Any downside to ceramic - other than cost?

[gman1868]

I too am one who will not Hand wash. But then I can't get close enough to a Telly for a test drive!!! Will not Buy without Test Drive. Call me pickey.

I wouldn't have bought one without a test drive.

 

[YAH DEF]

May either have to take the winter off from the washes and go to the touchless once in a while, or find a mobile detailer that brings their own water with them. My dude had a 200 gallon tank of ionized water on a small trailer when he was washing in say a parking lot with no utility hookups to use. Just food for thought. We couldn’t be in more opposite climates though... lol

I'm in Ontario - not sure where you are. I do tend to get washes in the winter bc of all the salt on the road. Guy I've been buying my Hondas from says it's worth it bc it gets the road salt off and helps prevent corrosion.

 

[YAH DEF]

I too am one who will not Hand wash. But then I can't get close enough to a Telly for a test drive!!! Will not Buy without Test Drive. Call me pickey.

Not picky - sensible. I knew I wanted this car and the test drive just confirmed it.

 

[JerseySXP]

If you are going to a touchless car wash with no rollers or brushes and have the ability to select basic. No wax. No coatings. Basically just the soap and water then get the ceramic done.

Should be good to go.

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[vinylhaircut]

If you are going to a touchless car wash with no rollers or brushes and have the ability to select basic. No wax. No coatings. Basically just the soap and water then get the ceramic done.

Should be good to go.

+1 on this. I have to go touchless in the winter, and I found one for $10 that is just soap, water, and dry. I bring some extra towels and take two more minutes to dry it a little better in the parking lot when I'm through.

 

[YAH DEF]

If you are going to a touchless car wash with no rollers or brushes and have the ability to select basic. No wax. No coatings. Basically just the soap and water then get the ceramic done.

Should be good to go.

Glad you said this - I always do touchless but might not have thought to go basic. Good advice.

 

[Jpzy17]

^+1 on the above. Prep prep prep - most important part. Very easy to do IF you go straight from the dealer to the detailer. Makes their life a lot easier. The first three nights I didn't have my baby with me was absolutely terrible but it was well worth it.

I got exactly what @Wolf27 mentioned for ~2k - get XPEL ULTIMATE for the PPF if possible. Most detailers call it a "highway" package - Full front, partial hood, partial fenders and mirrors.

IGL Kenzo was the ceramic coat I got and it's heavenly. Beauty of this is that they only recommend a once yearly application of EcoCoat Premier for maintenance which is spray on and I can easily handle that.

If I got the entire car PPF'd it would cost nearly 9k. The package that we are stating is the next best thing you can get for very good protection.

I just washed my car...the water just beads right off leaving a beautiful finish - believe it or not this was touchless. I did not use any mits or microfibers.

Just power wash, foam cannon, and blower.View attachment 13469View attachment 13470View attachment 13468

@JerseySXP First, your Telly looks amazing. I have a question on your PPF. Did you get the entire hood done? My wife‘s RAV4 a few years ago came with PPF on 1/3rd of the hood. The line was pretty noticeable and I didn’t really like the look of it. From your photos I do not see anything in terms of a line where the PPF ends. This would be ideal because for a full hood I was quoted about $3-400 more. No Telly for me yet, so I still have time to weigh my options. Thanks!

 

[Lith_SXPN]

Here is my (additional) 2 cents worth. If you don't know what orange peel, swirl, or rest of the detailing mumbo jumbo, do not, I repeat DO NOT find out what it is. When you do, you will be spending all your free time and money trying to fix what is considered perfect to normal people. Yes, it is nice to keep the car in show room condition but for a daily driven car(especially cars driven on dirt roads), it just is not worth it. Save yourself $1500 on ceramic coating. If you are concerned with rock chips, invest your money on PPF. Expect some chips on unprotected areas drving around dirt roads. There is no ceramic coating out there that will protect you from rock chips. If you want the hydrophobic properties, spend $30 on spray ceramic/graphine coating. Even some cheaper polymer coating does great job these days. Apply it properly once per direction, then use wet spray method every other touchless wash. It will add 5-10 additional minutes on your wash.

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[Wolf27]

I'm in Ontario - not sure where you are. I do tend to get washes in the winter bc of all the salt on the road. Guy I've been buying my Hondas from says it's worth it bc it gets the road salt off and helps prevent corrosion.

Arizona. Lol.

 

[JerseySXP]

@JerseySXP First, your Telly looks amazing. I have a question on your PPF. Did you get the entire hood done? My wife‘s RAV4 a few years ago came with PPF on 1/3rd of the hood. The line was pretty noticeable and I didn’t really like the look of it. From your photos I do not see anything in terms of a line where the PPF ends. This would be ideal because for a full hood I was quoted about $3-400 more. No Telly for me yet, so I still have time to weigh my options. Thanks!

Installer did a great job at the transition. Barely noticeable.

I'll take closeups later.

 

[YAH DEF]

Arizona. Lol.

Well, a whole different world!

 

[SC300ES]

I am by no means an expert on this topic, but I belong to other car clubs where there are a lot of knowledgeable people that post on this topic.

This is a post from a member in the Lexus forums that used to detail in the past but now is a realtor who does this as a hobby.

In addition, he does this on the cars he leases for 3 years which to me shows his passion for keeping a clean car.

I’m just going to copy paste what he wrote:



Can you tl;dr what did you do protection wise? I dropped off my car today for paint correction and ceramic coat application.



