BEFORE YOU CERAMIC COAT YOUR CAR
8 Things Worth Knowing Before You Spend Your Money
Ceramic coating can be an excellent way to protect and preserve a vehicle – but not all ceramic coating treatments are the same.
Prices can range enormously. Preparation standards vary. Different coatings use different chemistry. And the condition of the paintwork before the coating is applied can have just as much influence on the finished result as the coating itself.
If you’re researching ceramic coating, you shouldn’t need to make a booking just to get some useful information.
This guide explains eight things we believe vehicle owners should understand before choosing a ceramic coating or an installer.
No hard sell. Just useful information based on more than 30 years of hands-on detailing and paint correction experience and more than two decades operating Custom Car Care Wagga.
1. BRAND-NEW CARS CAN STILL REQUIRE PAINT CORRECTION
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding ceramic coating is that a brand-new vehicle shouldn’t require paint correction.
Unfortunately, new doesn’t necessarily mean perfect.
Before you take delivery, a vehicle may have already been through manufacturing, storage, transport, shipping yards, dealership handling, washing and pre-delivery preparation.
During that process, paintwork can accumulate:
- Fine swirl marks
- Wash marring
- Light scratches
- Water spotting
- Adhesive residue
- Transport contamination
- Buffer marks or holograms
- Other surface defects
We’ve worked on brand-new vehicles with only a handful of kilometres on the odometer that have still required substantial preparation before we were satisfied they were ready for coating.
This doesn’t necessarily mean anything is seriously wrong with the vehicle.
It simply means the paint needs to be properly assessed rather than assumed to be perfect because the car is new.
The coating doesn’t correct the paint underneath it.
A ceramic coating is essentially the final protective stage.
If swirl marks, scratches, water spots or polishing defects are present when the coating is installed, the coating doesn’t magically remove them.
It leaves them there beneath the coating.
That’s why we believe paintwork should be inspected and brought to an appropriate standard before the coating is applied.
2. PREPARATION CAN MATTER MORE THAN THE COATING ITSELF
When comparing ceramic coating quotes, it’s easy to focus on the coating brand, claimed durability or number of years advertised.
But a large proportion of a professional ceramic coating treatment happens before the coating bottle is even opened.
Depending on the vehicle, preparation can involve:
- Thorough washing and deep cleaning
- Chemical decontamination
- Mechanical decontamination where required
- Removal of tar, adhesive and other bonded contamination
- Paint inspection under specialist lighting
- Machine polishing
- Paint correction and refinement
- Controlled infra-red heat cycling of affected paintwork where required
- Reinspection and further correction where required
- Removal of polishing oils and residue
- Final surface preparation
- Careful coating application
- Controlled curing
On vehicles requiring more extensive correction, the preparation and paint correction can take days while the actual coating application represents only a relatively small part of the overall job.
This is an important distinction when comparing prices.
Two businesses may both advertise “ceramic coating”, while the amount of labour and preparation included could be completely different.
Think of the coating as the final layer – not the entire service.
At Custom Car Care Wagga, we don’t believe in simply washing a vehicle, wiping the paint down and coating over whatever condition happens to be underneath.
The objective is to create the appropriate surface first.
Preparation creates the finish. The coating helps preserve it.
3. SOME PAINT DEFECTS CAN REAPPEAR AFTER HEAT – WHICH IS WHY HEAT CYCLING CAN MATTER
Not every paint defect behaves in an obvious way during correction.
Deep water spotting, mineral deposits, bug etching, sap staining and other environmental damage can sometimes appear to have been successfully removed during machine polishing.
Under workshop lighting, the paint can look corrected.
But after the paintwork goes through a significant heat cycle – such as spending time in strong summer sun — some stubborn defects can become visible again.
That’s something we would much rather discover before the ceramic coating goes on.
This is where controlled infra-red heat cycling can become part of the paint correction process.
Where the condition of the paint requires it, we can use professional short-wave infra-red equipment to deliberately and carefully heat-cycle affected areas before coating.
