Ceramic coating
 

Has anyone done this to their RDX? Do you notice a difference? Is it worth the money? Just curious everyone's thoughts on it.

ceramic coating is GREAT!
Long lasting and water will bead right off your car...it's not RDX specific...one could just watch the millions of youtube videos about Ceramic coatings.

is it worth the money? if you're spending $2k on a detail... that's a hard sell.
why not get multiple quotes from your local detailers?
remember, before the ceramic coating goes on, you have to prep the surface of the car...ie; paint correction.. it will need to be fully detailed...which is where the cost comes in.

labor is intensive, as I spend about 12 hours on my cars..fully detailing them.

wash, dry, claybar/ironx, paint correction, ceramic coat, then a sealant. it's a long process.

I have done it myself.. its totally worth the money if you DIY . cost is around 150 + 3 days of work

I paid for someone to do it,
cost for the silver package of ceramic pro 9h was 1600 dollars (this included a stage 3 paint correction and all of the prep work prior as well as the labor involved with applying the ceramic pro).

I know it's pretty easy to DIY, as long as your solid on the prep work, but my detailer went a bit above for the price point, he applied ceramic pro to not only my car, but also my wheels, calipers, door jams, windows etc.

Washing my car is a breeze currently and I couldn't be more happier!
It takes longer to dry my vehicle than it does to wash! (I use a leaf blower)

PPf > ceramic

go with xpel and you’ll be happy

I agree that PPF is awesome and I have Xpel installed on all of my vehicles. However, it is not economical to install PPF on every panel of the car and that is where ceramic comes into play. Doors, roof, rear get the ceramic and the front and hood get the PPF.

yes, agree with both of you on PPF. I have full front PPF done and then Ceramic on top of entire car (DIY).

Personally, and i think i might get a lot of disagreement for some of the following comments, I feel like all of these things (ceramic, ppf, etc) is 99% dependent on the level of care one wants to take with their vehicle.

What i mean is for me, I have never done PPF or ceramic -but I am the type of person that doesn't mind, and actually enjoys spending time working and massaging the paint on a vehicle to keep it looking fresh and new. Not to say that PPF and ceramic dont have their benefits, but to me ceramic may in fact provide protection beyond anything I use, however based on what I know, it is simply protectant and does not also provide shine. Sure, it is probably easier to achieve a nice shine on a ceramic coated finish, but to me, not worth the $$.... Regarding PPF, i also understand the benefits of having a durable film on the car, but 1. my RDX in my opinion isn't worth enough $$ to wrap it in thousands of dollars of film, also, despite how good the latest and greatest film is, nothing looks as good as naked paint. I did consider doing XPEL on the front of the RDX but for the $1,500+ i was quoted at the nearest local reputable dealer, i would much rather wait a while for it to get dinged up, and have it repainted or even replaced.

I am always open to changing my mind, but for the time being I will stick to my well documented, weekly process of:
1. Spray the car down w/ONR
2. Wash the car with ONR
3. Dry using my Klin towel and Optiseal as a dry aid
4. final coat of BeadMaker

If i feel any fallout or imperfections i will go over it with a light clay towel thing x ChemGuys Clay Luber and when the shiny black stuff gets swirl marks, i hit it w/the 7424 and some 3D HDSpeed...

I have partial Xpel clear bra and got the gold package 9H ceramic coating done. It's awesome. Expensive though. Cost me around $1,500 for just the ceramic coating.I think it's worth it since I plan on keeping the RDX for at least 8-10 years.

One problem here is that you got a ridiculous quote. Doing the whole car (bumpers, partial hood/fenders, mirror caps, handle cups, fender wells) should be about $600.

While the PPF is difficult to apply yourself, the ceramic is certainly doable yourself and will cost you $60 if you have all the stuff to do your prep already. The prep will take most of a day - which is why having somebody do it for you is so expensive.

There are significant advantages of PPF over a periodic wax application. You won't get rock chips that mar your paint and a respray not only costs more, it also reuces the value of your car while the PPF will (ever so slightly) increase the value of your car.

Ceramic (the real stuff, not the stuff the dealer applies) prevents bird droppings from etching your paint or most water spotting. You can rinse your car off with a hose and it'll look decent. Wash it with ONR and it'll look like like you just spent hours waxing it.

I dont disagree with anything you are saying. Maybe im just old school but i simply dont see the value in these things on say a sub-$75k vehicle. Also, one factor from my perspective is i typically keep cars more than 5-6 years so end value is not as much of a factor to me as i take the car to CarMax and accept their offer (which i usually pretty good).

Regarding ceramic - maybe someday I will do a self-application type ceramic, but since I started actually caring and maintaining my own cars, i have never really had any etching or water spots from bird poop or water...I would consider myself super anal though about where I park my car, for how long, etc. I always will take that far away, all-alone spot and absolutely never park under trees or light posts and never ever near where i think there might be sprinklers....That being said, maybe i could be a little more relaxed about these things if I did have ceramic or PPF...

So basically in talking through this post, I will explore further...any suggestions on self applied ceramic @ceb ??... I suppose I would have to spend a day correcting the paint prior to application correct?

Yes, the surface has to be spotless before you apply coating. Anything on the paint will be sealed in and will remain forever - think putting a screen protector on your phone and seeing that pesky spec of dust trapped under the protector.

The coating needs to be applied thinly and smoothly - if you see any waviness or streaks then you need to get rid of those before it dries. I've had good luck with OptiCoat.

I'd suggest practicing on an older car so that you can see how it works. If you have a beater, then you can try it out on a hood or trunk without using too much product. Remember that the product really needs a garage to dry at least overnight.