[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.

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.

[EvasiveF87]

I do professional mobile detailing here in Northern VA. Average price from a reputable installer for a 3-5 year coating should not run you anymore than $1,000 - $1,200

Me personally, I charge in the $750 ballpark. Anything above $1,000 in my opinion it should be a warrantied coating / work. Personally though I'd never pay over $1,000 for a coating as a consumer - Especially not a on literal brand new G20. Car is not going to need a ridiculous amount of prep.

[stbm5]

if you have a garage and a free weekend then do it yourself. nothing special about prepping a car and applying a coating, just take your time and be careful. doing wheels, car and glass might be a lot of work for one day but over a weekend its doable. you might need a polisher, a jack and some painters masking tape. still cheaper than paying someone to do it.

if no garage then id say upper end ought to be 1200 for car, 300 for wheels and another 200 for glass.

[jsabia85]

Originally Posted by EvasiveF87

I do professional mobile detailing here in Northern VA. Average price from a reputable installer for a 3-5 year coating should not run you anymore than $1,000 - $1,200

Me personally, I charge in the $750 ballpark. Anything above $1,000 in my opinion it should be a warrantied coating / work. Personally though I'd never pay over $1,000 for a coating as a consumer - Especially not a on literal brand new G20. Car is not going to need a ridiculous amount of prep.

That’s what I thought, it’s brand new and can’t be a lot of prep but this shop said the full exterior detail, clay bar, polish, paint correction etc was needed

[BroDoze]

Just do it yourself. Not a big deal. Finding the time and letting the car sit a weekend is the hardest part.

[EvasiveF87]

Originally Posted by jsabia85

That’s what I thought, it’s brand new and can’t be a lot of prep but this shop said the full exterior detail, clay bar, polish, paint correction etc was needed

A full exterior detail (decontamination) with clay is necessary, as well as machine polishing of the paint. The paint needs to be machine polished prior as it will open up the pores of the clear to accept the coating.

Any and all reputable installers do this prior to coating. However, a quick machine polish (maybe 30-45 minutes TOPS of labor) is not the same as a paint correction.

I'm not saying your car doesn't need a paint correction, who knows. but that level of labor is not necessary. I would advise shopping around on it for sure.

[stbm5]

You only need to polish if you need a polish. Definitely not required for every new vehicle or every inch of the car. Good wash, decontamination, panel prep and then coating. Hit me up by pm if you want more details, I’ve paint corrected and coated 6 vehicles, happy to answer any questions.

[Mizuno]

Originally Posted by jsabia85

Just picked up my 2025 G20 and I’m now starting to get quotes for a full ceramic coating—

I had my last car done by a pro for like $1500. I did my current car literally yesterday for $150 (MOHS Syncro cost). I already had the polisher and stuff from past cars I Shined up (but this was my first ceramic) . Its easy! DIY!

[stbm5]

polishing a car is not difficult

coatings are cheap

professional only coatings are a marketing scam

unless you have the worlds greatest detailer you'll care more about the application and outcome.

[vip]

Originally Posted by EvasiveF87

I do professional mobile detailing here in Northern VA. Average price from a reputable installer for a 3-5 year coating should not run you anymore than $1,000 - $1,200

Me personally, I charge in the $750 ballpark. Anything above $1,000 in my opinion it should be a warrantied coating / work. Personally though I'd never pay over $1,000 for a coating as a consumer - Especially not a on literal brand new G20. Car is not going to need a ridiculous amount of prep.

Does that price include wheel off ceramic coating, all windows?

Or just painted surfaces only?

[afadeev]

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!

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.

[KRock]

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.

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.

I opted for a PPF on my 2026 X5 iDrive50e for the protection vs the ceramic coating. I live in ATL and found a great shop that does them. Their prices vary depending on the warranty you chose.. 2 year, 7 year or lifetime. The lifetime was like $2100 or so, the 7 year was $1700 for ceramic coating.

[B58-M340iX]

Ceramic coatings have come a long way. You can 'revive' clogged coatings by a good decon wash and getting rid of traffic film/road grime. Many enthusiast YTers have showcased how to do this with longer-term coatings. Coatings aren't just a one- to two-year, throw-away product unless you get a basic coating - just like waxes and other sealants - some are better than others.

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by jsabia85

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?

Are you the kind of person who washes their car by hand somewhat frequently. or who takes it through a car wash every other month if that?

Do you have a place to do this kind of work, or any background at all with ever trying to remove a scratch or waxing your own car?

Do you want a flawless paint finish, or just want to protect it a bit and make the rain bead up?

I think that stuff will play into if you should DIY it.

As for DIY, there are some really simply coatings that'll get you a year or so of protection. You can do the whole job in an hour if the car is clean. You could do that twice a year and call it good.