What is Paint Correction and Ceramic Coating?

[911 Crazy]

So I'm seeing a few owners taking there new trucks and having the paint corrected, huh? And then spending thousands and having paint and who knows what else ceramic coated? I know how to clay bar and wax a vehicle. Even have certain parts clear wrapped for paint protection. But paint correction and ceramic coating is new to me. And why is it so dang expensive? Did I miss adding this to my budget? Will it push me over the top at the Mall? Please school me.

 

[alphatwox]

"A Ceramic Coating is a liquid polymer that is applied by hand to the exterior of a vehicle. The coating chemically bonds with the vehicle’s factory paint, creating a layer of protection.

A Ceramic Coating is not a substitute for Protection film, which provides a more comprehensive layer of defense. Rather, it is a premium wax alternative. A Ceramic Coating creates a permanent or semi-permanent bond with a vehicle’s paint, meaning that it does not wash away or break down and does not require repeated application every few months."

......"In short, a Ceramic Coating adds additional protection to your car’s exterior and helps keep it looking like-new with comparatively minimal maintenance"


Paint correction: "Paint correction is a term that is now commonly used by both professional car detailers and car cleaning enthusiasts worldwide to describe the process of restoring and rejuvenating the paintwork of a vehicle, mostly through the elimination of surface imperfections, that dull, oxidize, or haze the surface by reflecting light off in various directions, therefore detracting from a true and proper, clean, sharp, reflection. These imperfections include things like swirl marks & fine scratches, bird dropping etching & acid rain etching, hologramming & buffer trails, and random isolated deep scratches (or RIDS)."

 

[alphatwox]

Will it push me over the top at the Mall?

Absolutely!! Lol all the soccer moms are going to stop and look!

I have mine ceramic coated for piece of mind and ease of maintenance, but if you don't think you need it, then you don't.....Kind of like sealing your grout for your tile. It helps, it protects, and it's easier to clean, but if you're maintaining your house and cleaning your dang floors, chances are you don't need it.

 

[911 Crazy]

"A Ceramic Coating is a liquid polymer that is applied by hand to the exterior of a vehicle. The coating chemically bonds with the vehicle’s factory paint, creating a layer of protection.

A Ceramic Coating is not a substitute for Protection film, which provides a more comprehensive layer of defense. Rather, it is a premium wax alternative. A Ceramic Coating creates a permanent or semi-permanent bond with a vehicle’s paint, meaning that it does not wash away or break down and does not require repeated application every few months."

......"In short, a Ceramic Coating adds additional protection to your car’s exterior and helps keep it looking like-new with comparatively minimal maintenance"


Paint correction: "Paint correction is a term that is now commonly used by both professional car detailers and car cleaning enthusiasts worldwide to describe the process of restoring and rejuvenating the paintwork of a vehicle, mostly through the elimination of surface imperfections, that dull, oxidize, or haze the surface by reflecting light off in various directions, therefore detracting from a true and proper, clean, sharp, reflection. These imperfections include things like swirl marks & fine scratches, bird dropping etching & acid rain etching, hologramming & buffer trails, and random isolated deep scratches (or RIDS)."

Great post. Two questions. Does the ceramic coating eliminate the need to wax in the future? And why does paint correction need to be done to a new vehicle?

 

[911 Crazy]

Absolutely!! Lol all the soccer moms are going to stop and look!

I have mine ceramic coated for piece of mind and ease of maintenance, but if you don't think you need it, then you don't.....Kind of like sealing your grout for your tile. It helps, it protects, and it's easier to clean, but if you're maintaining your house and cleaning your dang floors, chances are you don't need it.

You laugh but it's part of the "Grand Plan". You see, the community has all sorts of "events" to challenge your Raptor to push it's extremes. But I don't see any, "Look at Me!" events. So I'm going to go around the country and sponsor "Mall Crawls". Can you see it?, 45 Screws and Scabs taking over local malls at 15mph? It'll be great!

 

[alphatwox]

Great post. Two questions. Does the ceramic coating eliminate the need to wax in the future? And why does paint correction need to be done to a new vehicle?

As far as I know, no you don't need to wax in the future technically. Since it's a "wax alternative", as long as you wash your car and keep up that maintenance routine, you don't need to, and really shouldn't, wax you car. That's the purpose of the coating, to save you that continual waxing regiment every couple of months and instead changes it to every few years with the ceramic.

I don't really see a need for the paint correction unless you jacked that car up, or the factory jacked up the paint job and you have some nuts swirls all over. And it that was the case, Im taking it to the dealer.

