Man, what gorgeous cars you have and what a gorgeous backdrop for your car photos!!!

My car is at the detailer right now, hopefully I can get some nice photos. It went in for paint correction and new wheel paint.

I didn't have a ceramic coating put on though. I am having trouble understanding what the point of it is. Is it a sacrificial layer that protects the paint? Or does it actually resist scratching and swirling from poor wash technique?

My car is parked outdoors and currently I'm using it as a daily driver so I don't cover it every night (I don't like to cover a dirty car). I think I will have to settle for careful regular washing and a yearly professional detail.

 

it protects and it does make it much easier to clean. from what I understood its like a polish who stay there, for 2 years and allow super easy cleaning. But there is a few downers maybe for black paint. uk cquartz (the last one) is 40$ on ebay uk, i will not do it myself but i am sure you could.

 

its been recently discovered that wax on top of ceramic makes it ineffective because it gets clogged and since abrasion is the way you remove it, waxing action removes some.

 

Alan its identical to rainx for windshields. which is silicone and silicone reples water. This what the are cleverly calling ceramic is also silicone, but they would never sell any if they called it that. So its primary function is to repel water.

so you may ask why not use rainx, well it would wash away in few weeks. So they combine the silicone SI02 (or glass or ceramic as its called) with an acrylic coating. Acrylic coating has been around for sometime, the problem with it is that you are essentially brushing paint on to your car. depending on how picky you are it may or may not be acceptable. I am at show level now with my passion for the ultimate finish, so for me its not good enough.

I would absolutely put a ceramic coating on your car. The scratches on your car come from one thing, you washing and drying your car. And cheap detailing. read your owners manual, it tell you to avoid car washes. So ceramic helps two was, it prevents some of scratching from a careless wash and there is little to dry.

washing tips
Use two 5 gallon buckets (grit stays at bottom)
rise car off
Start washing at top, rinse your real wool wash mitt in the second bucket.
Dont wash the lower sides or wheels till last, so you dont contaminate wash mitt, wash wheels with dedicated wash mitt or foam.
Rinse car.
With ceramic coating water will bead and fly off when you use an electric leaf blower. make sure you concentrate on nooks and crannies where water sits, on the Jag, headlights, grille, taillights, side mirrors and rear hatch.

here is a top tip for hatchback owners. water always sits in the drain channels of the hatchbacks and doorjams. put ceramic there.

 

Also a car that is outside has a layer between it and tree sap and bird drips.

 

Here is a very link to review Nano Ceramic Paint Coatings. It is quite informative and should help others who may have an interest in using these nano ceramic coatings.

http://carcarecoatings.com.au/FAQ_paint_protection.asp

I a true believer in these products and have been using a nano ceramic paint coating for the last 3 1/2 years. The technology and formulas are always being improved.

My personal choice is the Pinnacle Black Diamond Paint Coating V2.....just google the name for more information.

 

This is a must have for 5 gallon buckets, a grit guard:



I seldom use the two bucket method (I cut some corners where I feel I can), but either rinse the wool mitt off before putting in bucket or make use mitt for one stroke of soap, put back in bucket, and then use the other soapy mitt. I do two bucket method, the 2nd bucket is 2.5 gallon just to make it easier to move around.

I also do the wheels, exhaust, and rocker panels first with their own set of mitts. If I have time, I'll give the engine bay a quick soaping as well. I like under the hood and the painted surfaces in the engine bay to be just as clean.

 

Me too, that was best practice for the uninitiated.
I use the grit guard but it too is for not needed for the seasoned. I would never pick up water from the bottom and get it cleaner by wringing.

 

I have found Cquartz to be the BEST, for 2 reasons.
They make 2 formulations for different climates, cold and hot. Which also means you can apply it in the season of choosing.

Secondly the support is like no other. Believe me you will need it regardless of skill level, just to understand what the manufacturer intended. Cory the distributor in US will give you his cell number to call even on the weekends.

Each paint type poses different challenges. And paints can vary from manufacturer and even year. Germans in general use very hard paints. NOTE most products on the market are made for THEM. Not too many Jag on the road. The 2010 ebony is the softest paint I have ever seen bar none. So this is how I found out the HARD way....

...I called Cory to tell him that I was getting a fine haze no matter what combination, technique I used, and I was better than 90% of the pros out there. So he did some trials for me and confirmed that indeed the famed polish in question was not going to work on the soft paint of Jaguar...

...He turned me on to this new polish technology, its Scholl s40 nano. And viola concourse level finish. tech support is priceless.

BTW there is a New Hybrid, ceramic wax. 12 months durability. However you get the gloss and shine of a true wax, so best of both worlds.
As you can see in the links, it totally proves what I was saying about ceramic coating being less than ideal for show car finish.