The panel is heated under controlled conditions, allowed to stabilise and then reinspected.
If water spotting, mineral staining, bug or sap etching or another previously concealed defect becomes visible again, we know the correction isn’t finished.
The affected area can then be corrected and refined again before being reinspected or heat-cycled further where required.
The objective isn’t to unnecessarily heat every panel on every vehicle.
It’s to use the process where the paint condition warrants it.
Why does this matter before ceramic coating?
Because a defect that appears to have disappeared during polishing can become a much bigger problem if it reveals itself again after the ceramic coating has already been installed.
The last place we want an old water spot, bug etching or other environmental defect becoming visible is beneath a freshly applied ceramic coating after the vehicle spends its first hot day in the sun.
So when required, our approach is simple:
Correct it. Heat-cycle it. Reinspect it. Correct it again if necessary. Then protect it.
This is another example of why ceramic coating preparation isn’t simply about making the paint look glossy immediately before the coating goes on.
It’s about being satisfied with what we’re actually putting the coating over.
4. WHAT CERAMIC COATING ACTUALLY DOES – AND WHAT IT DOESN’T
Ceramic coating is sometimes marketed in ways that create unrealistic expectations.
A professionally installed ceramic coating creates a durable protective layer over the properly prepared paintwork.
Depending on the coating system, it can help protect the factory finish against:
- UV exposure and weathering
- Environmental contamination
- Bird droppings
- Insects and bug residue
- Mineral deposits and water spotting
- Chemical exposure
- Road grime and everyday contamination
- The gradual deterioration an unprotected vehicle is subjected to
It also provides strong water repellency, reduces the adhesion of dirt and contamination, and makes the vehicle considerably easier to clean and maintain.
For an owner planning to keep a vehicle for years, these benefits can make ceramic coating a very worthwhile form of long-term paint preservation.
But it’s important to understand what ceramic coating is – and what it isn’t.
Ceramic coating isn’t armour, and it doesn’t make your vehicle scratch-proof.
A coated vehicle can still be scratched.
Poor washing techniques, automatic brush car washes, dirty wash mitts and physical contact can still damage the finish.
It also won’t prevent dents, key scratches or other physical impact damage.
It doesn’t prevent stone chips.
Ceramic coating and paint protection film are different products designed to do different jobs.
If physical protection against stone chips and road debris is the priority, that’s the role of products such as paint protection film (PPF), not ceramic coating.
It doesn’t mean you’ll never need to wash your car.
A coating makes a vehicle easier to maintain.
It doesn’t make it maintenance-free.
Dirt, minerals, road grime, bugs, bird droppings and environmental contamination can still accumulate and should be removed correctly.
And extreme water beading isn’t the only measure of coating performance.
There is far more to coating chemistry and performance than how slippery the paint feels or how dramatically water beads on the surface.
Some products are deliberately formulated to provide an extremely slick initial feel. That characteristic alone doesn’t tell you everything about the underlying coating’s chemical resistance, durability or protective properties.
This is particularly relevant with professional coating systems such as Modesta, where the chemistry and coating structure can behave differently from products designed primarily around an extremely slick initial surface feel.
Don’t judge an entire ceramic coating by one characteristic.
What a quality ceramic coating does exceptionally well is provide long-term protection against environmental exposure and contamination while helping preserve the properly prepared finish underneath it.
And that’s exactly why the condition and preparation of the paintwork before the coating goes on matter so much.
5. WHY CERAMIC COATING PRICES VARY SO MUCH
You might see one ceramic coating advertised for a few hundred dollars and another treatment costing several thousand.
That doesn’t automatically mean the expensive treatment is better — but it also doesn’t mean you’re comparing equivalent services.
Ask what is actually included.
A ceramic coating price can reflect:
- Hours allocated to the vehicle
- Level of decontamination
- Paint inspection
- Amount of machine polishing
- Level of paint correction
- Additional correction processes such as controlled heat cycling where required
- Skill and experience of the installer
- Coating system being used
- Number and type of surfaces being protected
- Wheels-on versus wheels-off preparation
- Glass, trim, leather and wheel coatings
- Workshop environment
- Specialist lighting and equipment
- Controlled curing processes
- Post-installation inspection and support
For example, there is a significant difference between applying a coating after a quick machine polish and spending several days correcting, refining and thoroughly inspecting the paint before applying the coating.
