The Value of a Ceramic Coating for your Vehicle
Every once in a while, a customer tell me that they need a "good wax job" done on their vehicle. The are not emphasizing the "wax", they are emphasizing the "good job" part. The other day, a customer came in after having the factory wing on his Sonata repainted. The body shop guy told him to go get a good wax job done on it to protect it.
Whenever I hear someone refer to wax being what they need to protect their paint, I realize that wax is what they know and trust to protect their vehicles' finish. I'm not criticizing this thinking. I'm glad he came in to have his vehicle detailed. That is the first step you can take in vehicle preservation. He also realized that we could do a better job than him and that a coating is better than wax. The next question I could see in his eyes was, do I want to spend the money for it?
The right question to ask is not, do I want to spend that much money? It is, what is the better value? I have had both of my vehicles coated since 2021. I have not had to polish or wax it, just clean it. That has saved me much time, money and preserved much better than a wax or sealant.
Let's look at a detail, polish, and wax. This service can cost $400 plus depending on where you go. Three months later, the wax has pretty much worn off. Now what? Ok, now we need to detail and wax it the next time. Now it's $200 plus. That's $600 in three months. Three months later the wax is worn off again. Another 200 bucks. That's now $800 in nine months. The cycle just keeps repeating itself. These are even very conservative costs that I am mentioning. Let's just multiply these numbers by three years just for fun. $800 times three years is $2,400. Yikes. And that's only three years. Oh, well I'm only going to keep my car for three years. So what. $2,400 is still $2,400. It's still a lot of money.
If you plan on finally bringing in your vehicle to be detailed and protected because you can't do it yourself anymore or you know it needs more than what you could do and you plan on a wax on the exterior, then you need to plan to do this every three months. Is there much of a point to bring it in once a year for a three month protectant. We are even talking about a pro-grade wax, here. This isn't the stuff at at the big box or auto parts store.
Let's look at the cost of an exterior ceramic coating. We will talk about an industry standard 5-year coating. Let's say it cost $1,500. What is $1,500 divided by three years? It is $500 per year. Let's divide it by 5. That is $300 per year. My 5-year coating will outlast the warranty, so let's divide it by seven. It's $214 bucks per year. What was it with the detail and wax at $200 a pop? That would be $1,200 per year. I know I'm not being fair, here. It still should be washed and detailed once a year. We will go ahead and factor in those numbers.
Ok, we will go back to dividing $1,500 by five and add the other services. If a wash is $100, let's say and a yearly detail is $250. That would be $1,750 per year to keep your vehicle looking brand new, Seriously, looking brand new. A coating isn't a wax. It is much harder and can withstand the elements where a wax or sealant can't. A wax will not preserve paint with the ease that a coating can. Hey, don't forget that with that $2,400 a year detail and wax, I didn't factor in polishing every year or even a wash. So, the reality is that it's much higher than $2,400 per year.
Do you see how a coating can save you money? Saving money isn't really the point in a coating, Although that is a great bonus. Keeping your vehicle looking like new is the main reason for a coating. We haven't even talked about an interior coating. How an interior coating can keep your interior cleaner for longer, therefore allowing you to have to take it to the detailer as often, therefore saving even more money. Again, the main reason for an interior coating is preservation. No dulling, cracking, fading or need to apply a protectant to the interior. More driving and less stress. Where is the downside?
One last thought. You might be asking (or not because you're not a huge nerd like me), "Why does he want me to spend less money at his shop over time with a coating?" That is the right question, Detective Spooner. Why would I want that? Because, why would I want to sell you my lowest level of detail? Wouldn't I naturally want to sell you my best? Of course I would. Who wouldn't? If you had a flower shop, you would want to sell your most expensive flower arrangement. (Where did a flower arrangement illustration come from? Weird.) I want to be able to preserve your vehicle with the best of what I have. Waxes and sealants are good, but not the best.
Tug Bankert-Owner/Operator of Wax On Wax Off Detailing Since 2013
Detailer since 1999
Opti-Coat Podcast Host since a few weeks ago
Idiot since birth
Dad since 2011
Husband since 2009
This wasn't Ai, by the way. It was all me.