 

[alphatwox]

You laugh but it's part of the "Grand Plan". You see, the community has all sorts of "events" to challenge your Raptor to push it's extremes. But I don't see any, "Look at Me!" events. So I'm going to go around the country and sponsor "Mall Crawls". Can't you see it, 45 Screws and Scabs taking over local malls at 15mph? It'll be great!

Haha! Im in...

 

[FerdFteen]

@911 Crazy I work a real day job but love detailing and do some side work on weekends at the shop that does PPF and ceramic to all my vehicles.

Paint correction can mean different things, but say you are going to have a two stage correction before PPF or ceramic. As to the why, even a new vehicle has all sorts of environmental pollutants from being on a transport truck, sitting outside, being test driven, etc. This can be anything from water spotting due to rain, brake dust spewing all over the paint, etc.

A typical paint correction would involve something like this, assuming a detail prep wash:

• Wheel cleaner and full cleaning of wheels and barrels. Either in the wheel cleaner or via separate IronX application, ferrous (iron) particles and brake dust are chemically removed from the wheel surfaces along with regular dirt, etc.
• Tire degreaser to strip all silicone, dirt and grime, etc. from the rubber, essentially making a clean surface that dressing or whatever is going to be applied can thoroughly bond to
• Power wash and cover with foam cannon to remove most dirt
  
• Depending on the condition of the vehicle, maybe cover it with APC (all purpose cleaner) to strip protectants etc. from its make ready or most recent commercial wash, then power wash again
• Hit it with the foam cannon again, wash thoroughly. Most of the time this won't be the "two bucket wash" that people espouse since your vehicle is about to be paint corrected anyways
• After rinsing, cover the vehicle in IronX or similar to break the chemical bonds of iron and brake dust in the paint. The reason this is desirable is that the particles embed into the clear coat itself, so if you skip this step and clay you basically shear the particles off at the surface but leave some embedded in the paint
• Assuming a new vehicle, usually just one clay bar pass with medium to fine clay is required
• If it's a two stage correction, the first polishing pass will likely be with a cutting compound to remove deeper swirls and light scratches
• The next pass is with a finer grained polish to remove the micromarring from the first pass and produce a smooth, defect free surface
• If wheels and calipers etc are to be coated, they will be removed and polished as well

At this point you should be about ready to apply PPF or ceramic or wax or whatever. You should have a chemically clean surface that the substance you're about to apply can bond to properly, and the clear coat should be in better than factory condition.

As for ceramic coating removing the need to wax, it's a nuanced question but the general answer is yes. You typically want to do some sort of upkeep on top of normal washing. That could be as simple as adding some sort of ceramic booster as a final detail step after you wash, to polishing with a ceramic coating specific maintenance product every 6-12 months. Coatings have finite life and it depends on the brand and how many coats were applied. An entry level coating with fewer applications might be 1 year warrantied, whereas say Modesta or Feynlab might be a 7-10 year warranty with maintenance.

You don't need to spend thousands on this just like you don't need an aftermarket FMIC or SVC mid travel suspension setup. Some guys on here like their truck to look like it's been in some scraps, some guys prefer pristine paint.

Even if you do want a nicer aesthetic, you can do most of the above yourself for a few hundred dollars (assuming you don't have an orbital polisher and need to buy one) and several hours of work.

Enjoy your truck!

 

[alphatwox]

@911 Crazy I work a real day job but love detailing and do some side work on weekends at the shop that does PPF and ceramic to all my vehicles.

Paint correction can mean different things, but say you are going to have a two stage correction before PPF or ceramic. As to the why, even a new vehicle has all sorts of environmental pollutants from being on a transport truck, sitting outside, being test driven, etc. This can be anything from water spotting due to rain, brake dust spewing all over the paint, etc.

A typical paint correction would involve something like this, assuming a detail prep wash:

• Wheel cleaner and full cleaning of wheels and barrels. Either in the wheel cleaner or via separate IronX application, ferrous (iron) particles and brake dust are chemically removed from the wheel surfaces along with regular dirt, etc.
• Tire degreaser to strip all silicone, dirt and grime, etc. from the rubber, essentially making a clean surface that dressing or whatever is going to be applied can thoroughly bond to
• Power wash and cover with foam cannon to remove most dirt
  
• Depending on the condition of the vehicle, maybe cover it with APC (all purpose cleaner) to strip protectants etc. from its make ready or most recent commercial wash, then power wash again
• Hit it with the foam cannon again, wash thoroughly. Most of the time this won't be the "two bucket wash" that people espouse since your vehicle is about to be paint corrected anyways
• After rinsing, cover the vehicle in IronX or similar to break the chemical bonds of iron and brake dust in the paint. The reason this is desirable is that the particles embed into the clear coat itself, so if you skip this step and clay you basically shear the particles off at the surface but leave some embedded in the paint
• Assuming a new vehicle, usually just one clay bar pass with medium to fine clay is required
• If it's a two stage correction, the first polishing pass will likely be with a cutting compound to remove deeper swirls and light scratches
• The next pass is with a finer grained polish to remove the micromarring from the first pass and produce a smooth, defect free surface
• If wheels and calipers etc are to be coated, they will be removed and polished as well

At this point you should be about ready to apply PPF or ceramic or wax or whatever. You should have a chemically clean surface that the substance you're about to apply can bond to properly, and the clear coat should be in better than factory condition.

