Ceramic Pro 9H, 1 year in.

[PouncingPanzer1]

I'll try to keep this short, but I know once in awhile people ask about coatings on here, so here is my recent experience with one. Ceramic you wish you spent less on something else Pro.

The insane hydrophobicity tappered off after about 3-4 months. This was washing no less then once a week with CarPro Reset, or Meguier's D110. Every 6-10 washes I would mist the vehicle with CarPro Reload while drying. It is hard to say if this was a factor it my coatings life and current status. It never seemed to change how the water stood on the car or the gloss. Speaking of Gloss, the coating did ad a lot of that, most of which appears to still be around.

I haven't touched it with Reload or Eco2o since snow started falling, and the horizontal surfaces seem to be doing really well in the water shedding department, the vertical surfaces, not so much. I cannot tell there is a coating on the sides of my car, or the rear hatch area. Gloss is present, but overall feel is not smooth(as it once was) and the beading game is getting weak. I can feel some contaminants stuck to the surface also, which is upsetting.

Ceramic Pro and hard water spots don't play well either. There have been light spots on my horizontals for months now and they did not wash off with Reset, D110, Citrus Daily Wash, or CarPro Spotless. Ouch! It was easier to remove water spots before the coating...

Overall, I say get a coating, just not this one. My buddy who was supposed to install CQuartz was in between shops, and I was being impatient. I went with a CP installer, should've waited. I spent the entire summer applying CQuartz to cars and watching it out perform my CP with 1/3 the cost of install. Ah well, lessons of life.

It's all getting polished off this spring anyways

 

[TroyScherer]

Thanks for the info. Your one of the only people I have seen come back with a real world review of Ceramic Pro 9H. Its kinda disappointing that it is not holding up the way they advertise but that is to be expected.


I did have some of the same issues on vertical surfaces during and after winter with CQuartz coated cars. But I found that doing an IronX, TarX, superstron Rest wash got rid of the salt brine that was on the paint and "brought it back to life". The salt brine and residue is bad stuff and at times harder to remove than you would think.

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

Thanks for the info. Your one of the only people I have seen come back with a real world review of Ceramic Pro 9H. Its kinda disappointing that it is not holding up the way they advertise but that is to be expected.


I did have some of the same issues on vertical surfaces during and after winter with CQuartz coated cars. But I found that doing an IronX, TarX, superstron Rest wash got rid of the salt brine that was on the paint and "brought it back to life". The salt brine and residue is bad stuff and at times harder to remove than you would think.

It certainly isn't what they make it out to be, and I tried to take care of it right.

I was short on time this past wash, but I plan to hit it with TRIX and letting it soak for a couple minutes, then washing it again. CQuartz is much easier to work with overall, applying and maintaining. I suspect the heavy use of brine up here this year has a part to play, as I absolutely noticed the passenger side was twice as rough and dull feeling as the driver side was.

I can honestly say I look forward to moving on from CP. I wish I could get a refund.... HA!

 

[Billy Baldone1]

I'm glad you posted this. I have applied and personally used many different coatings over the past 4-5 years. I still haven't found one that lasts a Midwest winter, and still gives you the warm and fuzzies that go along with a new coating. I'm sure it's still on there, but the crazy hydrophobic properties are greatly reduced, which is the huge selling point to a customer. I do very boutiquey details out of my home based business. The off the wall prices for coatings are in my opinion insane. I can correct an entire car(not totally hammered) in about 4-6 hours, and then apply a coating in about another hour.... I understand full time detail shops have overhead/expenses that I don't. But I am starting to question the REAL WORLD claims made by some of the coating companies out there. That being said, I have been sitting on some Feynlabs Self Heal Lite, which looks promising. Ok I'm done ranting...

 

[nate704]

They are all overpriced hype. no coating will last more than a year or two. you car is a moving object that is exposed to the environment 24/7. You just cannot avoid scratch,swirl, imperfection, etc with the fancy name coating that is micro millimeter thin, and there's no way to tell your coating is still in good condition with your naked eyes.

 

[dchoi]

Hmm. I applied Cquartz to my car on 1/1/18, and topped it with Carpro Reload. Will be maintaining with regular touchless washes and occasional wipedowns with Carpro ECH2o.

Will occasionally post back with updates. But I can definitely tell that the Cquartz has added quite a bit of depth to the color.

 

[Billy Baldone1]

Being in San Diego, you will be fine. My blue Alltrack, is gray most of the winter. Our winters just beat the living crap out of the finish on your car.

 

[bboytaktix]

They are all overpriced hype. no coating will last more than a year or two. you car is a moving object that is exposed to the environment 24/7. You just cannot avoid scratch,swirl, imperfection, etc with the fancy name coating that is micro millimeter thin, and there's no way to tell your coating is still in good condition with your naked eyes.

