A ceramic coating is clear, and it bonds to your clear coat for years. That is the whole point — and it is also the catch. Whatever the paint looks like on the day the coating goes on is what it will look like, locked in, for the life of the coating. Swirls, water spots, a smear of polish residue: all of it stays.
That is why most of the time your car spends with us goes into what happens before the bottle is opened. Here is the full process, step by step.
Short version: wash and decontamination, paint correction, a prep wipe, the coating applied by hand panel by panel under inspection lights, then an indoor cure and a final inspection. Typically 1–3 days, depending on the paint and the package — you get the timeline before we start.
1. Wash and decontamination
A two-bucket hand wash, then an iron remover and a clay bar to pull out everything bonded to the paint — rail dust, tree sap, overspray. Wheels and door jambs are included. A coating cannot bond through contamination, and anything left on the surface gets sealed in.
2. Paint correction
Next, swirls, light scratches and oxidation are polished out — one, two or three steps, depending on what the paint needs. We check paint depth as we go, and every panel is looked at under our hex lights, which show defects that daylight hides. On a new car this step can be light. On a five-year-old car that has lived on automatic car washes, it is where most of the visible difference comes from.
3. Panel wipe
Polish leaves oils behind, and oils stop a coating from bonding. Every panel is wiped with a prep solution until the surface is completely bare, so the coating attaches to clean clear coat and nothing else.
4. Coating, panel by panel
The coating goes on by hand, one panel at a time, in our controlled studio. Each section is leveled with a clean towel at the right moment, then checked under the lights for high spots — places where extra coating is left on the surface and hardens into a dark, smeary patch. Caught early, a high spot wipes away. Missed, it has to be polished off later. That check is why we work under inspection lighting instead of in an open bay.
Glass, wheels and trim can be coated too. On our Ultimate package they are included, along with the interior.
5. Cure, inspect, deliver
The coating cures indoors, out of the dust and the weather. Then the car gets a final inspection, and you leave with simple care instructions — plus an annual inspection on Premium and Ultimate.
What each package includes
| Package | Built to last | Highlights | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | About 1 year | Hydrophobic, UV protection, hand-wash safe | From $299 |
| Plus | About 3 years | Enhanced hydrophobics, UV and chemical resistance, swirl-mark resistance | From $599 |
| Premium | About 6 years | Maximum hydrophobics, full chemical resistance, scratch resistance, annual inspection | From $799 |
| Ultimate | 8 years to permanent | Full paint correction, interior coating, wheels and trim, annual maintenance | From $1,299 |
Every package starts with the full wash and decontamination. Prices move with vehicle size and paint condition, so you get an exact quote for your car. We use professional-grade coatings from X GUARD, SystemX and Nano Pro, and the full breakdown is in Ceramic Coating Packages Explained.
The first week
- Skip washing for about a week. The coating is dry to the touch when you pick the car up, but it keeps hardening for days.
- Keep it dry for the first day or two if you can. If it gets rained on, pat it dry gently with a clean microfiber.
- Remove bird droppings right away, gently, with water and a soft towel.
- After that: pH-neutral soap, no brush car washes, and a ceramic booster spray every few months.
Quick answers
Does every car need paint correction first?
Not to the same degree. A new car often needs only light polishing; an older daily driver usually needs more. We check the paint under our lights and tell you what it needs before you commit.
Can you coat over PPF?
Yes. Coating the film and the bare panels together makes the whole car bead and clean the same way.
Will a coating stop rock chips?
No. It adds real scratch resistance, but chips are the job of paint protection film. Many customers do PPF on the front end and coat the whole car.
Is it worth it?
For most cars that are hand-washed and kept for a few years, yes — here is our honest answer.
Want gloss that lasts for years?
Send us the car and the package you like. We will confirm the price, the timeline and what the paint needs first — usually the same business day.