[ROCKY700]

Hi all, this is my first post here on team BHP and very glad to be sharing the platform with you all I just got my new car XUV 700 in midnight black, i have been searching for options regarding ceramic coating in Hyderabad and have found a few detailers listed below
1. Detailing Mafia- 77k
2. Autotriz- 48k
3. IGL coatings- no call back (very annoyed)
4. 3M coating- only 2 yr plan for 24k
I am thinking of getting a 5 year plan with exterior coating including alloys, windows and glass area. Please suggest and give your opinions.

[saats07]

Originally Posted by ROCKY700

Hi all, this is my first post here on team BHP and very glad to be sharing the platform with you all I just got my new car XUV 700 in midnight black, i have been searching for options regarding ceramic coating in Hyderabad and have found a few detailers listed below
1. Detailing Mafia- 77k
2. Autotriz- 48k
3. IGL coatings- no call back (very annoyed)
4. 3M coating- only 2 yr plan for 24k
I am thinking of getting a 5 year plan with exterior coating including alloys, windows and glass area. Please suggest and give your opinions.

HI Rocky,

I have got my car's ceramic coating done at Detailing Mafia, Jubilee hills branch. Over all process was good and i'm satisfied with the outcome. But they have a catch, they have a condition to get the car washed at their center every quarter. Which costs around 1k. But the outcome of the wash is also good.
I went to Madhapur branch as well, but would say Jubilee hills branch is far better.
If its new car, they will come down on the price for sure. You can bargain with them a bit and can save around 5-10k for sure.

I have also enquired with IGL and was not completely satisfied with their shop and premises.
Cannot comment on autoritz as I have not looked into that.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by ROCKY700

Hi all, this is my first post here on team BHP and very glad to be sharing the platform with you all I just got my new car XUV 700 in midnight black, i have been searching for options regarding ceramic coating in Hyderabad and have found a few detailers listed below
1. Detailing Mafia- 77k
2. Autotriz- 48k
3. IGL coatings- no call back (very annoyed)
4. 3M coating- only 2 yr plan for 24k
I am thinking of getting a 5 year plan with exterior coating including alloys, windows and glass area. Please suggest and give your opinions.

I would say go for the 3m coating for 24k. Considering labour charges, around 25k is what ceramic coating a car of this size costs so this is a good price. All these year plans etc are a way to make money off the ignorant. They are not going to re-apply entire ceramic coating every year despite their marketing making it look that way. At most, you get a special wash and some waxing / buffing which is normally done for like 2-3k along with a "guarantee" that their coating won't flake off for the years mentioned. A good ceramic coat isn't going to flake off anyway.

Repainting the entire car will only cost about 1 lakh max. Why in the world would you spend 77k just on ceramic coating?

Originally Posted by saats07

HI Rocky,

I have got my car's ceramic coating done at Detailing Mafia, Jubilee hills branch. Over all process was good and i'm satisfied with the outcome. But they have a catch, they have a condition to get the car washed at their center every quarter. Which costs around 1k. But the outcome of the wash is also good.
I went to Madhapur branch as well, but would say Jubilee hills branch is far better.
If its new car, they will come down on the price for sure. You can bargain with them a bit and can save around 5-10k for sure.

I have also enquired with IGL and was not completely satisfied with their shop and premises.
Cannot comment on autoritz as I have not looked into that.

So basically you pay them 3x upfront for a 25k job just for the privilege of a warranty that they can void if you don't also send the car to them every quarter to be washed for 1k. This is very lucrative business indeed.

[amit_mechengg]

Since this is a ceramic coating thread and our members are discussing the variety of pricing by professionals and few here would love to save cost and do a DIY I am sharing my video where I have explained a simple and step-by-step process of ceramic coating that anyone can do at home using off the shelf great products and achieve great results without breaking your wallet.

I have tested it and the coat has stayed till date with just simple top ups. In India it might last half the life but still you can simply apply one layer and top it up to keep it top notch.

Please like and subscribe if you like the video -

https://youtu.be/_Kvxp59xuOc

**please note - I am not a professional, I am a simple DIYer and I have no commercial interest of any sort whatsoever. You can check all my DIY threads on the forum.

[AJ56]

Originally Posted by ROCKY700

1. Detailing Mafia- 77k
2. Autotriz- 48k
3. IGL coatings- no call back (very annoyed)
4. 3M coating- only 2 yr plan for 24k
I am thinking of getting a 5 year plan with exterior coating including alloys, windows and glass area. Please suggest and give your opinions.