As for ceramic coating removing the need to wax, it's a nuanced question but the general answer is yes. You typically want to do some sort of upkeep on top of normal washing. That could be as simple as adding some sort of ceramic booster as a final detail step after you wash, to polishing with a ceramic coating specific maintenance product every 6-12 months. Coatings have finite life and it depends on the brand and how many coats were applied. An entry level coating with fewer applications might be 1 year warrantied, whereas say Modesta or Feynlab might be a 7-10 year warranty with maintenance.

You don't need to spend thousands on this just like you don't need an aftermarket FMIC or SVC mid travel suspension setup. Some guys on here like their truck to look like it's been in some scraps, some guys prefer pristine paint.

Even if you do want a nicer aesthetic, you can do most of the above yourself for a few hundred dollars (assuming you don't have an orbital polisher and need to buy one) and several hours of work.

Enjoy your truck!

Nicely put!

 

[911 Crazy]

@911 Crazy I work a real day job but love detailing and do some side work on weekends at the shop that does PPF and ceramic to all my vehicles.

Paint correction can mean different things, but say you are going to have a two stage correction before PPF or ceramic. As to the why, even a new vehicle has all sorts of environmental pollutants from being on a transport truck, sitting outside, being test driven, etc. This can be anything from water spotting due to rain, brake dust spewing all over the paint, etc.

A typical paint correction would involve something like this, assuming a detail prep wash:

• Wheel cleaner and full cleaning of wheels and barrels. Either in the wheel cleaner or via separate IronX application, ferrous (iron) particles and brake dust are chemically removed from the wheel surfaces along with regular dirt, etc.
• Tire degreaser to strip all silicone, dirt and grime, etc. from the rubber, essentially making a clean surface that dressing or whatever is going to be applied can thoroughly bond to
• Power wash and cover with foam cannon to remove most dirt
  
• Depending on the condition of the vehicle, maybe cover it with APC (all purpose cleaner) to strip protectants etc. from its make ready or most recent commercial wash, then power wash again
• Hit it with the foam cannon again, wash thoroughly. Most of the time this won't be the "two bucket wash" that people espouse since your vehicle is about to be paint corrected anyways
• After rinsing, cover the vehicle in IronX or similar to break the chemical bonds of iron and brake dust in the paint. The reason this is desirable is that the particles embed into the clear coat itself, so if you skip this step and clay you basically shear the particles off at the surface but leave some embedded in the paint
• Assuming a new vehicle, usually just one clay bar pass with medium to fine clay is required
• If it's a two stage correction, the first polishing pass will likely be with a cutting compound to remove deeper swirls and light scratches
• The next pass is with a finer grained polish to remove the micromarring from the first pass and produce a smooth, defect free surface
• If wheels and calipers etc are to be coated, they will be removed and polished as well

At this point you should be about ready to apply PPF or ceramic or wax or whatever. You should have a chemically clean surface that the substance you're about to apply can bond to properly, and the clear coat should be in better than factory condition.

As for ceramic coating removing the need to wax, it's a nuanced question but the general answer is yes. You typically want to do some sort of upkeep on top of normal washing. That could be as simple as adding some sort of ceramic booster as a final detail step after you wash, to polishing with a ceramic coating specific maintenance product every 6-12 months. Coatings have finite life and it depends on the brand and how many coats were applied. An entry level coating with fewer applications might be 1 year warrantied, whereas say Modesta or Feynlab might be a 7-10 year warranty with maintenance.

You don't need to spend thousands on this just like you don't need an aftermarket FMIC or SVC mid travel suspension setup. Some guys on here like their truck to look like it's been in some scraps, some guys prefer pristine paint.

Even if you do want a nicer aesthetic, you can do most of the above yourself for a few hundred dollars (assuming you don't have an orbital polisher and need to buy one) and several hours of work.

Enjoy your truck!

Wow, very informative! So what would I be budgeting for a new truck? And you're in Austin, what shop? We might be moving there in the next year and I am looking for Raptors in Texas.