Both businesses may technically advertise a “ceramic coating package.”
They’re not necessarily selling the same service.
Compare the process — not just the coating name.
Ask how much time is actually being spent on your vehicle and exactly what happens before the coating is installed.
A professional ceramic coating treatment is largely a labour and preparation service that finishes with the application of a coating.
6. BLACK AND DARK-COLOURED VEHICLES OFTEN REQUIRE MORE PREPARATION
Black and dark paint can look spectacular when properly corrected and maintained.
It can also be extremely unforgiving.
Fine swirls, micro-marring, scratches, holograms and polishing defects that are difficult to see on lighter colours can become obvious on black or dark paint, particularly under direct sunlight or strong inspection lighting.
This is why we don’t automatically assume that a new black vehicle only requires minimal preparation.
Its condition depends on what has happened to it before it reaches us.
Shipping, transport, storage, dealership washing and pre-delivery detailing can all affect the finish.
Occasionally, a new vehicle requires relatively little correction.
Another vehicle of exactly the same age may require considerably more.
This is why condition matters more than kilometres.
A vehicle with 30 kilometres on the odometer can potentially require more paint correction than a carefully maintained vehicle with thousands of kilometres.
With black and darker colours in particular, additional refinement may also be required after correction to produce the clarity and finish expected before coating.
That’s why the vehicle itself should determine the preparation process – not simply whether the registration papers say it’s new.
7. QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING BEFORE CHOOSING AN INSTALLER
You don’t need to become a detailing expert before having your car coated.
But there are some useful questions worth asking.
“What preparation is included?”
Find out whether the vehicle receives proper decontamination, machine polishing or paint correction before coating.
“Will you inspect my paint first?”
Especially important for used vehicles and black or dark-coloured cars.
“How do you deal with stubborn water spots and environmental etching?”
If the vehicle has water spotting, bug etching, sap staining or other environmental damage, ask how the installer determines whether the defect has actually been corrected rather than simply becoming difficult to see during polishing.
For more difficult paintwork, controlled heat cycling and reinspection can provide another stage in the correction process before protection is applied.
“How much time will you actually spend on my vehicle?”
Time doesn’t guarantee quality, but it provides useful context when comparing dramatically different prices.
“Does the coating price include paint correction?”
Don’t assume it does.
“Paint enhancement”, “polishing” and “paint correction” aren’t necessarily interchangeable terms.
True paint correction involves removing or reducing defects from the paint, rather than filling or temporarily hiding them.
“How is the coating cured?”
Some professional coating systems benefit from controlled curing procedures.
At Custom Car Care Wagga, Modesta coatings are installed in our controlled workshop environment and infra-red curing is incorporated into our coating process.
It’s important not to confuse this with infra-red heat cycling during paint correction.
Heat cycling, where required, takes place before coating to help assess the corrected paintwork. Infra-red curing takes place after the coating has been applied to assist the coating’s curing and hardening process.
Same professional equipment.
Two completely different stages of the job.
“What happens after installation?”
Ask about curing instructions, washing, maintenance and ongoing care.
A good installer should be prepared to explain how to look after the vehicle once it leaves the workshop.
“What exactly is being coated?”
Paint only?
Or are wheels, exterior glass, plastics, brake calipers and interior surfaces included or available separately?
Understanding the scope makes price comparisons much more meaningful.
8. WHY CURING AND CORRECT AFTERCARE MATTER
Once the preparation is complete and the ceramic coating has been installed, the process isn’t necessarily finished chemically.
A freshly installed ceramic coating continues through its curing and hardening process after application.
This is where infra-red heat has a completely different purpose from the heat cycling discussed earlier in this guide.
