Washing with ceramic coating/PPF

My ceramic coat In garage has been raining has 2 coats and is really deep will try and get an outside shot of it.
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After speaking with a couple of shops that offer Gtechniq I visited one, and was able to see another vehicle just done with Ultra, very impressive. I also noticed that I now have 2 rock chips, front fender and hood. And how rough the paint is since apparently none of the three dealers that had the truck did anything to help the paint. Looks like full front PPF is in my future due to the quick rock damage in one week. Also dislike now bad the wheels already look; almost oxidized.

I might have to suck it up and do ceramic paint, wheels, and front PPF... but the bill!! I do think all of your trucks look amazing and hope to have one that sparkles and shines as well in the tri-coat white.

One interesting consideration is how to get all of the salt off in winter. The two bucket wash is great for summer, but the salt will kill the rest of the undercarriage. Living in the mountains, especially my street that always gets an extra load of sand and salt, necessitate more than the two buckets. I am leaning toward the 5yr ceramic, crystal serum light and use the auto-wash (neoprene) for under carriage wash and worry less about how much i spend on the ceramic. If it need a full refresh in a couple of years, I am not out as much as if I do the Ultimate.

Does this approach make sense or am I approaching this all wrong??
 
I take it you did ceramic only on the paint @PapaRaptor . No PPF. What about the wheels?
just ceramic for now need some PPF on the door sills and few other places, We did not coat the wheels yet. I will remove them wash em real good and coat them up with the product. We did treat the glass.

I may swap out the wheels and tires in near future, however if you ceramic coat the wheels and need to add weights they won't stay on.
 
one that sparkles and shines as well in the tri-coat white.



Does this approach make sense or am I approaching this all wrong??

with proper color correction prior to ceramic coat then the application of the ceramic coat your tri-coat white will look amazing.

I had mine undercoated from the dealer, has 8 year warranty, now the ceramic coat, its a time saver. washing is fast and easy and in winter I have protection from the salt and calcium chloride.
 
Cant get mine in the garage, and it rained over night, was out there with the leaf blower getting as much water off as I could, LOL It was finished Tues am so hopefully that was long enough to cure with almost 3 full days of sun/warm weather. Appreciate all the feedback on ceramic, I had never done it before, just ordered a foam cannon and special soap so I can wash it myself and avoid the car wash.
 
Cant get mine in the garage, and it rained over night, was out there with the leaf blower getting as much water off as I could, LOL It was finished Tues am so hopefully that was long enough to cure with almost 3 full days of sun/warm weather. Appreciate all the feedback on ceramic, I had never done it before, just ordered a foam cannon and special soap so I can wash it myself and avoid the car wash.
48 hours is all you need
 
I was told not to wash mine for 2 weeks?? It rained a couple days after it was done but wasn't told anything about that. Hope its not an issue. I did the 5yr warranty ceramic on all paint, wheels, glass. Paid $1500 (Canadian). Is there any issue with using touchless car washes with ceramic? Cheers
 
I was told to keep it dry as long as possible, PapaRaptor seems to have a lot of experience with ceramic and said after 2 days all good! I was just being overly cautious I guess - didn't want permanent water spots, etc
 
I was told to keep it dry as long as possible, PapaRaptor seems to have a lot of experience with ceramic and said after 2 days all good! I was just being overly cautious I guess - didn't want permanent water spots, etc
48 hours is good for dry time and yes don't wash for 2 weeks totally agree. My guy just told me today not to wax it EVER!. After one season my Jeep Rubicon looks perfect after a simple wash and dry.
So it keep in mind it's a time saver.
 
Here are my just finished ceramic coated projects. About 15 hours each.
The wheels were coated on the Raptor last year, we just got around to the coating on both trucks last weekend. My wheels on the Tremor are not coated. Not sure if I am getting new wheel or will keep the OEM
Absolutely love the product.
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48 hours is good for dry time and yes don't wash for 2 weeks totally agree. My guy just told me today not to wax it EVER!. After one season my Jeep Rubicon looks perfect after a simple wash and dry.
So it keep in mind it's a time saver.
Wax won’t stick, also why you should get a ceramic detail spray To freshen it up.
 
Wax won’t stick, also why you should get a ceramic detail spray To freshen it up.
the wax will cause dulling and hazing over time on the ceramic coat. If you wax over it a lot you will get swill marks and other imperfections in the clear finish that will need to be professionally removed and a new coat of ceramic finish applied.

They make a ceramic refresh spray you can add annually or in the second or third year to prolong the finish.

It is best to not wax or add any products to the coating, You will find that you do not need to wash it as much as the finish is so resistant to water, even driving in the rain cleans it. I drove through a flock of birds and the bird droppings just slide off.

There are many products out there and some are legit and some are not, do your homework on the products.
 
Got it home last week with PPF,+HALO and CSU on the rest, wheel faces done. Finally have a picture of the tri-coat glitter which just makes me smile, so I guess it is worth it.
Truck is a bit dirty but waiting on the two weeks to pass before washing. The detailer gave me a list of products to use, from GTECHNIQ and some from others.

I really appreciate everyone's input and advice as this coating and self-healing PPF are all new to me. (PS - I had one quote for Crystal Serum Lite, and one for CSU at the same price, so just got the CSU)
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Here for comparison is my 2014 F150 FX4. It was run through car washes of different types an average of once every 2 weeks. It sat out in the Carolina sun everyday cause it would not fit in the garage. I used Maguires synthetic wax and Maquires Gold Class Carnuba on it exclusively. It got waxed a maximum of 4 times a year. It was 5 years old when I took this pic. I traded in January for my Tremor and it still looked like this. Excluding the car washes...I spent less than forty bucks in 6 years
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for the 2 containers of wax....that I still am using on my tremor. And yes, there are a few nicks and scratches on that F150.
 
That's in great shape, I had a 2013 with a very similar setup, handed down to my son when I got the Tremor- its not as shiny as yours though :)
 

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Here for comparison is my 2014 F150 FX4. It was run through car washes of different types an average of once every 2 weeks. It sat out in the Carolina sun everyday cause it would not fit in the garage. I used Maguires synthetic wax and Maquires Gold Class Carnuba on it exclusively. It got waxed a maximum of 4 times a year. It was 5 years old when I took this pic. I traded in January for my Tremor and it still looked like this. Excluding the car washes...I spent less than forty bucks in 6 years View attachment 2077for the 2 containers of wax....that I still am using on my tremor. And yes, there are a few nicks and scratches on that F150.
Looks awesome!!!
I am like you, I like or at least take the time to wash and wax my truck. I don't think ceramics are better than regular wax, they last longer. yes, you spent less on the product, but you spent way more time "on" your truck than most can or want to.......
my 2013 f150 lariat with 120,000 miles wax only.
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Lots of guys wax their trucks several time a year, thats great. But its a ton of work.

I got mine ceramic coated and now I am done for 5 years. I hardly ever wash it. It just shines, the bugs slide off when I drive through the rain. it is the most maintenance free product. All of my vehicles are coated. and I love it. The finish is more resistant to scratches and chips. you get what you pay for and I would do it over and over. I can take my truck over to any fresh waxed truck and it will have a deeper shine even if I don't wash it.
 
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