NEW PRODUCT - Supernatural Hybrid Nano SiO2 wax - Detailing World
Waxaddict Quartz Wax 200ml - www.CarPro-US.com

 

Zymol has a Jaguar specific wax. Not sure if it's just a crock of marketing or not. Is for Jaguar, but for specific years? I can't imagine a Jaguar from 20 years ago is using the same kind of paint as today..

 

Paints have been changing as little as 1 year these days. All to do with going 'green'

The problem is that Germans have been going extra hard with ceramic clear coats, and all the polishing compound suppliers are formulating aggressive cutting action to make their products effective on those finishes.

The issue is that they all use diminishing abrasive technology. So you start with 2000 grit and wear the abrasive down to 5000 grit. That works really well on ultra-hard scratch resistant finishes. On soft finishes like the Jaguar, the initial grits will never be removed, or the final grit will never be removed. I found Scholl nano abrasives to be the best, it starts with a 4000 grit. Again we are talking about a black car and show finishes. On light colors you can get away with anything.

 

I used to be a two bucket guy, now I am using the one-soap-bucket method. I have several 6" x 6" or so 300g microfiber towels, I wet the panel with modest pressure, clean off that one section while turning my cleaning towel to the unused side. Discard that towel, rinse the section with modest pressure, then dry and buff the section. Never does a dirty towel go back into the single soap bucket.

I did the same with the two bucket, I would wet the car, clean a panel with one mitt which went into my clean water bucket, then rinse/dry that panel. The next panel I would dunk the mitt in the soap bucket for the next cleaning. By discarding towels I don't need to worry about the contamination issue anymore!!!

 

got my car back after a cquartz, and 2 wheels refurbished. actually the wheel shot has not been refurbished, its original

 

jagxk2008:

I am curious to know what the cost of the CQuartz application is in Europe.

 

I can't hand wash as our water is both hard and treated with a water softener which has salt . So I go to touchless car washes. Works pretty good.

 

I have been charged taxes included 700e, for 2 polishs, Dlux on the front of the wheels and cquartz the regular one, was told it will start to repell less water in 6 months, then i can use "reload" and bring it back how it was, kind of.
I will see,
me too for 30 euros i can get an excelent water free wash and wax, and yes i notice more "paillettes" in the paint. But its not more glossy or shiny than a good water free wash and wax, it is after only in 6 to 15 days when time to wash it that i should see a good difference, much easier, i bought a carchem shampoo and a cquatz or cpro glove made of natural hairs or i don't know, all is in the wash you do after, you can still swirl it i will think. i do not regret it , i like it, its very fine minim, indeed, it quit repell water after when its gone indeed. it wont damage your paint or addict you to do more, if you dont put it back in a year or so then your car is how it was before...it makes the paint look darker newer and more uniform but the 2 polishs did a lot before, and most of the trick is there.
i got 2 stickers 3 m and not 3m not well done in the same time, stickers/clear bra i need to redo this, i spent like 150e on these already...
me too i would like to use at home a water less stuff but i think the car will be dirty, i drive a very narrow road for 4 miles with lot of dirt, dust.
its inevitable and i m looking for a defender 90 now to buy a secluded house.
and 1500 e were spent in paint and wheels before.



its an australian Merino Lambskin glove.

 

An old post but thought I'd reply given my experiences

I have always been an avid wax/polish chap (with decent prep) but decided 18 months ago to have my newly registered Toyota C-HR ceramic coated

I don't regret it as have washed it just 4 times in dry weather...in wet the dirt just washes off

But everything is in the preparation and in my case has always been the following twice a year:

Contactless wash
Anti ferrous treatment
wash
Clay bar
wash
medium machine polish
Wash
Fine machine polish
Hand polish
Autoglym/meguires/collonite
high gloss or good quality carnuba wax

The above usually involved a whole weekend or a couple of days off work on leave.

All that my detailer now does is replace the last 2 points with a ceramic sealant, for it to last you really need a couple of coats 10hrs apart (giving sufficient curing time)

Yes my guy's had my new (to me) white XK for 5 days and pick it up tomorrow

But for £1000 (half that on a new car as less correction) he does all of the above plus cleans/feeds the leather, applies ceramic glass sealant, takes the wheel off and ceramic seals those and the calipers, scotchgards the fabric. TBH am getting too old to be doing this intensive stuff, and my arthritis plays up in cold/damp weather. So am happy to hand the keys over and loose the car for a week.

But can't wait to get it back tomorrow.

My guy is that good he needs to be booked 2 months in advance as he has the contract (80 cars per year) for my local Aston dealer to prep all of their showroom cars...that's 1,5 cars per week! And the work is guaranteed for 3yrs

When ceramic coated it pays to use something like 'reload' after a wash to protect (?) the ceramic coat meaning it lasts longer