Congratulations on the new car. Without knowing what brand is being used by detailing mafia, it’s impossible to compare direct quotes. I’d never go to 3M considering all the bad experiences people have had with them (including my own) across different cities in India. They don’t even use flashlights to check paint during machine correction. IGL is a good brand, try going to the physical store once before writing off. Also, that 77k can be negotiated down further.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

I would say go for the 3m coating for 24k. Considering labour charges, around 25k is what ceramic coating a car of this size costs so this is a good price.

You cannot lump all ceramic coatings under one price, it’s like saying a Swift costs 10L so any cars that cost more are a ripoff and overpriced. There are vast differences in formulation, quality and durability of different coating brands out there, and also quality of labour and prep done by different shops.

To illustrate, plenty of pro ceramic kits like Kamikaze, Optimum Pro+, SystemX and many others that cost 18-20k for the kit alone. Also will say in the pro ceramic world, 3M is nowhere as a brand.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

Repainting the entire car will only cost about 1 lakh max. Why in the world would you spend 77k just on ceramic coating?

The same reason many people spend upwards of 2L to protect the factory finish with PPF. Repainting is never as good as the original paint, and repaint from a high end body shop will be upwards of 2.5L for a mid size car (you still won’t get the factory finish but it’ll be close).

Also, apart from paint protection a coating also helps make maintenance very easy. Water just runs off the surface that makes washing and drying a breeze. You never need to use wipers again if the glass is coated, you never need to use aggressive brushes or strong wheel cleaners as brake dust just comes off with a pressure washer alone, etc.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

So basically you pay them 3x upfront for a 25k job just for the privilege of a warranty that they can void if you don't also send the car to them every quarter to be washed for 1k. This is very lucrative business indeed.

Warranty is only as good as the detailer who has done the coating, they can void the warranty for a lot of reasons, quarterly wash or not. Most common being improper daily washing and resulting scratches, no ceramic (or PPF) mfg warrants against abrasion.

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

Since this is a ceramic coating thread and our members are discussing the variety of pricing by professionals and few here would love to save cost and do a DIY I am sharing my video where I have explained a simple and step-by-step process of ceramic coating that anyone can do at home using off the shelf great products and achieve great results without breaking your wallet.

Good effort but misleading title, it’s going to cost a lot more than 1000 even if one is doing everything by themselves, as the products alone will be over twice that easily (even with the cheapest brands).

One very important point you missed, paint decontamination. Chemical with tar and ferrous removers + physical with a claybar.

Skipping these steps will ensure you grind all the bonded contaminants deeper into your paint when machine polishing at a few thousand RPM. Your coating also won’t bond as well to the clear. New cars also come with such contamination, due to the way they are transported and handled post production.

Plus, these steps can easily be done at home with the right products.

Also, please don’t use 50% IPA as panel prep, use a max of 20-25% with distilled water. Too much alcohol can cause issues with modern soft clearcoats on most cars.

Finally, that CMX bottle is a ceramic infused polish, not a compound. If you compound, you’d need to finish down to remove the haze/swirls left behind. Another point, Turtle hybrid is a ceramic spray, not a full blown ceramic coating. There are marked differences in performance between even a consumer grade liquid coating (like Carpro CQuartz UK) and a spray coating like the one used here. This is closer to something like Capro Reload.

[AJ56]

Originally Posted by ankitbko

I am going to get Carpro coating on my Astor. Is there significant difference between Pro and Elite versions of coating?

I’m assuming you mean Carpro CQuartz Professional and CQuartz Finest Reserve. The latter is their flagship coating, but both are are excellent products that’ll last many years on the car. Can’t really go wrong with either one.

Request mods to kindly merge with my post above as time for editing expired.

[amit_mechengg]

Originally Posted by AJ56

C

Good effort but misleading title, it’s going to cost a lot more than 1000 even if one is doing everything by themselves, as the products alone will be over twice that easily (even with the cheapest brands).

One very important point you missed, paint decontamination. Chemical with tar and ferrous removers + physical with a claybar.

Plus, these steps can easily be done at home with the right products.

Also, please don’t use 50% IPA as panel prep, use a max of 20-25% with distilled water. Too much alcohol can cause issues with modern soft clearcoats on most cars.