From my understanding of these products and the detailers I follow, no ceramic coating was ever meant to last more than a year, nor have I seen it advertised to last more then that. It is supposed to act as additional protection over the clear coat for up to a year, until you get a full detail again the next summer, and re-apply the coating.

I think reviews like this are helpful to get feedback on the coatings and which ones may be the most effective. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Billy Baldone1]

Some coating companies have crazy 5 year claims. I believe Ceramic Pro is one of them. And some manufacturers have minimum pricing requirements, on top of a full correction. That is the part to me that is out of whack.

 

[bboytaktix]

Some coating companies have crazy 5 year claims. I believe Ceramic Pro is one of them. And some manufacturers have minimum pricing requirements, on top of a full correction. That is the part to me that is out of whack.

A lot of manufacturers claim a lot of things under "Ideal conditions". I trust more the opinions and suggestions of an expert detailer. Plus, many of these products are aimed at higher-tier vehicles, which may only be driven in summer/nice weather, with owners who are happy to pay $2000/year in detailing costs, and $4000-5000 of initial cost to "new car prep" and apply clear-bra, to keep the ride looking brand new from the start until they sell it many years down the road.

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

I'm glad you posted this. I have applied and personally used many different coatings over the past 4-5 years. I still haven't found one that lasts a Midwest winter, and still gives you the warm and fuzzies that go along with a new coating. I'm sure it's still on there, but the crazy hydrophobic properties are greatly reduced, which is the huge selling point to a customer. I do very boutiquey details out of my home based business. The off the wall prices for coatings are in my opinion insane. I can correct an entire car(not totally hammered) in about 4-6 hours, and then apply a coating in about another hour.... I understand full time detail shops have overhead/expenses that I don't. But I am starting to question the REAL WORLD claims made by some of the coating companies out there. That being said, I have been sitting on some Feynlabs Self Heal Lite, which looks promising. Ok I'm done ranting...

I was wondering when you'd chime in Haha.

I have read that it performs better elsewhere, like Florida. But the weather there only represents like 1/3 of the nation. I too suspect the coating is still there, as it was 3 sprayed applications. So it was put on HEAVY. Topped with a coat of "lite".

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

Some coating companies have crazy 5 year claims. I believe Ceramic Pro is one of them. And some manufacturers have minimum pricing requirements, on top of a full correction. That is the part to me that is out of whack.

They claimed 6 years with the package I got!!! I knew before even buying that was likely BS, but I also didn't believe CQuartz 2 years, so I went with what I had available to me at that time. February, new car, unable to do it myself....Rock and a hard place. My buddy, whom I then spent the entire summer installing CQuartz UK with, was in between locations and couldn't assist, I just should've been more patient....bottom line. Him and I both had 9H on our cars, and spent the following 6 months watching our customers car's coatings we installed outperform out own. Disheartening...but we felt good that we were installing, for all intensive purposes, the superior product. At 1/3 the cost w/ prep as what I paid. No joke.

I don't regret the PPF, that shit is worth every single square cm.

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

A lot of manufacturers claim a lot of things under "Ideal conditions". I trust more the opinions and suggestions of an expert detailer. Plus, many of these products are aimed at higher-tier vehicles, which may only be driven in summer/nice weather, with owners who are happy to pay $2000/year in detailing costs, and $4000-5000 of initial cost to "new car prep" and apply clear-bra, to keep the ride looking brand new from the start until they sell it many years down the road.

Everyone should have PPF!

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

Being in San Diego, you will be fine. My blue Alltrack, is gray most of the winter. Our winters just beat the living crap out of the finish on your car.

Dude the brine they use now here in Ohio is brutal!!!

 

[bboytaktix]

Everyone should have PPF!

AGREED! But I also think it's worth it to shop around, especially if you only have a $30,000 or $40,000 car, most people don't want to spend 5-10% of the cost of the new vehicle on PPE! My current car 2011 STI had no PPE and it's pretty dinged up but mostly just the front bumper. The rest of the car, after 7 years, is quite decent for its age. I think the most important is doing PPF on the front bumper/hood, and if budget allows, adding mirrors and quarter panels. This alone will help maintain the car's appearance 4/5/6 years down the road!

For the OCD among us, the ceramic coatings help a lot to keep the shine on and protect paint from some minor scratches. I am lucky enough that my friend is helping me install PPF on my car since he wraps cars, but also debating doing a nice coat of ceramic coating right after the PPF is installed to protect the car's new paint look. These reviews are great for helping me decide which one to go with! And they seem easy enough to install/apply myself!