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      01-06-2020, 09:09 PM   #15
RVAGuy
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Drives: ‘20 X5/M50i (ordered); &
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paladin1 View Post
Ceramic Pro here. Makes maintenance much easier, but it's not maintenance-free. Still needs regular washing, and "refreshing" annually. But less effort than multiple hand-waxings over the same time. More expensive, but less effort. The paint needs to be professionally corrected prior to coating, because the coating is considered "permanent," although it can be removed by claying and buffing, but definitely harder to remove than wax. It does look nice, and stays nice looking longer. At a cost.
Thank you for your refreshingly candid and honest assessment of ceramic coating pros and cons. My understanding is ceramic is basically an alternative to waxing with the benefit it last significantly longer but at a higher cost primarily for professional instillation. I admire the skill, patience and dedication a good detailer can bring to returning a car to pristine condition.
As a result of this thread I have considered the amount of time I expend maintaining our two black cars, interior and exterior. While I wax the cars two or three times annually, I don’t find that it takes more than 1 or 2 hours each time. I spend much more time washing the cars every three or four weeks (dragging out the pressure washer and hooking up the hoses/ filling three buckets with soapy water/ washing the wheels/ foaming the car/ hand washing / spraying off the water/ drying etc. etc). As the cars are garaged, I rarely have to clay them and typically that takes at most 1-2 hours.
I summary, I don’t find waxing the cars is difficult or time consuming. In fact I find cleaning the cars a surprising therapeutic task that I can do on my own, when I want to, at my own pace, the radio playing music I like and knowingly when I’m done the cars will look great. My wife loves it as she always has a clean car.
Perhaps an added benefit of ceramic coating is it better protects the finish at car washes which makes it more easily justified for those that have neither the time or inclination to wash the car themselves.
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