audijk

Reposting fro the B8 forum:

Hi all. Looking for some thoughts and feedback on something.

I bought an S5 this summer and immediately had ceramic coating and front end PPF installed.

I wanted to share my experience so far for people looking to go through this process and see if I can get other’s thoughts on some of my concerns/disappointments.

First of all, when the car is clean, the ceramic makes the paint look like liquid. It’s pretty awesome.

However, caring for the ceramic has been underwhelming and the result is that it doesn’t look as good very often.

I’m not a car detailing guy so I want to start off with that important detail.

I find the ceramic coating needs attention that makes cleaning more of a chore than I might have anticipated.

I can only go to a touch less car wash (i.e. the drive in laser ones for example) and that just doesn’t do a great job. The car looks good but there is dirt that is sticking to the surface of the paint/coating. I was told by the installer that these washes would be fine and then once a year a deep clean but I am going to need to do a full hand wash myself periodically to get the actual dirt off of the car. The promise of the dirt just washing off is not being realized.

I had the wheels ceramic coated as well and although they can get somewhat clean, the amount of brake dust on the wheels from my S5 just seems to be more sticky so I end up having to do a full wheel wash by hand every few weeks. I actually enjoy doing this and the wheels look great when they are clean but, again, I’m not a car detailing guy and just don’t have the time to consistently keep up with these cleanings as regularly as I’d like.

I was very worried about water spots from a number of videos and reviews but luckily that has turned out to be a non-issue so far so I’m happy about that. I did buy an Ego blower to dry off the car after washes and the beading helps to get the majority of water off of the car so spots haven’t been crazy and non of them are etching into the surface.

I have also been underwhelmed by the glass treatment during rain. I use my wipers a bit less than I used to but the sheeting action that is shown in reviews and videos doesn’t seem to be having the same effect on my S5.

The car was detailed, prepped and coated by a professional installation company and they used Ceramic Pro. I don’t think it’s the installation, I’m just underwhelmed by the promises of ceramic right now. Not totally down on it but a bit disappointed.

I just bought a pressure washer and foam gun so I’m going to try a hand wash shortly when the weather permits, but again, not something I have a ton of time to do.I may end up just getting the car hand detailed every few months if the upkeep gets to be too much.

So a few questions for others with ceramic coatings:
1. Am I too careful with how I’m treating the ceramic?
2. Is it normal to have dirt sticking to the car? I’m not talking about tar, etc. I’m talking about the dust/dirt that coats the car and you don’t really notice until you are up close and swipe it with your finger and you could actually write words in it.
3. Any suggestions for easy cleaning of the car without a hand wash?
4. What are you all seeing regarding water spots? Is this an overblown concern?
5. Any other recommendations or thoughts?

Again, I’m not ‘down’ on ceramic, just wondering if the extra care without some of the expected benefits was worth it.

Help me feel better about my investment folks!! 😀
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uberwgn

JK, what coating was used on your car?

audijk

Ceramic Pro with the top coat (forget what that is) on the body
high heat ceramic pro on the muffler tips and the wheels and calipers (had them remove the wheels)
ceramic pro glass treatment on all windows

and it’s not that I don’t have great beading and sheeting, I’m more surprised about the actual dirt on the car. Could just be my own unrealistic expectations but that’s how everyone sells, reviews and talks about it so I was expecting less of the surface dirt that will need to be hand washed/agitated to remove.

uberwgn

Yeah, the coating should be shedding well. I find our car appear to be much cleaner virtually all the time with coatings.

DaveSNJ

What prep was done to the paint before they applied the coating?

Sounds like a poor install.

Nikon1

@audijk I have a Daytona Gray as well. My detailer did a paint correction (extremely minor as my car sat in the garage from delivery to ceramic — a period of a couple of weeks) and applied his product (Jade Ice) to the body, wheels (dismounted to do the barrels as well as the face), all glass & headlights. When I purchased the 18” winter wheels, they received the same treatment before they were installed. The car was ceramic coated about 18 months ago and it still looks great. In the winter months I run it through a brush-style car wash and the ceramic is still smooth (even the installing detailer comments on that fact) and beads up when it’s wet.