Finally, that CMX bottle is a ceramic infused polish, not a compound. If you compound, you’d need to finish down to remove the haze/swirls left behind. Another point, Turtle hybrid is a ceramic spray, not a full blown ceramic coating. There are marked differences in performance between even a consumer grade liquid coating (like Carpro CQuartz UK) and a spray coating like the one used here. This is closer to something like Capro Reload.

I have mentioned in the video and in comments too as to why these cost 1000 approx for one time use. Yes the products would cost more, but the products are not one time use. So the effective cost of one coat is definitely below 1000.
Yes the CMX is 3 in 1 polish and i found it perfect as it does paint correction + sio2 primer, removes oxidation, minor scratches and imperfections in the paint. Its also wax free and you can apply ceramic coat over it.

I have seen multiple 6 months test videos of off the shelf products and the Turtle ceramic lasted good. It lasted well on my car as well. Its a spray, but you cannot spray it on the car. The instructions are clear, you have to apply very minimal quantity on a application pad and cover the entire panel.

Ofcourse these off the shelf products cannot beat something like CQuartz. But to use those products and justify their quality you need double the effort to prep the car professionally as well.

Its almost a year and my car has seen extremely heavy rain, sun and snow. I wash my car regularly too. Yet i have just done 3 top ups of just the turtle ceramic coat and it has worked perfectly for me.

Professional coats cost between 1000-2000 usd here. For me a DIY low cost method is a perfect solution against regular wax that we use.

[AJ56]

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

Yes the products would cost more, but the products are not one time use. So the effective cost of one coat is definitely below 1000.

That CMX alone is $12-13 for a 16oz (473ml) bottle, you’ll go through at least 500ml per car assuming you’re covering all painted surfaces. Here already you’ve exceeded 1000.

IPA is at least 350 for about 600-800ml used per car, add to it the cost of shampoo/rinseless + clay + tar/ferrous decon products + foam pad you’ve used and you’re well over twice the claimed amount even on a per car basis. I’ve not even included towels yet.

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

Yes the CMX is 3 in 1 polish and i found it perfect as it does paint correction + sio2 primer, removes oxidation, minor scratches and imperfections in the paint. Its also wax free and you can apply ceramic coat over it.

The only reason I mentioned it was the fact you repeatedly call it a compound when it isn’t. I’m sure it’s worked well as a fine cut SiO2 polish.

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

Ofcourse these off the shelf products cannot beat something like CQuartz. But to use those products and justify their quality you need double the effort to prep the car professionally as well.

Its almost a year and my car has seen extremely heavy rain, sun and snow. I wash my car regularly too. Yet i have just done 3 top ups of just the turtle ceramic coat and it has worked perfectly for me.

Professional coats cost between 1000-2000 usd here. For me a DIY low cost method is a perfect solution against regular wax that we use.

I think you’re confusing professional coating installation from a detailer with just the product cost. High end detailer will run 2-3k USD easily, the pro coating kits are much cheaper ($150-300).

You can’t use the above anyway as they’re only sold to certified installers, that’s the reason I mentioned a liquid DIY coating like CQuartz 3.0, it’s as easy to apply as a spray coating but lasts over twice as long. You wouldn’t need 3 applications in a year with this unlike spray coatings. Quite cheap too, you get 30ml for just 60 bucks- https://www.amazon.com/CarPro-CQuart...S63?th=1&psc=1

Interestingly, looking at the numbers, that turtle bottle is 14 bucks so even if it lasts a year with say 4 applications, the UK 3.0 works out cheaper considering you’ll also need IPA before using the turtle every time.

[amit_mechengg]

Originally Posted by AJ56

That CMX alone is $12-13 for a 16oz (473ml) bottle, you’ll go through at least 500ml per car assuming you’re covering all painted surfaces. Here already you’ve exceeded 1000.

IPA is at least 350 for about 600-800ml used per car, add to it the cost of shampoo/rinseless + clay + tar/ferrous decon products + foam pad you’ve used and you’re well over twice the claimed amount even on a per car basis. I’ve not even included towels yet.



The only reason I mentioned it was the fact you repeatedly call it a compound when it isn’t. I’m sure it’s worked well as a fine cut SiO2 polish.



I think you’re confusing professional coating installation from a detailer with just the product cost. High end detailer will run 2-3k USD easily, the pro coating kits are much cheaper ($150-300).

