Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Ceramic coating The good, bad and ugly ??

Just retired and put together a bit of a mid-life crisis/Sunday, go to meetin' truck.

It's all hat and no cattle. Won't see winter or off-road. Thinking about having it ceramic coated. I know some of the "ugly" is the bill. Highly-regarded, local place wants $2200 for a 5-7 year treatment.

Real life experiences and thoughts ??

Worth it, IMO. I currently own 4 vehicles, ranging from a 1985 BMW M635Csi to a 2023 Ram 2500 Diesel. All of them are coated. They stay cleaner longer, clean off easier and if correctly applied, have a deep, durable shine.

The ease of cleaning and the protection factor is worth the money.

No experience with ceramic, just an older very well appointed truck that doesn't see mud running or winter roads. After 13 years it is not a collector vehicle, but does what it needs to when I need a truck. Being garaged, it doesn't get faded in the sun or weathered outside. It still looks new with minimal miles and as we both get older, it will be a terrific truck for the next guy who buys it. They depreciate by year regardless of the condition and low miles and good condition will only get me a small bump come resale time. I put money into an ARE truck cap instead of rust or finish protection. What works best for us is a couple of SUV type vehicles with trailer hitches that get the daily driver duty and a nice truck for when we need one. 5-7 years down the road, I'm not sure that you would get your $2,200. back out of it over and above other same year models.

I bought a do it yourself kit for my new Harley this Spring. It was surprisingly easy to apply and i do notice that it makes washing the bugs off a lot easier, and it has good shine.
I know it's only been a couple months, so no long term testimonial, but so far I've been happy.

I'd go with a do it yourself kit.

Look adams polishes up. They make top notch stuff and it is reasonable. FUGG $2200 do it yourself for $150

I have a cousin who does it as part of his detail business.

The application he provides is vastly different than what you do at home. Which is to be expected. That said, even tho I'd get it done at a smoking deal - I did the home style one.

2 coats of Griots 3 in 1 last October and today, the truck still looks amazing and sheds water/dirt etc. It takes time to do it sure but it's inexpensive compared to commercial application. I also don't expect commercial application longevity.

Thanks for the tip on the Griots

It's really impressive stuff.

I've used a lot of different things on the Harley in the past. BugSlide still the best for getting bugs off but Griots was better, IMO than Meguires or Turtle Wax or some other purple stuff I got off Amazon when it came to the wax/ceramic parts.

It's also not expensive and doesn't smell bad so if you're doing it in the garage, it's not going to make you sick.