Call it ceramic coating, paint protection, surface protection, or something else - we have the info you need! What’s the best ceramic coating? Is paint protection worth it? Is the paint protection from the dealership any good? We get lots of questions in this industry and sometimes people have heard a lot of “interesting” versions of the truth. We aim to answer your questions honestly, without bias, and accurately! That’s why all of these questions have been answered by our passionate and very experienced business owner/operator, Josh. If your question isn’t answered here, we encourage you to contact us for a chat.
Feel free to give us a call on 0404365233 and we can help you determine the best coating for you.
Please reach us at bakersdetailing@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Ceramic Coated Cars LOOK Amazing. Many ceramic coating businesses splash around images of freshly coated, glossy cars but what are our customers actually investing their hard earned money in?
Your car has a very thin amount of paint on it, which includes a clear coat layer. When UV rays, bird poo, dirty wash mitts and chemicals hit the clear coat it starts to degrade and/or scratch away. This all happens on a microscopic level but you sure know about it when you get to the point of needing a respray. The cost of that? THOUSANDS. Want to avoid that? Get your car ceramic coated.
A ceramic coating protects your vehicle’s paintwork from chemical and environmental degradation. That brings us to why we use the NXTZEN range of ceramic coatings. NXTZEN Coatings have a chemical resistance up to pH14, which is greater than the industry standard of pH12. What sorts of contaminants does NXTZEN protect against then? Ever heard of pancreatin? This is the digestive enzyme in bird and bat droppings – a primary cause of paint damage in Australia. NXTZEN coatings will protect your paintwork from this. But don’t just take our word for it – check out the CSIRO report that tested specifically for pancreatin and showed that it had no effect on the coating.
Often the words paint protection and ceramic coating are used interchangeably; however, ceramic coating is a type of car paint protection. Technically, it is possible to refer to something like a polymer sealant or a carnauba wax, which still offers some protection, as a paint protection. However, a ceramic coating is a protective layer that is much thicker and stronger than both of these options. Most reputable detailers will use ceramic technology as their paint protection offering.
If you are looking for the best car paint protection without going to the much more expensive Paint Protection Film (PPF) then yes, a ceramic coating really does hold up over the years and maintains that new car shine far longer than any waxes.
Yes, many ceramic coatings come with warranties. NXTZEN Ceramic Professional comes with a 5 year warranty, NXTZEN Graphene Serum comes with a 7 year warranty, and NXTZEN Elite comes with a 9 year warranty and the new Elite GS02 comes with 12 years. We also offer installation of consumer grade coating, NXTZEN Ceramic, which is an unwarranted coating but can be expected to have approximately 3+ years durability.
When looking at other brands of paint protection or ceramic coating, be sure to read the terms and conditions with the warranties as there are often requirements such as annual inspections that are not widely advertised. NXTZEN warranties do not require annual inspections or regular servicing (see NXTZEN warranty here)
No, your car will still require washing and periodic maintenance to get the most out of your paint protection. Ceramic paint protection is a barrier between your car paint and the elements, not a car cleaning service. The job of ceramic paint protection is to protect the paint underneath. That being said, washing a paint protected vehicle will be far easier and your car’s paint will retain its gloss much better than without any protection.
Short answer: It can be.
Generally speaking, the dealerships don’t use brands known to the detailing industry. That being said, it doesn’t mean that they won’t perform. However, a dealership’s quality control and preparation of your car is often lacking. To apply a ceramic coating, the surface must first be thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated. On average, a dealership may spend only 1-2 hours applying a coating/ paint protection product to your car. By comparison, at Baker's Detailing Wagga we spend on average 8+ hours preparing and applying a coating to your car. For the top level packages, we spend 15+ hours preparing and protecting every part of your car. But this doesn’t equate to the dealership being more efficient; they are just cutting corners and rushing. The number of steps involved in properly preparing and coating a vehicle simply cannot be done in 1-2 hours.
In a nutshell, we have better procedures, better products and are looking to provide you with the best outcome.
This can be a very contentious subject for some people. There are a few reputable ceramic coating brands out there along with many unreliable, cheap knock-offs. We recommend you doing your own personal research; however, we can confirm that NXTZEN is an exceptionally high quality brand that can be trusted. And it is made right here in Australia, fine tuned to protect against the unique array of contaminants and UV rays that our harsh environment throws at us. And it does that without sacrificing the deep gloss that has become so popular in ceramic coatings
UV damage is a big paint killer in Australia, but so is chemical damage from bird poo and acid rain. Basically, paint protection will protect your car paint from environmental damage. However, there are no paint protections that will stop damage caused by abrasions such as washing with a dirty sponge, tree brush scratches, keying etc. In our experience, although a coating doesn’t completely stop these kinds of damage, it does generally take a fair amount of them and makes removing the damage far easier and more successful than on uncoated cars.
Graphene coatings have become increasingly popular in the past few years, despite causing a lot of confusion when they first came out. Essentially, graphene works as an aggregate additive within the polymer matrix or the ceramic (coating) matrix. Graphene enhances and strengthens the ceramic coating to improve the existing properties like corrosion resistance and durability. Take note though – graphene only enhances what is already there. This means that the addition of graphene to a poor quality coating will not create a good coating.
In the case of NXTZEN Graphene Serum, graphene nano particles are added to NXTZEN ceramic professional (an excellent quality coating) during the manufacturing process. The result is a graphene coating with greater slickness, as well as superior strength and resistance to corrosion – which increases the durability of the coating from 5 to 12 years.