You can’t use the above anyway as they’re only sold to certified installers, that’s the reason I mentioned a liquid DIY coating like CQuartz 3.0, it’s as easy to apply as a spray coating but lasts over twice as long. You wouldn’t need 3 applications in a year with this unlike spray coatings. Quite cheap too, you get 30ml for just 60 bucks- https://www.amazon.com/CarPro-CQuart...S63?th=1&psc=1

Interestingly, looking at the numbers, that turtle bottle is 14 bucks so even if it lasts a year with say 4 applications, the UK 3.0 works out cheaper considering you’ll also need IPA before using the turtle every time.

The prices you mentioned for the product are almost correct, but the mathematics on the quantity required for 1 car for one time is way off.
Example: The turtle wax is 473ml. You need two to three sprays per panel. Thats not more than 50ml altogether. All my bottles are more than half full till date.
Same with IPA, one dab per section and you dont need the full 500 ml bottle.

I have no confusion on professional detailing, product cost and labor costs at all. I have friends in this industry who own and run professional shops in India.

I called it compound because in the very beginning of my video i have mentioned to use a any available compound for this step. In my case i am using CMX which is a 3 in one polish. If the surface is not good probably one would have to use heavy cut compound and where surface is pretty good like in my case, one can do away with light cut or finishing compound or even SIo2 Polish.

I would try CQuartz next time. This DIY was done using off the shelf products you get in stores. There are many highly reviewed professional products available online for consumers too. One can buy something that is of his interest too.

I have no intentions to irk professional detailers or any members here affiliated with any such profession. Its a simple DIY , I am extremely satisfied with the results vs regular waxing i used to do in the past and so are my friends who have used these products.

Cheers and thanks for your valuable insights.

[Sid13]

Is ceramic coating really worth it. The paint quality of most of the vehicles in the market are way better than it was 10 years ago. Ceramic doesn't prevent anything more than extremely minor scratches. My 8 year old polo which have not have had any coating looks almost as good as new after a proper pressure wash. The only scratch busy area is thedoor handle area. And the other scratches it has on body would not have been prevented by ceramic coating anyway.

So by spending 25K plus on these coating what are we achieving? Ease to wash?

Kindly do throw some light as I might be purchasing a new vehicle soon and is trying to deicde if I have to take the coating route.

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by Sid13

Is ceramic coating really worth it. The paint quality of most of the vehicles in the market are way better than it was 10 years ago. Ceramic doesn't prevent anything more than extremely minor scratches. My 8 year old polo which have not have had any coating looks almost as good as new after a proper pressure wash. The only scratch busy area is thedoor handle area. And the other scratches it has on body would not have been prevented by ceramic coating anyway.

So by spending 25K plus on these coating what are we achieving? Ease to wash?

Kindly do throw some light as I might be purchasing a new vehicle soon and is trying to deicde if I have to take the coating route.

It is all a feel good factor. Ceramic coating, PPF, underbody coating, anti rust coating, wax coating and so on. You have the money. You can go for anything. Nobody really is aware of actual benefits of any of these in reality. Yes, on paper you have a long list of tangible benefits.

[Sid13]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

Yes, on paper you have a long list of tangible benefits.

These are not new products or services. They have been in market for several years. So, we as a automotive community must be having enough people with first hand experience of every one of these products. Other than the initial review which is given immediately after the service is taken or the kind of comments which really is an effort to justify the hard earned money spend on these coatings, I see very little objective long term assessments of these coatings here.

Hopefully somebody can help.


I definitely cannot spend 25K for feel good factor. No sir im not sitting on that kind of stash.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by AJ56

You cannot lump all ceramic coatings under one price, it’s like saying a Swift costs 10L so any cars that cost more are a ripoff and overpriced. There are vast differences in formulation, quality and durability of different coating brands out there, and also quality of labour and prep done by different shops.

To illustrate, plenty of pro ceramic kits like Kamikaze, Optimum Pro+, SystemX and many others that cost 18-20k for the kit alone. Also will say in the pro ceramic world, 3M is nowhere as a brand.

I'm afraid that in 2023, just because something is expensive doesn't necessarily mean that it is better. High taxes and greed run rampant and in this age of drop shipping, social media influencing and 'faking it till you make it', it's very common to have cheap chinese crap imported in bulk and rebranded before being passed off as high end products to people who don't really know any better.