The 18” Audi spoke S5 wheels do show a ton of brake dirt and running it through the car wash “somewhat” cleans the front face but the barrel maintains the dirty, dusty look; those will have to wait for warmer weather when I remove them to put the 19” Cavos.

I’m not sure where the problem is / installer, installers choice of product — I don’t know. I do know that having the ceramic applied to my car was a great decision on my part and I do not regret the money invested in the result.

— John

AMDG75

I think you are correct regarding your expectations. Your car will get dirty whether coated or not - coatings are not dirtphobic, only hydrophobic . You did the right thing by installing PPF and ceramic coating, but you still need to clean the car.

The PPF protects paint from minor chips and scratches. Coatings protect your paint from some things like acidic bird droppings, and make cleaning much easier.

As for cleaning, no auto car wash will clean your car well; the touchless cannot possibly remove all the dirt, while those with brushes/hanging rags always miss the middle of the rear end while potentially scratching anything touched. Many on this forum have posted their hand car wash rituals on this forum; you don't have to get very elaborate to have your car looking great. In the time it takes to drive to an automatic wash and return home with a less than clean car, you could easily hand wash your car and end up with a far better result and a sense of satisfaction. With a minimum of two buckets, Optimum No Rinse, water blade and a couple waffle weaves I can wash both my wife's and my car in under 45 min.

Like Nikon1, I do not regret spending on PPF and coatings, and in fact --- couldn't be more pleased, particularly with the PPF (I have posted a few times how Xpel saved me, and other family members)

audijk

Ok, good. So it’s not just me. I am actually excited to try out my new foam cannon and power washer I just don’t know how much time I’ll have to do that in the future on a regular basis. But at least I know that this appears to be normal. So long story short, ceramic is no miracle, just the extra sacrificial layer with longer term better look and maybe a bit longer time before the grime collects. Just wanted to make sure.

Regarding the install, I don’t think that is the issue. Car was just about brand new and paint prep and minor correction was done. Again, I have great beading and sheeting, it’s just the dirt that accumulates and sticks to the car. The only thing I found to be mediocre is the glass coating. It has been great in terms of not getting streaks and using the wipers seems a lot more effective without the wipers catching. It’s just that I can’t drive in the rain without my wipers like in the videos. Now I also haven’t been in driving rains so maybe the amount of moisture hasn’t been enough to avoid using my wipers so I’ll keep an eye on that.


I really do think this is an expectation thing on my part. As I type this and read the responses, I do realize that nothing is really going to keep dirt off of a car - I know that. I was just hoping a maintenance or pressure wash only would suffice for a while so hand washes would be required less frequently.

So basically, no automatic brushed car wash this winter so either have to wait to hand wash, try ONR or pay someone if I can’t get to it. John/Nikon1 are you seeing any scratches from the automatic wash?

Either way, I’m definitely seeing some benefit from the ceramic just not as much as I expected and it pains me to see the road grime and not be able to do anything about it until the weather breaks. Guess I’ll have to just get over that.

Glad I got the PPF for sure. Already have one gouge where the PPF saved the paint just behind the front wheel well. Have to replace the PPF there but think I’ll try to get through the winter with all of the salt and gravel we get here.

Thanks for the feedback!

Nikon1

Zero scratches from the car wash. I found a car wash (White Glove, on the Black Horse Pike, in Turnersville NJ) that actually Maintains their equipment diligently and changes / cleans their “brushes” (not actually brushes but I’m not sure what to call them) several times a week. I’ve taken my car back to the detailer 3 times since he applied the ceramic and he’s never found any problem with the coating.

My Caveats: My car is garage kept; it’s a very low mileage car (just about 8,000 miles in 18 months) and it’s usually local mileage — If any of that makes a difference to my experiences.

— John

JD15

I agree with others that your ceramic coating is likely functioning as intended, but that your expectations were too high. The ceramic coating makes it a bit easier to wash and gives the car a long-term freshly waxed look when clean, but unfortunately does not obviate the need for contact washing. After 10 months of having a ceramic coating and hand washing, my finish looks great and does not have any swirl marks. However, washing is still a chore, mainly because I have to wash and dry in small sections so that the car can be dried in a sufficiently short period to prevent water spots. Even with a coating, the wheels become caked in brake dust, but the coating does make it easier to clean them with only ONR.