Genuine question - Even after an expensive coating, if you still have to baby the car in terms of where and how you get it washed, why would anyone have it coated? I understand the benefits of making the truck easy to wash, but that alone doesn't seem enough to justify the expense?
Wouldn't getting the truck 'wrapped' in 3M film be better in terms of durability?
Coatings will make your vehicle more of a "glass surface" which helps prevent contaminants stick to it. The surface is also incredibly slick. So when you couple those together along with the coating being relatively hard it makes it safer to wash no matter where you take it. Nothing will prevent scratches but all of the benefits of coating will help prevent them and make them more difficult to do. Now, if you're going to some crap local car wash where they use cheap wash mitts and the same bucket of water on car after car after car that is covered in bugs, brake dust and dirt then you'll still get scratches. Coating is 100% worth it but you do have to maintain it properly. It needs to be hand washed regularly and you need to decontaminate it with a product like Iron X occasionally and wipe it down with a product to remove any build up of sealant or wax or other residue from your wash routine to keep the hydrophobic properties at their prime.
Getting film applied to the entire truck will usually cost twice what a paint correction/coating job will typically cost. And even when you're wrapping a truck in film or even just regular vinyl you're still better off getting coating applied. Until you wash a vehicle that has paint coating applied you'll never understand just how easy and safe it is to wash.
---------- Post added at 03:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 PM ----------
Trimmell, thank you for taking the time to answer lots of question here. I have several myself.
-I will be vinyl wrapping my roof. It's ok to coat over the wrap?
-I am lucky to be able to have my vehicles hand washed every week at my work. I have never coated a vehicle before, but on my normal vehicles I always wash, dry, then hit them with a cheap final detail type spray wax. Doing this every week does keep the vehicles looking nice. Can I still use a spray wax over the coating, or will it defeat/hurt anything?
-Suggestion for coating in the Philadelphia area?
Thank you for helping out the members here!
My pleasure!
You can absolutely apply coating over the top of your vinyl wrap. Vinyl does tend to absorb a bit of coating so you have to be a lot more vigilant with how you apply it to prevent "shadows" from having an uneven application but you will get the same benefits as you would with paint. Incredible hydrophobic properties and it will be incredibly easy to wash.
I would avoid using spray wax. Even with final you need to be careful what you're using. Most spray waxes will actually take some of the hydrophobic properties away from your coating and dirt/debris will be more likely to stick. After washing I would recommend using a product like CarPro's Reload Sealant over the top of your coating. It will help protect the coating and extend its life as well as add a nice warmth to the paint. It looks almost like you freshly waxed it after using Reload. Incredible stuff. Avoid the spray wax though. They aren't designed to work with coatings.
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