re: The Ceramic Coating Thread Quote:
Originally Posted by NOS Power The one thing I keep asking is, why does a Ceramic Coated car need a touch up or service every 6 months or so?
The top coating manufacturers in the world, Opti-Coat, Gyeon, CarPro, Gtechniq, IGL, Kamikaze & Nanoskin never suggest such a thing. Once applied it should be there for the entire duration of the coating's durability claim. The only thing one should do, in the event of some kind of overspray on the paint is to clay it and then spray on a coating topper. Plus their claims of multiple layers. All of these top coating's are single or at max 3 layers. Ceramic Coating cannot be layered more than 3 times. The rest will just wash away. It's just how it is chemically built.
Don't you think all this is a gimmick to hide the improper work done by most so called coating installers? |
Agree on the layering part. Top brands don't need topcoat every now and then. This is just a money-making exercise. Irrespective of the brand, paint preparation plays a key role in the overall life of the coating. Poor preparation results in a poorer life. The prices for some of these ceramic coating materials is high, which brings in the problem of cheating the customers by these installers. Since I am into the same industry, we too deal with people who come to promote such coatings at throwaway prices which do not last even a fortnight. Uninformed customers fall for the lower price and end up believing all these are useless from their experience.
Fortunately, I have met a person who is into ceramic coating/chemical manufacturing for 4 decades not just for automobiles but for a whole variety of applications. All this layering is all marketing gimmicks unless these are completely different chemicals made to bond one after the other. This is not the case most times. Quote:
Originally Posted by monkey_wrench Good thought. So far in all my research the coating that I did (Opti-Coat from Steam + Shine) was the only one that didn't come with the top up packages. Though the owner did say they are working on a product where they provide monthly or half yearly detailing packages where they do exactly what you said, do a wash, minor detailing etc. |
Opti is coming up with a coating maintenance material. Currently the Opti seal does a decent job of the maintenance thing, if at all you are required to do anything with the paint. Quote:
My thinking here is that because of the harshness of the Indian climate, along with the temperature variations etc. no ceramic coating will last as long as it does abroad, and to keep customers satisfied most detailers figure that they need to fix it every now and then.
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Not really. Once the paint is prepped correctly and the coating is applied, it does not deteriorate that easily. This is from my personal experience. Even the IR lights are not required for most of these coatings, all of these need a 8 to 12 hours of air-drying time depending on the ambient temperature. Quote:
That said, agreed that the multi-coat ceramic upsell techniques smells of BS. The way the packages are structured too seems shady (1 coat = 1 year, 3 coats = 3 years, 7 coats = 5 years and so on). Lastly (being overtly suspicious here as always) who's to tell once you leave your car at the workshop how many coats they really do? |
Once the solvents evaporate the SIO hardens and whatever you apply further will more or less be removed in the buffing/wiping process. Unfortunately the layers and the top coat is the most abused term in this ceramic coating field to make quick bucks.
Missed to add the 9H to 12H claims. ![Frustration](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/Frustration.gif)
Last edited by nkrishnap : 14th March 2020 at 16:57.
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