For sure!

I didn’t do any serious paint correction. The paint is pretty good, there were a couple little areas I did polish out but not the whole car. This being my first German car in many many years the paint is HARD. The paint on a Lexus is really soft, it’s easy to rub pretty much anything out by hand with a hand polish/scratch remover. Not on this!

It had a lot of imbedded paint contaminants and iron spots having sat on the lot all that time, so it needed fallout remover and clay.

First I washed it, then I sprayed it down with CarPro Iron X for chemical decontamination/fallout removal:

Then I clayed it using a synthetic clay pad and carwash soap:

That left me a good, smooth clean surface. After that I let them install the clear bra.

Once I got it home, I wiped it all down with a panel prep, I used CarPro Eraser to get all the oils out of the paint:

Then it was time to do the ceramic coating. I chose Gtechniq's Crystal Serum Light topped by two coats of EXO. The CSL is as serious a coating as is available to a non-professional. I had used 22ple on the LS460L and this is much harder and thicker. Goes on and comes off easy though:

For CSL the 30mL bottle is enough to do the whole car, wheels and the windows (I didn’t do the windshield, I don’t like coatings on the windshield) on this car, and probably even an SUV because you only do 1 coat. I have about 1/3rd of the bottle left. I'm going to do the wood trim with it eventually.:


The CSL has got great chemical resistance and hardness, but it doesn't have great hydrophobic properties, that’s where the EXO topper comes in. This you do 2 coats of on top, and this I would get the 50mL bottle for a car of this size. I had the 30, and I got 2 coats on the whole body but only one on the glass and didn’t have enough left over for the wheels (no big deal they have CSL). 50 mL would have given me plenty with no anxiety:

My cars get run through a carwash, especially in the winter. I'm going to use techno’s QD after the carwash and their C2V3 Spray Coating to replenish the coating from time to time since the carwash is hard on it:

QD (this does not come with a sprayer, which is a PITA:


I trust this guy on this topic so I hope it helps people that want to take this on on their own. He is believer in PPF but then does the ceramic himself.

Ed

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[Njoytheride]

This whole process depends on your level of paint protection and how much you really are into cleaning your car. For myself, I watch Ammo NYC video's and have detailed cars to that level. I don't use ceramics not against them just don't need that level plus you still have to maintain it either way. I have attached a picture of a car I used to own, its not ceramic although it is clean, and did sheet water and yes my neighbors thought I was crazy doing a two bucket wash/clay bar/buff, though that paint felt as smooth as a baby's butt. Yes, you can do that with ceramic I just choose not to.
I super hope to do the same to the Telluride once I receive it.

 

[Debimahler]

I would like it to last the full five years.... I'll talk to the ceramic guy about washing. I'm really just not going to hand wash it. I know this about myself!

There’s usually a kid in the neighborhood looking to make some extra dough washing your Telluride!!

 

[knightsfan2020]

I just bought a metro vac. On sale at chemical guys...people will really think I'm nuts!

I love my dryer. Bought one on Amazon for $ 89.50 Jimbo's detailing on Youtube recommended it.

 

[JerseySXP]

I love my dryer. Bought one on Amazon for $ 89.50 Jimbo's detailing on Youtube recommended it.

The shelandy one? I saw that one but wanted something a bit more powerful.

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[knightsfan2020]

The shelandy one? I saw that one but wanted something a bit more powerful.

It works fine for the money. I have 303 Graphene spray coating on mine and it blows the water off pretty good. Probably takes a few minutes more.

 

[JerseySXP]

It works fine for the money. I have 303 Graphene spray coating on mine and it blows the water off pretty good. Probably takes a few minutes more.

Thanks for advice.

Lets see if my order even ships out. Good chance they are back ordered.

If not then I'll look at the shelandy for sure.

 

[rfdacm02]

I too am one who will not Hand wash. But then I can't get close enough to a Telly for a test drive!!! Will not Buy without Test Drive. Call me pickey.

Was the same for me, finally got to drive one a few weeks ago. The test drive only confirmed I was not going to be unhappy with the Telluride, but was required nonetheless. Ordered today.

 

[Buck]

^+1 on the above. Prep prep prep - most important part. Very easy to do IF you go straight from the dealer to the detailer. Makes their life a lot easier. The first three nights I didn't have my baby with me was absolutely terrible but it was well worth it.

I got exactly what @Wolf27 mentioned for ~2k - get XPEL ULTIMATE for the PPF if possible. Most detailers call it a "highway" package - Full front, partial hood, partial fenders and mirrors.

IGL Kenzo was the ceramic coat I got and it's heavenly. Beauty of this is that they only recommend a once yearly application of EcoCoat Premier for maintenance which is spray on and I can easily handle that.

If I got the entire car PPF'd it would cost nearly 9k. The package that we are stating is the next best thing you can get for very good protection.

I just washed my car...the water just beads right off leaving a beautiful finish - believe it or not this was touchless. I did not use any mits or microfibers.

Just power wash, foam cannon, and blower.View attachment 13469View attachment 13470View attachment 13468

Thanks for the detailed post. Your Telluride looks beautiful! I just got the IGL Kenzo coating. I didn't get the PPL. Wasn't sure how that would look. Love your side-steps. I'm considering that as well. Kind of fun, but I don't want to go overboard. I have the GG-Non-NF.