During paint correction, controlled heat may be used where required to help reveal stubborn defects before coating.
After the coating has been applied, controlled infra-red heat is used as part of the coating curing process.
We use controlled application procedures and infra-red curing with our Modesta coating installations, but we still recommend being particularly careful during the first two to three weeks.
During this initial curing period, we recommend avoiding:
- Washing the vehicle with detergents
- Snow foaming
- Automatic car washes
- Aggressive chemical cleaners
- Unnecessary rubbing or wiping of the paint
- Routine home washing during the initial curing period
This gives the freshly installed coating adequate time to continue curing, hardening and developing its chemical resistance.
If something significant such as bird droppings, bugs or other contamination gets onto the vehicle during this period, contact your installer for advice rather than aggressively scrubbing the surface.
Once the coating has properly cured
Correct washing technique becomes one of the most important factors in keeping the finish looking its best.
We recommend:
1. Wash out of direct sunlight
Avoid washing hot paintwork wherever possible.
2. Pre-rinse the vehicle
Remove loose dirt and contamination before making physical contact with the paint.
3. Use a quality pure automotive shampoo
Avoid harsh detergents and unnecessary products containing waxes, gloss enhancers or other additives unless specifically recommended for the coating.
4. Use a clean wash mitt and bucket
Work methodically and avoid allowing shampoo to dry on the surface.
5. Rinse thoroughly
Remove all remaining shampoo.
6. Dry the vehicle properly
Use a clean, quality drying towel rather than allowing water droplets to dry naturally across the paint.
Poor washing technique can still introduce swirls and scratches into coated paint.
Remember:
Ceramic coating makes correct maintenance easier. It doesn’t make correct maintenance unnecessary.
We also recommend periodic professional inspection and decontamination – generally around every 12 months depending on vehicle use, storage and environmental exposure — to remove contamination and assess the condition of the coating.
ONE FINAL THING: DON’T BUY CERAMIC COATING BASED ONLY ON THE WARRANTY OR NUMBER OF YEARS
You’ll see coatings marketed with all sorts of durability claims.
Three years. Five years. Seven years. Ten years. Sometimes even “lifetime”.
Those numbers can sound impressive, but they shouldn’t be the only basis for choosing a coating treatment.
Real-world coating performance depends on many factors, including:
- How the vehicle is stored
- How often it’s driven
- Kilometres travelled
- Environmental exposure
- Washing technique
- Chemical exposure
- Water quality
- Maintenance
- And, importantly, how well the surface was prepared before installation
Instead of simply asking:
“How many years does the coating last?”
Consider asking:
“What exactly are you doing to my vehicle before you coat it?”
That question can tell you considerably more about what you’re actually paying for.
THE SIMPLE VERSION
If you remember nothing else from this guide, remember these eight points:
- New cars aren’t necessarily defect-free.
- Preparation is a major part of a professional ceramic coating treatment.
- Some stubborn paint defects can reveal themselves again after heat cycling, which is why difficult paintwork may require further inspection and correction before coating.
- Ceramic coating protects paint – it doesn’t make it indestructible.
- Coating prices often reflect very different levels of labour and preparation.
- Black and dark paint can require considerably more correction and refinement.
- Choose an installer based on their process and workmanship, not just the coating brand or warranty.
- Correct curing and aftercare are essential to getting the best from the coating.
ABOUT CUSTOM CAR CARE WAGGA
Custom Car Care Wagga is an owner-operated specialist detailing, paint correction and ceramic coating workshop established in Wagga Wagga in 2003.
Owner Cam Watson has more than 30 years of hands-on detailing experience, with the business specialising in professional vehicle detailing, multi-stage paint correction and Modesta ceramic coating systems.
Every vehicle is approached according to its actual condition rather than being pushed through a one-size-fits-all process.
Because when it comes to ceramic coating, what happens before the coating goes on can be just as important as the coating itself.
Custom Car Care Wagga
Specialist Detailing, Paint Correction & Ceramic Coating
Established 2003
Not all detailing — and not all detailers — are the same. Neither are the results.