re gonna get a zillion answers as the topic is just so subjective and the above is just my non-professional, "I can`t believe I didn`t goon that up too badly..." experience. FWIW, I have the Kamikaze Miyabi + ISM on two of my cars (previously WG Uber last year) and will be doing our other in 22ple HPC at some point. Some consider HPC over priced (and Kamikaze *is* kinda over priced but the stuff is SOLID) and it is more than other choices but it`s crazy easy to apply, almost sealant like with very long working time and the initial gloss is the best I have seen outta any of the above, at least in my garage. Longevity of it remains to be seen but if it holds for a year or two in NE Ohio, it`s gonna be my favorite all-around choice going forward.

Plenty of good, durable, nice looking options available all across the board though...

With all the coatings can generally enhance with occasion booster applied (Kamikaze Overcoat, Gyeon Cure, wash with Gyeon Bathe+, Gyeon Wet Coat and other mfg similar spray on, hose off SiO2 products) and stretch longevity a bit.
 
Wow, thanks for all of the info so far. Our new car is a 2017 Chevrolet SS (Holden Commodore) if that makes a difference in dark metallic gray.

I guess a little more info. This car will be outside except when at work at my wife`s office. It will be in a parking garage there. I typically see 8-12 months from Megs Synthetic Sealant on my cars currently. I do a 2 bucket wash pretty regularly. I would hope a ceramic or similar coating would offer better longevity and performance. While I have run into several people who paid to have a coating professionally applied and claim it is very hard and will help with rock chips, I am not expecting that. This is why I had Suntek film applied to the front bumper and hood immediately. If it is any additional protection great, but I am more interested in protecting the paint finish and making washing/maintenance easier. I have too many cars and it is already a chore to stay on top of cleaning. Any improvement would be excellent. Especially if the coating aided in easy removal of road grime, bugs, and bird droppings.

The biggest battle is that my wife`s route to work is short and on side roads where the medians have their sprinklers on so she gets water on the side of the car pretty regularly. Water spotting and the ability of a coating to hold up this would be important.

The brakes in this car are Brembo. They have great performance, but dust quite a bit and the wheels are a bit of a pain to clean. I see some companies make a wheel specific coating and I have read of people applying the paint coating to the wheels. I am curious if I need a wheel specific coating. Maybe I am missing something? Higher wheel temps perhaps?

I am interested in a product for the rubber trim on the car because we keep our cars for a long time. On 2 of our cars the rubber has started to have problems and has stuff embedded in despite regular cleaning. Based on past experience I don`t feel regular cleaning and use of dressing or "protectant" for rubber parts has really been effective. I tend to think these protectants have trapped things against the rubber making the problem worse. It doesn`t help being in Houston where it is warm, humid, raining, etc all the time.

My interest in an interior coating is largely due to the surfaces. Some of the interior surfaces are Nubuck (Synthetic suede). My DD 2007 Grand Prix GXP has this as well. I have been able to keep it clean so far, but we have had some close calls. My wife has to take employees and clients to lunch and they often aren`t as careful as some spots on her Camaro show. Due to the fact that cleaning nubuck is harder and has less options, I would really like to coat it so I don`t have to worry about it as much.
 
Check out the CarPro line. It has all the products you need from coatings to rubber protection. The use of a product like CarPro Reload over the coating will help with water spotting. Water spotting can effect the best of coatings because they bead and don`t shed water. CarPro even has a water spot remover. They also have an interior coating.
 
To help with brake dust, immediately swap them out to Hawk Performance and bed them properly...did this on my Camaro and never looked back.

I`ve read a lot of good reviews on McKee`s coating and that`s it`s fairly simple for a non-professional application. I cannot attest though as I use CQuartz and GTechniq.


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Thanks for sharing experiences. I`ll be doing my 1st coating soon also on my weekend driver. Would like to do a trim and paint coating.
 
Optimum Gloss Coat gets my vote. Still the standard bearer in the category imo. Very easy to use, looks great and highly effective.
 
Kamakaze myabi followed with ISM, either Gyeon rim or my favorite Kamakaze stance wheel coating. All are extremely easy and very durable.
 
Mike lambert said:
Kamakaze myabi followed with ISM, either Gyeon rim or my favorite Kamakaze stance wheel coating. All are extremely easy and very durable.
Click to expand...
Bingo. The Miyabi + ISM flew thru NE Ohio winter unscathed on a daily driver (applied last October)...a rainstorm becomes nature`s car wash with this stuff. Stellar on metallic paint. A little bit costly for the combo but definitely worth it where good looks and ease of future maintenance is concerned.

Wanna try the Stance Rim coating but the Gyeon Rim + Tuf Shine tire coating is still going strong since July 2016.
 
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