I have read all the pros about them, what the cons? There must be cons!

Also, anyone use Rejex? How long does it last?

 

There are always cons, LOL!

Talking from a vested interest, but the premise is accurate. In fact, if anything, understated with regard to removing the ceramic coating. It is simply impossible to sand off a 1 or 2 micron surface layer without taking a fair amount of the underlying clear coat away with it:

 

Interesting video and thanks for sharing. Just finished the spring detailing in our cars. Our Porsche is coated with CQuartz Pro (and wrapped with Suntek) and the Audi is just has wax/sealant with no wrap.

The video makes a good point about the slow decline of coatings and diffculty of removing them after a few years. I had the coating applied on top of the Suntek so in a few years when the wrap needs to be replaced the coating removal is as easy as removing the wrap.

I'm pretty obsessive about our cars, but I have to say that the Coating / Wrap combo is a huge time saver. The Porsche took maybe 2 hours to complete its Spring detail including applying a maintenance coating spray to the surface (spray on - wipe off). It extends the life of the coating. The Audi was nearly 6 hours (wash --> clay --> polish --> sealant --> then run around the car with a makeup brush to clean out any crevices that got sealant stuck in them).

Granted the Audi is black and after all of this looks positively amazing, but the Porsche looks the same as before.

So 2 things I would suggest
1) I wouldn't do a DIY coating. Quality coatings applied by a professional will last longer. Ours was "baked" on with heat lamps
2) If you do a coating w/o a wrap I would inquire what products the installer recommends to maintain the coating and prevent a buildup of fine scratches.

 

Glisse, thanks for the video. So the coating cannot be easily buffed off with a compound like in case of a waxed car? i.e will need lot more effort?

 

@ChicaoA6 - thanks for the recommendations. My car is Mythos Black. I am debating between Quartz UK vs Rejex either way it will be DIY. The car is fairly new, paint is still as good as it came from the dealer. In my previous car I used 3M hand glaze followed by 3M show car paste wax once a year. My thought is to do the same but with either CQuartz UK or Rejex. Boat owners use Rejex apparently it makes removing waterline scum marks easier, it is also used on personal plane detailing with one or two repeat applications on the leading edge of the wing to minimize bug sticking.

 

It depends on the specific coating, some are harder than others. I would do some research. Typically, the "consumer" versions for self application are easier to get off, and some can be machine polished off rather than sanded. They don't last as long, but that's what i would use myself, and I would ask the company whose product I was considering how to get it off, before putting it on

As chicagoA6 referenced in his post, the ceramic coatings have a short flash time but a long cure time, which make the application process a bit difficult. Using infra-red lamps accelerates the cure time. Otherwise, the car needs to be in a comparatively dust free environment for around 24 hours or so, which is not always practical. It takes about 7 days for the ceramic coating to reach maximum hardness, IIRC. It can be hard to judge whether you have got a complete and even coverage of the ceramic coating (you use a tiny amount) on the car. It's very quick to do, much faster than waxing, but needs some finesse.

The ceramic coating itself is relatively expensive in terms of single application. Because most of them use the same base chemical (silica in a solvent) that comes from a Korean company that holds the patent. There are cheaper knock off products around, but the big names all use a similar quality product. But the comparatively high cost of a ceramic application is not so much about the <$100 of product they use, but the time in preparing the car to have a perfect finish prior to applying the coating. Getting the same job done, but using a very high quality show wax done as the final finish rather than a ceramic coating wouldn't be any cheaper.

I like detailing my cars, and also like the look of wax. But for those who are time poor or simply uninterested in spending the time required to keep the finish in optimum condition, ceramics are a good idea for those who still care about their car's finish. But getting the product off again (accidents, deep scratches, end of product life) is the main con.