Ceramic Coatings for cars Knowledge Item

What is ceramic coating?

Ceramic coating is a liquid-applied protective treatment that bonds to a vehicle’s paintwork and cures into a thin protective layer. It can enhance gloss, repel water and make dirt and grime easier to remove, helping keep the vehicle easier to clean and maintain.

How ceramic coating works and what it protects

Ceramic coating is a liquid-applied protective treatment that bonds to a vehicle’s paintwork and cures into a thin protective layer. It can enhance gloss, repel water and make dirt and grime easier to remove, helping keep the vehicle easier to clean and maintain.

Ceramic coating does not make paint scratch-proof, prevent stone chips or eliminate water spots. Regular washing and careful maintenance are still necessary, and performance depends on the coating used, surface preparation and ongoing care.

At Glitz Detailing, preparation includes Deironise Service, cleaning and Clay Bar Service treatment before coating application. Where polishing is required, it is completed before a final panel-prep wipe removes polish residues, leaving a clean surface for the coating to bond to.

How long do ceramic and graphene coatings last?

According to the manufacturer, Professional Ceramic coatings can last from 1 year up to 10 years. The longevity is heavily determined by the preparation steps performed by the installer, the product, how the vehicle is maintained/cleaned and the environmental factors such as UV exposure and ambient dirt. The coating is slightly porous and malleable it will expand and contract as the underlying panel heats up. Glitz Detailing typically uses coatings which last around 3 years as typical washing techniques incur marring on any coating surface which means that the car will benefit from a full reset detail after 3 years and apply a new coating.

Lifespan of ceramic and graphene coatings

Coating lifespan depends on the product, preparation, application and ongoing care. For the coatings used by Glitz Detailing, Opti-Coat advertises up to three years of protection for Ultra Shine ceramic coating, while SPS describes its Graphene Coating as a three-to-five-year coating. These are manufacturer durability claims, rather than guaranteed lifespans for every vehicle.

Surface preparation, correct curing, exposure and maintenance all affect performance. Glitz Detailing prepares paint with de-ironisation, cleaning and clay-bar treatment, followed by a panel-prep wipe after any required polishing, before applying the coating.

Our maintenance washing process helps customers get the most from their coating. Thick snow foam is allowed to dwell within the product’s instructions to emulsify dirt and grime. Our petrol pressure washer then removes tangible dirt and loosened grime during the touchless stage, reducing debris before contact washing. A filtered-water final rinse helps reduce water-spot risk.

Glitz Detailing is listed in SPS’s Australian graphene coating installer directory. Regular care remains necessary with either coating, and any warranty should be assessed separately from the manufacturer’s expected protection period.

How much do ceramic and graphene coatings cost?

The cost to install Ceramic Coatings varies between $500 up to $2,500. The main component which varies the amount contained within the quotes are the preparation stages. Installers who charge in the vicinity of $500 will typically only give the car a wash prior to applying the coating. Glitz Detailing sits in the From: $1,540 (Inc GST) to $1,760 for a five seater depending on the amount of preparation required such as Single Stage detail or a two-stage cut and polish. And bear in mind the preparation stages we perform prior to detailing the car which includes de-ironisation and clay bar prior to polishing. In order to get maximum value and longevity from the coating, it is mandatory to at least de-ironise, clay bar and then polish the car to give the coating a truly clean surface to bond to.

Ceramic and graphene coating prices and required detailing

In order to get the greatest longevity, appearance and performance out of your investment in having a Ceramic Coating applied, it is imperative to have the car properly detailed to prior to application. The level of detail (ie single stage or multi stage is determined by the condition of the existing clear coat and the amount of marring, swirl marks or scratches. A good rule of thumb is that if the car is brand new, it should normally only require a single stage polish and for every other scenario, the car will require a multi stage cut and polish.

Prior to detailing, it is mandatory to get the car as clean as possible to allow the buffing pads and polish or compound to be most effective. The way that this is achieved is my performing a Bug and Tar Removal Service, Deironise Service and Clay Bar Service. The combination of these two services removes contaminants which are embedded in the clear coat.

Glitz Detailing’s ceramic coating or graphene coating application:

Before coating application, your vehicle requires one of these detailing services. Total Solution prices:

• Extreme Detail plus coating application: From: $1,760 (Inc GST)
• Extreme Single Stage Detail plus coating application: From: $1,540 (Inc GST)

The total price is the selected detailing service plus the coating application. These starting prices are based on a 5-seater vehicle and include GST. Confirm the total for your vehicle before booking.

Glitz uses Opti-Coat Ultra Shine ceramic coating or SPS Graphene Coating. Our preparation includes de-ironisation, cleaning and clay-bar treatment, with a final panel-prep wipe after any required polishing to remove residues before coating application.

Contact Glitz Detailing to discuss the appropriate detailing service and coating for your vehicle.

The reason why a Graphene Ceramic Coating Service or Graphene Ceramic Coating Service is so expensive is due to the amount of preparation required to get the car's surface ready for the Ceramic Coating to bond to. There is a large variance in the market place for the application of Ceramic coatings. This is attributed to the amount of labour required to meet the installer's acceptable level of readiness for the surface of the car to bond to.

In your research, you will see operators offering the application of a Ceramic Coating for as little as $500 or for $1,000 plus they throw in a coating on the glass for free. To a professional detailer such as Glitz Detailing, we can instantly see that in order to achieve this pricing, they are either bypassing industry-leading steps such as Deironise Service, Clay Bar Service and then polishing or putting minimal effort into the preparation stages. A typical Single Stage polish will take a Glitz technician around an hour for the preparation (chemical and mechanical decontamination), for a single stage polish it takes us at least 3 hours and then there is the time to apply the coating professionally and remove high spots which takes approximately 2 hours to get the reflection looking amazing. So you can see that in order to achieve the results that Glitz Detailing delivers takes at a minimum of 6 hours of labour. On top of this we also have the product costs of de-ironisation and the coating itself. So if anyone is offering the coating along for under $1,500 is not going to deliver an outcome in the same ball-park as Glitz Detailing

The reason why a ceramic coating is good for your car is that it chemically bonds with your car's exterior surface and the benefits it offers can be best summarised as: it provides protection, a sacrificial surface and water hydrophobicity (repels water).

It provides additional protection against harmful UV rays, bird poo, bat poo, tree sap and road salt from etching into your car. Your car will stay cleaner for longer as it not only repels water some coatings also offer some anti-static properties meaning that dust is less likely to settle and attach itself to the car.

It makes the car not only easier to maintain but safer to maintain. The reason is that the touch-less steps within the cleaning process gets rid of the majority of the dirt. The process which Glitz Detailing technicians perform to clean a car with a ceramic coating is that we snow-foam the car which emulsifies the dirt and then pressure wash it with our high-flow petrol pressure washer the combination of the emulsified dirt and grime along with high-flow water means that the majority of the tangible dirt and grime is removed.

Minor Scratch Resistance, due to its hardness levels, a ceramic coating will minimise the chances of wash-related scratches. This means that your car will look newer and shinier for longer as micro-marring or swirl marks which occur more easily on an uncoated car detract from the reflection of the car.

No more waxing, where a wax will typically last several weeks or up to a few months as it is easily washed away with certain detergents or car shampoos and Ceramic coating forms a chemical bond with your car at a molecular level giving you years of longevity assuming that the car is well maintained, ideally by a Glitz Car Cleaning technician as we have the equipment, processes and skills to get maximum longevity out of the coating.