[Scottish0177]

Originally Posted by Paul Moran

How long does a ceramic coat last??

No two ceramic coatings will be the same so difficult to advise.A search on google will give you 1000 different answers and cast iron promises, some of which should make you’re eyebrows raise in disbelief and your credit card hand get twitchy.

Ceramic coatings aren’t the be all and end all of paint protection. It depends on what you want to achieve and you’re level of expectation.
For me, a good coating should give a long lasting shine, have good self cleaning properties as much as this is possible and give a good level of protection from swirls and marks if a good wash regime carried out when cleaning.

The only real advice i can give through my own experience is preparation of the cars bodywork is vital in making a ceramic coating (or any coating) last as it should and using maintenance products afterwards a big help in improving longevity. A coating will only enhance what’s already there so don’t skip the prep.

I use Gyeon products on all my cars and can’t recommend enough.
Put in the hard work beforehand and you will be pleasantly surprised.

[Beemer5to3]

Originally Posted by Paul Moran

Looks great but how long will that shine last. I’m going to get my M340i ceramic coated. They say with touch ups it lasts up to 3 years with that polished look

I used a light ceramic coating - Infinity Wax Synergy Lite, so should be anywhere up to 12 months. I properly prepped the paint beforehand (decon, polish, IPA wipe down) and that's the most important thing to make sure a coat properly bonds to the paint. I also maintain it with a rinse wax on every maintenance wash.

Most ceramics offered by detailing companies should be 2-3 years protection.

[Riccardog]

This whole topic makes me so jealous... I live in Central London with no access to a tap or drive. I'm also quite fastidious regarding keeping a car clean and with no swirls (not as OCD as some, but "medium").

So, last time I washed the car was in August - thankfully its not a daily driver.

I don't suppose anyone can recommend a good detailer in/close to London North or NW? You know, someone that understands how swirls are formed and avoids them while washing.

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by Riccardog

This whole topic makes me so jealous... I live in Central London with no access to a tap or drive. I'm also quite fastidious regarding keeping a car clean and with no swirls (not as OCD as some, but "medium").

So, last time I washed the car was in August - thankfully its not a daily driver.

I don't suppose anyone can recommend a good detailer in/close to London North or NW? You know, someone that understands how swirls are formed and avoids them while washing.

I'm guessing you aren't able to garage your car when you're not using it either?

After hours of researching paintwork protection, ceramic coatings, polishes and waxes I finally opted for ceramic coatings on both my car and my wife's but it has necessitated some fundamental changes in my wash procedure for the cars and each car takes me two hours minimum to do. The upside though is no swirl marks at all on either car and they do stay looking cleaner for longer and often don't get washed and cleaned for two weeks at a time, although that might change with the onset of more wintry weather.
Swirl marks in paintwork from my experience can only really be carefully machine polished out but then it's us enthusiastic amateurs who reintroduce them each time we clean our cars.
Ceramic coatings take more looking after in some respects because of the difficulty in removing surface scratching, as well as sorting out the inevitable stone chips which still remain a bit of a nightmare to deal with.
Ceramic coatings can also still be scratched although by the very nature of what they are they may be able to resist scratching better than polish or wax coatings but that is likely debatable and I'm not intending to provoke a debate on that issue particularly!

I recently had a lengthy discussion with my son about this very subject. He lives and works in Kent and has no garage for his daily driver, nor the time or facility to do what I can with our cars so he is now having to have a major re-think about spending the money on a ceramic coating for his car.