[Steve48]

I bought a bunch of stuff to ceramic coat my car this weekend: strip wash, iron-x, tar-x, clay bar, and CQuartz UK 3.0. My car is pretty much brand new (600 miles) so no need to do any paint correction. Excited to get this done, especially as the hot Texas weather finally broke and it is supposed to be around 70 degrees and sunny this weekend. Will post pics once I am done!

 

[Chris NZ]

Have you checked your car for fine scratches/marring? Unless your dealer was one of a kind, there is usually some sort of paint correction to be done. Dealer prep is usually the first culprit when it comes to fine scratches on new paintwork. I've had two cars ceramic coated from new and both needed some degree of paint correction.

 

[Steve48]

Thanks for your note...my car is Rhodium Silver, so it hides pretty much everything. Upon close inspection, the paint looks 95% perfect which is good enough for me as it is my daily driver.

 

[roundtail]

Thanks for your note...my car is Rhodium Silver, so it hides pretty much everything. Upon close inspection, the paint looks 95% perfect which is good enough for me as it is my daily driver.

That's the beauty of silver. Bugs and dirt are the only things that show up on my GT Silver, but my wife's deep blue metallic, on the other hand, while gorgeous is very needy.

 

[dreamer]

I used to be a big proponent of clay bar but on a new car like yours, I would avoid.

 

[Steve48]

I used to be a big proponent of clay bar but on a new car like yours, I would avoid.

Normally I would agree but the car i picked up last week was a brand new 2018. Ie it was sitting on their lot for over a year, and I can feel some decent contaminants on the paint.

 

[dreamer]

Gotcha. If that’s the case, then after that clay, you would really want to do some polishing to make it good and evened out. You don’t have to, but that silver would really pop if you did that before coating.
Check this vid:

 

[Steve48]

Gotcha. If that’s the case, then after that clay, you would really want to do some polishing to make it good and evened out. You don’t have to, but that silver would really pop if you did that before coating.
Check this vid:

Got it. Thx!

 

[GregW]

Honestly, if you are doing the coating yourself, do a mild paint correction first. Once the coating is on, every micro-scratch is there forever, and as dreamer suggested with a correction the end result will be superb.

Just like any painting, preparation is responsible for at least half the result.

 

[dreamer]

Honestly, if you are doing the coating yourself, do a mild paint correction first. Once the coating is on, every micro-scratch is there forever, and as dreamer suggested with a correction the end result will be superb.

Just like any painting, preparation is responsible for at least half the result.

Exactly. Ceramic coating doesn’t really add much for clarity and gloss. You have to achieve that through paint correction first. Get it right and your coating seals in a great look.

 

[Steve48]

Thanks for the feedback guys...I ended up buying a DA polisher and some solid one step pads/polishers to get the finish to really pop prior to the coating. That's the wonderful thing about enthusiast forums...you learn something new everyday from like minded crazy people