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Years ago, I had a customer come into my shop asking for a ceramic coating. She’d heard about coatings online, knew she wanted one, and we gave her exactly what she asked for.
About a year later, she came back upset. She’d taken a road trip and her car had rock chips. My initial reaction was basically, “Well…yeah.” Ceramic coating doesn’t stop rocks.
But I eventually realized something: that wasn’t entirely her mistake. It was ours.
We were supposed to be the experts. Instead of asking what she actually wanted to protect her car from, we sold her the product she requested. She had apparently read enough online to believe a ceramic coating provided protection it was never designed to provide.
It’s a mistake I don’t want car owners – or my shop – to make again.
Ceramic coating and paint protection film (PPF) solve two different problems.
A quality ceramic coating creates a chemical layer of protection over your clear coat. It can provide incredible gloss, hydrophobic properties, UV and chemical resistance, and make the vehicle substantially easier to maintain.
What doesn’t it do? Stop a piece of gravel traveling 70 mph.
PPF is physical protection. It’s a urethane film between your paint and the outside world designed to take impacts from rocks and road debris. If preventing rock chips is your priority, PPF is what you should be discussing.
And if it’s a new car, don’t assume the paint is flawless. I’ve yet to meet the flawless new car. Transportation, dealership washing and improper handling can leave defects before you’ve even taken delivery.
There’s another misconception worth clearing up: just because something says “ceramic” doesn’t mean it’s equivalent to a professional ceramic coating.
Ceramic-infused car wash, spray-on products, dealership protection packages and professional coatings can all use similar terminology while being completely different products and processes. Preparation and installation matter just as much as what’s in the bottle.
Personally, I think traditional wax is basically dead. Modern sealants and coatings offer too many advantages for me to justify the time wax requires. And you don’t need a shelf containing six differently colored bottles that accomplish nearly the same thing. For enthusiast-grade products, Koch-Chemie is one of my personal favorites.
So what would I do with a brand-new car?
PPF, ceramic coating and quality window tint.
That’s also why my biggest recommendation happens before you take delivery. Talk to one or two reputable specialty shops about your goals. Ask what they would protect, what they wouldn’t, and why.
Don’t simply ask, “What’s the best ceramic coating?” Tell them what you’re worried about.
Rock chips? PPF. Easier maintenance and environmental protection? Ceramic coating. Want both? Do both.
The product should be chosen for the problem – not because you saw its name online.
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