Ceramic paint coating

[Jazzman]

I looked into this, and am still considering it. Here's what I found. It is excellent scratch protection, but does not add any significant protection against chips. If your car is outside in the elements, especially if you tend to get a lot of pigeon poop on your car, this is your stuff. If your main concern is rock chip protection, walk on by. It does not make the paint any more hard or durable. Also, once it is applied, it makes it close to impossible to buff out scratches that do occur, and they still can. You also have to apply it again every couple of years or so. It looses its effectiveness. Perhaps that is a bigger problem in the scorching heat of Arizona than in other areas. Not sure on that. It is a really great process to make the car look great, but understand its limitations. I, too, will be watching this thread to see how you like it once it is done, and after a few months to see if it stands up well. Thanks for blazing this trail!!

[wareaglescott]

I looked into this, and am still considering it. Here's what I found. It is excellent scratch protection, but does not add any significant protection against chips. If your car is outside in the elements, especially if you tend to get a lot of pigeon poop on your car, this is your stuff. If your main concern is rock chip protection, walk on by. It does not make the paint any more hard or durable. Also, once it is applied, it makes it close to impossible to buff out scratches that do occur, and they still can. You also have to apply it again every couple of years or so. It looses its effectiveness. Perhaps that is a bigger problem in the scorching heat of Arizona than in other areas. Not sure on that. It is a really great process to make the car look great, but understand its limitations. I, too, will be watching this thread to see how you like it once it is done, and after a few months to see if it stands up well. Thanks for blazing this trail!!

Yes scratches can still occur, hopefully they would be light scratches in the coating and not the actual cars finish.
The guys on my other car forum for the car I have on order are all about this stuff. I believe in a garage kept car that essentially never sits out in the elements or is exposed to bad weather while driven I can expect a much longer duration on the first application than I could on a daily driver. The technology on this stuff has made pretty rapid improvements the last couple years apparently. The detailer indicated one product came with a 5 year warranty and the other a 7. After discussing with him how I use the car he indicated the 5 year (cheaper of the two) would certainly be good enough for my purposes. He basically said it will last forever. I asked why only a five year warranty then and he said the manufacturer has to put some sort of limit on it to protect themselves. That makes sense. I expect to get 10 years out of it anyways. Who knows if I will even have the car that long.
Prior to applying the protection he will be doing a stage 1 paint correction to correct any swirls or any other minimal blemishes in the paint. Then he will apply the coating after that. Once applied the car supposedly stays looking very clean because lots less can stick to the car and it is also supposedly very easy to clean and keep shinny. I guess I will find out. Everyone I have talked to that has it loves it.