What is ceramic coating and is it worth it?

Ceramic coating is a liquid polymer that bonds to your vehicle's clear coat and cures into a hard, hydrophobic layer. Once cured it resists UV fading, chemical staining, bird droppings and light swirl marks, and it makes the paint far easier to wash because water and grime sheet off instead of clinging. We apply a graphene ceramic coating, rated for three years, at $750 for a coupe, $800 for a sedan and $850 for an SUV or truck, at your home or office.

Whether it is worth it depends on three questions. Will you keep the vehicle two years or more, so the coating's three years are spent on your car rather than the next owner's? Does it live outside, in Louisiana sun, humidity and pollen? And do you want washing to take less effort? Three yes answers make a coating the sensible choice. A lease you return next year, a garage-kept weekend car, or a clear coat that is already failing are the cases where we say no, and we say so from your photos before quoting.

What a coating does not do: it does not stop rock chips, it will not hide swirls that were there before it went on (which is why single-stage paint correction is included), and it still needs hand washing rather than brush washes. It takes one to three days once curing is included and the driveway needs shade or cover. The ceramic coating page has the full decision table, and the coating versus film guide compares it with paint protection film for people whose main worry is chips.