Quote:
Originally Posted by jsabia85
Just picked up my 2025 G20 and I’m now starting to get quotes for a full ceramic coating—paint, windows, lights, and rims. Prices seem to be all over the place. I’ve received quotes ranging from $700 for a 4-year coating to $1,600 for a 5-year coating. What’s a reasonable ballpark for a quality job? I’m located in Long Island, New York. Any recommendations or insight would be appreciated.
|
The devil is in the details with all cosmetic (and home improvement) estimates.
ceramic coating application itself is quick and easy. If the paint is in a perfect shape, it will take maybe 10 minutes per panel to apply it, <2 hours in total. The coatings themselves are inexpensive, figure $75-150. That's it!
BTW,
creamic application is a brain-dead simple process, and very easy to DIY!
Quality paint correction and cermaic/graphene coating job will cost you $1,000-$1,500. Depending on your proximity to the City, the prices may go up.
Even if you need to buy supplies from scratch (orbital polisher, compounds, rags, cremaic coating), all
top-of-the-line ingredients will cost you <$500. And you will need those on other cars, and in future years!
However, most clear coats (even new ones!) need some degree of paint correction and polishing BEFORE you ceramic coat (or wax) the paint. That will take the bulk of the time, and represent the bulk of the cost.
Therefore, you need to be super specific in comparing the work for which you are soliciting quotes. Will a shop just polish the paint (one pass)? Will they first correct then poilsh the paint (two passes)? Some paints require even more work then that. Therefore, it's very easy to see deduce that lower quotes represent less paint prep work and are likely to be higher margin products!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsabia85
I don’t know anybody who has gotten a ceramic coating so it’s all just internet research/google reviews trying to find a reputable shop.
|
Come to a local BMW CCA meet, and you will find a few folks who care about their rides more than average, and a few who have ceramic coated their cars:
https://www.bmwcca.org/chapter/finder
Last but not least - all "warranties" and multi-years ceramic / graphene promises are a 100% SCAM designed to bring you into the detailer's shop for repeated "maintenance" care.
3-years? 5-years? 10-years?
All BS, with fine print that assumes 100% garage covered cars, 1-2 week wash intervals, with 3/6-month maintenance intervals of reapplying "toppers" or other product$$$$ on top of your ceramic coating!
No coating on the windshield has lasted me more than 6 months. Then you re-apply it.
No coating on the paint has lasted me more than 1-1.5 years. Ever. Then you re-apply it.
4 cars, 20+ years of data sampling.
HTH,
a
P.S.: I have ceramic/graphene (same sh*t) coated all my wheels during summer<->winter tire swaps. Very easy with the wheels off the car, hardly worth it. They are easier to clean, but otherwise, imperceptible difference while on the car.