Most of the affordable bottles from known brands like turtle wax etc will cost you some 1-3k to buy and a single application will last you about a year before it starts losing its hydrophobic properties.

Some of the best coatings such as CQuartz UK or Ceramic Pro 9H installed professionally by their shops will last you maybe 2.5 years regardless of gold / diamond / 2/ 5/ 7 whatever warranty package you buy from them. Repeated application or 'top ups' are required after that.

The same reason many people spend upwards of 2L to protect the factory finish with PPF. Repainting is never as good as the original paint, and repaint from a high end body shop will be upwards of 2.5L for a mid size car (you still won’t get the factory finish but it’ll be close).

They tell you that this factory finish paint is some magical thing that can never be achieved or colour matched again and then in the very next sentence they will tell you why your brand new car right out of the showroom needs a 'paint correction'

PPF makes sense for exotic or classic cars like a Ferrari F40 which is basically an art piece. You repaint a Ferrari F40 and lose the factory paint honeycomb pattern and your car will lose an insane amount of value since it won't be as valuable to collectors anymore. Putting it on mass market or commuter cars is just ludicrously overkill. Yes, I know we love our cars but do we really need PPF for the basic factory paint job of a Fortuner or Mahindra or Hyundai?

PPF will give you some protection against rock chips, minor scrapes and paint damage. What happens in a harder hit where your body panels are damaged or your bumper is torn and needs to be replaced? You can just claim insurance replace it with brand new parts that will be colour matched from the dealership for a negligible cost. And then you need to apply PPF on it again for a ludicrous amount. All to protect a bumper that costs maybe 7k total.

Also, apart from paint protection a coating also helps make maintenance very easy. Water just runs off the surface that makes washing and drying a breeze. You never need to use wipers again if the glass is coated, you never need to use aggressive brushes or strong wheel cleaners as brake dust just comes off with a pressure washer alone, etc.

All these benefits are applicable to less expensive coatings as well. I'm planning to get my new car coated when it's delivered but only for the shine and hydrophobic properties. I'm under no delusion that will provide any extra protection than what the factory clearcoat offers.

Warranty is only as good as the detailer who has done the coating, they can void the warranty for a lot of reasons, quarterly wash or not. Most common being improper daily washing and resulting scratches, no ceramic (or PPF) mfg warrants against abrasion.

These automotive coating markets are very lucrative and these companies spend a lot of money advertising their warranties and making you believe that it's going to be just as good as new for all the years mentioned. The truth is sadly different :

https://youtu.be/xtyr9wjv738

Also, the lion's share of the price of ceramic coatings come from the labour costs charged by good workshops. In America etc, physical labour is expensive and minimum wage is much higher. In India, physical labour is cheap and even trained workers are paid peanuts in comparison so it's best not to get carried away with comparing prices.

I would rather just reapply the ceramic coating every couple of years for cheap rather than spend 10x the money upfront for something that is maybe 25% better and might last longer with the caveat that I baby my car around and hope no one else crashes into it (impossible in our road conditions).

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Sid13

Hopefully somebody can help.


I definitely cannot spend 25K for feel good factor. No sir im not sitting on that kind of stash.

With a ceramic coat the only benefit you derive as a customer is the gloss finish of the paint, and to a certain extent the hydrophobic property, which needs to be maintained by applying a sealent once in 6 months. Ceramic coats offer no protection against swirl marks and scratches. Another alternative is to take the car to a detailer for a nice wash and wax every 3 months which would be roughly 1.5-3 k depending on detailer. Which would pretty much be the same thing and almost same cost for a period of 2-3 years which is the life span of a good ceramic coat as well.

[Totoro11]

Hi Experts,

I am planning to go on a long highway trip this weekend. A detailer i was talking to, mentioned that there are lot of micro particles/tar from vehicles head of us, that damage the white paint when we are on the highway. (true/false?)

Is there any precaution i should take (wax polish/ceramic coating etc) prior to the trip so that the paint does not suffer? I am not looking for an expensive solution

PS: i have a daily car cleaner who washes the car with tap water and dries with a combination of micro-fiber and normal soft cloth. I can't monitor him daily for using the wrong water or cloth and cannot control his quality. This is what has stopped me from getting any polishing done so far, as the effect wouldn't last beyond 2-3 days of regular cleaning.